Insights75Anniversary

CNG: The 75th year is a one-time CNG publication issued to commemorate the75th anniversary of our institution (1938-2013). Its purpose is to share the events and activities held during the 2012-2013 school year, celebrating three-quarters of a century of educational excellence, innovation, and service to the community.

© 2013 Colegio Nueva GranadaCarrera 2 Este No. 70-20, Bogotá, Colombiawww.cng.eduPublications and Media Services September 15, 2013

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity, including internet search engines or retailers, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of Colegio Nueva Granada.

ADVISORY COMMITTEEDr. Eric Howard Habegger (Director)Maria Angelica Forero (Development and Community Relations Director)Lina Maria Piendo (Development and Community Relations Assistant)María Isabela Gómez (Publications and Media Services Director)

EDITORIAL DIRECTORMaría Angélica Forero (Development and Community Relations Director)[email protected]

DESIGN & LAYOUTDaniel Salamanca, Camilo Villegas Correa and Elisa Villegas, Mironawww.mirona.com.coAdapted by: Juan Sebastian Bossa

PHOTOGRAPHYMauricio Beltrán, Juan Sebastián Bossa, Andrés Murcia, Raul Moreno, Lisa Neisa (Clickarte)Special thanks for staff, student, and parent contributions.

PRINTING: Zetta Comunicadores S.A.

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September 15, 1938. The U.S. president was Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Eduardo Santos governed Colombia. The most popular song of the day was Change Partners by Fred Astaire; the newly formed Millonarios soccer team defeated the Cuba squad 3-2; and a group of American immigrants opened a school with 28 children in Bogotá, Colombia.

Starting a school ranks as a fairly minor event in the larger global context. Yet, the aspirations of our school’s Founders were remarkable. Still, they could have hardly foreseen how their school and the world would transform in the following decades.

Last year, we marked the day CNG first opened its doors by honoring our Founders’ spirit of innovation and celebrating their vision for our school. On that day, we looked back but also gazed forward as we honored our traditions while embarking on a renewed visionary future.

Today, once again, we commemorate our Founders’ vision. We view their heritage as our own as we continue to grow and innovate. As we join together to honor our Founders and their bold vision, we invite you to look back at a year of celebration.

CNG 75th Anniversary - A year of Honored Traditions and Visionary Future

CNG embraced this anniversary as an opportunity to:

• Celebrate and showcase our past and present accomplishments

• Rekindle the CNG spirit and reunite alumni, former staff, and other members of our community

• Research, document, and publish our history in a commemorative book

• Mark a new era and approach

• Demonstrate CNG’s impact on Colombia and the world of education over the past 75 years

[September 15, 2013]

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Founders’ DaySEP14

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[September 14, 2012]

Founders’ Day2012All- School Assembly and PicnicLet the Celebrations Begin!

Our 75th Anniversary celebration kicked off in grand fashion on September 14th, 2012. On this special day, CNG students, faculty, and friends came together in an All-School assembly to celebrate our School’s birthday and to recognize the vision of our Founders and the people, --past, present, and future-- who make CNG such a special place.

During the Ceremony, held in a stunningly decorated High School Gym, Director Dr. Eric Howard Habegger, highlighted the courage and vision of our Founders and reflected on how far we have already come. “Nearly 75 years ago on September 15, 1938, three visionary people began an English-speaking school for a handful

of American, international, and Colombian children. They began in a small house with 28 students, one principal, and two teachers,” said Dr. Habegger. “Today as a school with 1,828 students and over 300 teachers, we come together as a community to celebrate our three Founders – for their incredible vision, their amazing courage, and their love of learning that over the past 75 years have changed the lives of many people within and beyond our community.”

Descendants from our three Founders, Mrs. Doris Samper, Mr. Fred Dever and Mr. Irwin C. Byngton unveiled a plaque in their honor that is now displayed in the Primary School entrance; Juan Saldarriaga, representing our Board of Directors, read a message from the President of

Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos who attended CNG as a boy; and our Little Singers Elementary Choir led the crowd in an adrenaline-infused Happy Birthday song.

Among those in attendance were CNG Board Members, the Ambassador of the United States to Colombia, Mr. Michael McKinley; the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China, Mr. Wang Xiao Yuan; the Ambassador of Israel to Colombia, Mr. Joed Magen; and several Directors of the Unión de Colegios Internacionales de Bogota UNCOLI.

Following the Ceremony, parents, students, faculty, and friends came together for a celebratory picnic— the first of several we had last year.

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Our CNG Pinwheel Choir delighted and dazzled with a display of staff, alumni, and student talent. The captivating performance held on October 3, 2012 at the Iglesia del Santo Domingo will be remembered by our community for years to come.

Pinwheel Anniversary Choir Presentation in Benefit of Colegio Fundación Nueva Granada

[October 3, 2012]

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As is our tradition at CNG, Thanksgiving Day began with students preparing and offering gift baskets and letters of appreciation to all members of our General Services team. The whole School then reconvened in the High School Gym for a special All-School Assembly. During the very moving ceremony, to commemorate CNG’s 75th Anniversary, Sebastián Gómez, a student of Colegio Fundación Nueva Granada, presented CNG with a beautiful mosaic sign designed and created by Colegio Fundacion Nueva Granada students.

Celebrating this very special year, the PTA organized a beautiful and touching community Thanksgiving Dinner in the High School Gym. On Tuesday, November 20th, more than 400 members of our community came together as a family to celebrate and give thanks. A delicious, traditional Thanksgiving Dinner of turkey, stuffing and much more was served by Student Ambassadors and PTA mothers at beautifully decorated tables. Students from our Little Singers Choir enliven the night with lovely Thanksgiving songs, and thank you notes and decorations made by Primary and Elementary students where artfully displayed, transforming the gym into our very own cozy and festive home.

Thanksgiving Community Celebration and Dinner by the PTA

[November 22, 2012]

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2012CNG Book LaunchDEC

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On Tuesday, December 11, 2012, we celebrated the launch of our 75th Anniversary commemorative coffee table book with a breakfast held in the Elisa Vargas Library. During the event, alumni and staff took turns reading excerpts that detailed particular occurrences from the decades they attended CNG. This was a heartfelt affair in which alumni, students, parents, and friends had the opportunity to reflect on their time at CNG and share some of the many happy memories still held dear to their hearts.

“CNG has published an important historical account that will share our school’s story for

generations to come,” said Director Dr. Eric Habegger about the book. “We hope it will become a long-lasting contribution to the members of our community.”

The books pages illustrate the vibrant history of our school. With a captivating narrative, first-person anecdotes, and hundreds of pictures, the book tells the story of our School through the eyes of students, alumni, staff, and other community members.

Through exhaustive research and interviews, the book captures in 300 pages, the rich and diverse history of CNG school from its origins on the

1930’s under Director Doris Samper, one of the first American women to move to Colombia, and continues through the next decades. The book also delves into the innovative educational programs and opportunities brought to Colombia by CNG while underlining the three pillars of Mind, Body and Character that have driven our School’s vision and purpose. The story is set against the backdrop of the sweeping political and cultural changes of the last 75 years, including historical events that influenced Colombia and the rest of the world like El Bogotazo, the two World Wars, and the Sixties Student Movement. This is a collectible, hardcover, coffee-table book in landscape format.

CNG The First 75 Years –

[December 11, 2012]

Book Unveiling

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) recently announced the winners of its 2013 Circle of Excellence awards and “CNG the First 75 Years”. The historical hard cover book published in celebration of the school’s anniversary took home the Silver Award in the Institutional Relations - Publications category.

Judges highlighted several aspects of the 300-page book published by CNG in celebration of its 75th Anniversary. The judges noted its easy writing style and colorful photos that supported the school’s emphasis on humanity and its mission. They also commented on the book’s design, the use of two different papers and colors, and its intention to tell a story that engaged the past and present while conveying a sense of nostalgia.

The international CASE competition honors outstanding work in advancement services, alumni relations, communications, fundraising and marketing at colleges, universities, independent schools and nonprofits in the United States and around the world. The competition received more than 2,900 entries for consideration in 45 categories. More than 600 member institutions and nonprofits from 18 countries participated in this year’s awards program. Peer professionals at schools, colleges, and universities as well as professionals from outside of education judged the entries.

CNG Commemorative Book wins CASE Circle of Excellence Award

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On Thursday, April 4, 2013, CNG started a new tradition that will be celebrated for many years to come. We held Grandparents and Grandfriends Day for the very first time. Students from Primary, Elementary, and Middle School invited their grandparents and other significant older adults in their lives to

Grandparents and Grandfriends Day

[April 4, 2013]

join them at school. Primary and elementary students shared a picnic with their special guests and invited them to their classrooms to showcase their work and accomplishments while Middle School students shared a very special lunch with their visitors.

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Homecoming marked the culmination of a yearlong celebration of 75 years of honored tradition and visionary future. The event offered students, alumni, current and former staff, parents, and friends an opportunity to reflect on CNG’s past and future.

More than 500 alumni and their families came from abroad to be reunited with classmates and favorite teachers. Through the weeklong celebration, they remembered the good old days and reminisced of a more carefree time in their lives.

On Tuesday, June 4, we kicked off the celebration with a Welcome Home cocktail party at Lipstick. On Wednesday we switched gears and spent the morning touring Bogota. Late that evening, more than 300 alumni attended a dinner at Café Renault with all their school friends. Many former staff and alumni had a chance to reunite with all five of CNG’s living directors on Thursday morning in a breakfast at school. Visitors then toured the School and met at the new Remembrance Garden where a ceremony was held in honor of students, alumni, and staff who have past away over the years.

On Friday morning, students and alumni played basketball and soccer in honor of one of our most beloved PE teachers, Prof Hernández. An All-School Assembly followed in which the community came together to sing the national anthems, our School Song, and listen to wise words from our former Directors. We then enjoyed a picnic and witnessed the opening of the 50th-year Time Capsule and the closing of a new one. Wrapping up the week, all adults in our community met at Andres Carne de Res to party in CNG style!

Homecoming

[June 4-7, 2013]

All of our living directors joined us for this special week of festivities.

Dr. Lester Landers (1975-1987)

Mr. Peter Cooper (1987-1991)

Dr. Steven Holbrook (1991-1997)

Dr. Barry McCombs (1997-2010)

With Dr. Eric Habegger, our current Director, they represented school leadership spanning more than half of the school’s history since our founding in 1938.

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Welcome Home Cocktail Party

On Tuesday, June 4, more than 300 alumni from all classes met at Lipstick, a trendy, jazz bar where they had a chance to rekindle friendships and make new ones. It was a great start to an unforgettable week.

CNG past and present Board members, former directors, and hundreds of alumni enjoyed good food and great company during this very special dinner held at Café Renault in Parque de la 93.

Per-Decade Dinner at Café Renault

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This event provided alumni and former staff members the opportunity to listen to our former directors reflect on their struggles and triumphs while at CNG and their hopes for our School’s future.

Following the breakfast, guests toured the school and then reconvened at the Flag Patio to attend the Remembrance Garden Inauguration Ceremony in honor of students, alumni, and faculty members who past away but left and indelible mark on our school. Built during the 75th Anniversary, the garden will provide a private and serene space for CNG community members to remember and commemorate lost loved ones.

Remembrance Garden Inauguration Ceremony and Breakfast with the Directors

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Parents, students, alumni, faculty, and staff were treated to a very special All-School assembly in celebration of the School’s 75th anniversary. Our former directors addressed all in attendance and received a very special token of our school’s appreciation. After the assembly, thousands of members of our school community gathered at CNG playgrounds and yards for a special celebratory picnic lunch.

All-School Assembly and Picnic

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Saving the best part for last, the CNG community gathered at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, June 4th for the opening ceremony of the time capsule, which had been sealed for 25 years. It was a unique experience for all involved. People were astonished by the pristine condition of the contents: a Reebok tennis shoe, a newspaper, letters, among many other objects.

Later in the ceremony and in order to continue this beautiful tradition that began 25 years ago, CNG students brought special and iconic items from our times to put in a new time capsule to be opened at CNG’s 100th Anniversary Celebration.

Opening of the Time Capsule Ceremony

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We closed a year of celebrations with a big bash at Andres Carne de Res. On June 7th, parents, alumni, and staff celebrated until the wee hours of the morning. With decorations and performances designed by Andres just for our community, this was an unforgettable, one-of-a-kind affair that we will remember for years to come!

Andrés Carne de Res

Honored Tradition& Visionary Future

“If you can imagine it,

you can achieve it;

if you can dream it,

you can become it”.

William Arthur Ward

The Next 75

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Insights75Anniversary