Hsinchu American School

Extra-curricular activities allow students to pursue interests they already have or to explore new ones. Hsinchu American School provides a variety of club choices as well as various professional activities to enhance leadership skills.

Student Government:

Student Government is a representative assembly composed of delegates elected from each class (8th grade and up) and a faculty member. High School students are eligible for election as President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary, while the position of Social Events Coordinator and Community Service Director are appointed by the elected officers. Student Council members brainstorm creative ways to raise funds and increase student interaction and participation in school events. Tasks performed by the Student Council include the management of the Student Convenience Store, the drafting and updating of the Student Council Constitution, the organizing of holiday celebrations, the planning of Spirit Week, and the planning of the annual Spring Fair. Student Council meetings are held once a week to discuss and develop upcoming school events.

World Scholar’s Cup:

World Scholar’s Cup is an annual academic competition that has been adopted as an after-school club at HAS. Teams of three compete in a total of four events. The two team events are debate and quiz-bowl, and the two individual events are a multiple choice test and essay writing. The topics and questions for these events are from six different subjects: science, history, art, psychology, economics, and literature. Each year the World Scholar’s Cup organization releases extended articles on each topic that all participants read and study. Training and preparation begin toward the end of first semester which leads up to a local competition held in May and an international competition held in June. In 2010 three teams for HAS competed in the local competition at Hsinchu International School, and one team went on to compete in the international competition in Shanghai.

Student Events Committee:

The events committee plans and organizes most events on campus. They work closely with the student government and are assisted by the talented teachers and students of HAS. Last year’s events planned and executed by this committee include a Halloween party, a Thanksgiving dinner, a Christmas performance, a Valentine’s Day candygram service, the Spring Fair, a high school dance, and the graduation ceremony. Members of the committee also assisted the middle school and high school students with planning their year-end trips. Next year the committee plans to add an overnight lock-in at the beginning of the first semester, as well as a homecoming dance to its calendar of events.

Community Service Committee:

Community service is an organization that seeks to give all students at HAS opportunities to use the gifts and talents they have to give back to the communities both on and off campus. This committee has successfully started and managed several ongoing projects this year. One on campus service was a tutoring program that paired students who needed a little extra help in a particular subject with peers who could provide that assistance. Some of the off campus projects included a reading program for the nearby kindergarten, the Awana program sponsored by a local church, and several events in cooperation with the Hua Guang Institute for learning disabled children around Hsinchu. Next year the committee is looking to expand the programs offered both on and off campus.

Model United Nations:

The MUN team is an afterschool club that researches issues and prepares for delegate participation in a number of conferences in Taiwan and around Asia including HSIMUN (in Hsinchu) and TAIMUN (in Taichung), and eventually in THIMUN Singapore and BEIMUN (Beijing). The purpose of model united nations conferences is to simulate an actual United Nations meeting in an academic background thereby increasing student awareness of international issues as well as developing communication, research, and diplomatic skills. Students on the MUN team research nations and issues, prepare resolutions, write speeches, and sharpen their debate and negotiation skills. Delegates selected from the team to participate in conferences assume the role of different nations around the world and prepare position papers and resolutions to best reflect the policies adopted by their country on the issues. As HAS’s delegation size in various conferences grows, more students and members are given the opportunity to participate as delegates, chairs, or press in the future.