American International School of Kabul
December 2001 (Archive)
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American International School of Kabul
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Home > Multimedia Library > Past Issues > December 2001 
I found this old Christmas card (circa 1965) in a box full of old photographs. Merry Christmas to everyone - specially to our brave men and women who can't be home for the holidays and to the people of Afghanistan. Peace on Earth and Good Will to everyone.
Peg (Podlich) Esterson (Class of '68) submitted the following photo of the Khyber Restaurant matchbooks that she has kept since 1968. Peg says: "The matches are actually wooden, not cardboard! I drank many a rum and coke in the bar there."
Peg also submitted 2 new book reviews to the Book Reviews section of our Library:
Thanks Peg! AISK HISTORY In the beginning... Polly Swayze Finch writes: "I was in Kabul from 1958 - 1960 with my husband, Hank Swayze, who was the head of Ariana Afghan Airlines. I, as Vice President of The American Society of Kabul (TASK) founded the International High School with Dr. Ralph Spence, the head of the Columbia University team which was teaching at Kabul University. We got in touch with the embassies of Germany, Turkey, France, and Italy to find out their curricula for each year of high school, so that when the students moved to another country they would fit into the curriculum there. The professors were the wives of the Columbia team who nearly all had PhDs. We had no money and no legal status, but the American Ambassador, Hank Bayroode agreed to underwrite the rent of a building. I went to Beirut to buy necessary supplies: notebooks, pens and pencils, exam booklets. The professors chose the texts. Parents agreed to supply water as potable water was in short supply in Kabul. Unfortunately we were transferred back to the States before the school was in full swing. When we were there there were two schools that went to the 8th grade - Mme LeBerre's in Kart -i-char, and the Christian School in Shar-i-now. My daughter Carolyn was five and went to Mme LeBerre's school, and did the hula hoop in the stadium before the Shah who was celebrating his birthday. That was the year that he lifted the veil for women while all the tribal people, sporting their bandoliers and guns, were there for the Bushkashi. I have not been back to Kabul since 1963 when I was told that the first graduate had been accepted at an American college." At the end...
According to Mary Foti (Teacher '72-'76), "the AISK athletic equipment, Scorpion festioned standard and other odds and ends ended up in Amman, Jordan. An all call came out as to what to do with the old sports equipment with the Scorpion logo. ACS at the time was transitioning from a primarily Jordan staffed school for elementary kids to a KG-12 American hired staff, so a change of logo was not out of the question. We all felt in our hearts at the time that it was best to keep the Scorpion alive. We proudly told everyone the equipment had come from AISK, and it and we were ready to go back as soon as it was possible. We are still waiting." Sana Abdalla adds: "I attended ACS for one year in 80-81. Its mascot is the Scorpion, the colors are black and gold, just like AISK. I'm not sure about the sports equipment being taken from Kabul to Amman. But I know that when Richard Krajczar, who was school principal in Kabul, moved to Amman, he changed the logo to the same one as AISK's. The Fotis were also at ACS at the time. I remember when I joined ACS as a senior. With the Fotis and Kracjzars, the Scorpions, the colors, it was like being at AISK again. But at the time, the school was only until grade 10, so the 11 and 12 grades were in one room studying through correspondence with a supervisor (an American woman). Now the school is a full-fledged KG-12 grades, and most of the students now are Jordanian kids from rich families, but still run by the Americans." |
SCORPIONS RAFTING DOWN KABUL GORGE Renee (Rogers) Kotz (1976-78) submitted the following photos of Scorpions rafting down the Kabul Gorge. Click on the thumbnails to enlarge. Do you know who and where these Scorpions are?
THE AFGHANISTAN I REMEMBER Renee also submitted the following article she wrote:
Click on the thumbnail (on the left) to read the article. Renee Kotz, a Cabin John resident, grew up overseas and has spent the last 15 years working internationally in child survival and family planning, most recently with the American Red Cross. Currently, with the birth of her second daughter, she is devoting time at home to raise Annelise (3 yrs) and Allaire (7 mos). Her husband, Brad, has his own business in commercial real estate (Seneca Properties, Inc.) and works from his Bethesda office. Comments can be emailed to rb.kotz@att.net. Thanks Renee! CHRIS BROWN & KEN LANZA UPDATE Chris (Bunder) Brown '74 sent me an email last month: Chris Brown and Ken Lanza Update.
"I have to relate this anecdote from two days ago. I was attending one of those policy-wonk panel discussion sessions at a local think tank with several Afghanistan experts at the head table and Ahmed Rashid (author of the popular -- and excellent -- book "Taliban") on phone hookup from London. The conf. room was jammed with Afghan, Pakistani and US academics, analysts, diplomats and business people. When it came time for the Q and A, I proudly stepped up to the mike and introduced myself as follows: 'My name is Christopher Brown. I work for USAID and am a graduate of the American International School of Kabul, Afghanistan.' It felt great to say that. What was also cool was the quick murmurs of recognition that ran through the crowd on mention of AISK (probably in part because of the recent WSJ article)!" Click here to read the entire email. Thanks for the update Chris! AISK AFGHAN DAY 1974 Pamela Lessard submitted the following photos from the 1974 AISK Afghan Day. That's her (under the chadri) with her sister Sharon next to her\ in the first photo. Thanks Pam!
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