ACS Extracurricular Activities

The ACS Dance Program is based on a modern-contemporary style, combined with a variety of classical, ethno, house, pop and film music.

Memorizing choreography and executing complex movements is an excellent exercise for the brain and the spirit. Dance also teaches skills that help in many aspects of life, including: increased focus, greater ability to listen to and follow directions, practice overcoming challenges, and greater ability to express emotion. Dance also helps develop rhythm, coordination and music appreciation.

Our mission is to “tell a story" using the body, acting and performing - at the Christmas concerts and Arts Fest at the end of the school year. The road is long, but worth it.

We believe that dancing is a necessity, which can grow into an internal love and appreciation. 

We have two football teams, represented by players from 8th-10th grade (ACS II) and students from 11th and 12th grade (ACS I). We hold practices every week and with each week we get better and evolve as a team. Our goal is to create a cohesive team with great spirit and try to achieve the highest results possible. Both teams participate in various tournaments with other schools and most of the time the results are really good. The latest challenge, the Tournament of the Private Schools, was a great success for our first team. They managed to win all of their games with big difference and won the tournament. One of the biggest achievements in recent times was the international tournament last year in Israel. Once again ACS I managed to win all of the games, winning the tournament and expanding the school's reputation internationally. Overall, the football teams are really important for the school because we perform well, create a great team, increase ACS’s sports reputation and have a lot of fun doing it.

ACS Instrumental Music Studio provides opportunities for students to develop performing skills and to perform classical music on stage.

In addition to developing performing and artistic skills, our goals are focused on learning more about classical music composers and styles, as well as gaining knowledge in music theory. To achieve those goals we are working on different solo and ensemble pieces from different classical eras.

We are rehearsing in individual time periods (once or twice a week for each student), except when we prepare an ensemble work and when we have dress rehearsals for the stage events.

Our main concerts are the ACS Classical Concert each spring and the classical spotlight presented at the Arts Fest.

The ACS Musical brings together students who share a passion for theater and the performing arts. It also strives to foster an appreciation of all forms of the performing arts and provides opportunities for artistic and personal growth for the benefit of the ACS community.

We lead the students through all stages of a full scale Musical Production. 

We build a cast of committed students who are capable of delivering meaningful messages to the audience, through music, dance, acting.

The Astrology club has been at ACS for a number of years, and has been one of the more creativity-oriented extracurriculars. It has consistently been a part of the ACS Arts Fest, participating in chart readings for the visitors, and helping people get to know themselves better and learn more about their compatibility with others.              

Astrology has been a great consultant for many years. World leaders, celebrities, and businessmen have had, and still have, their own full-time astrologers, whom they talk to before making important decisions. Benjamin Franklin, Ronald Reagan, Franklin Roosevelt, George Clooney, and Micheal Jackson are just a few prominent examples! The practice is also common amongst Wall Street entrepreneurs and stock market investors. 

The club’s main activities include natal chart reading, specific discussions for each astrological sign and house, an overview of all astrological systems, both ancient and modern, and a little bit of synastry analysis. The club is open to all members willing to join, regardless of their prior experience with astrology. Whether you still need to call your mom to ask her for your birth time, you blame your daily hassles on your natal placements, or you are an avid tarot reader, there is definitely a spot for you.

The club meets every Monday at 3:45. Usually one presenter (usually the president, vice-president or sponsor, but open to members interested in the topic) will give a presentation and short lecture on a topic in astronomy. This involves human astronomy, history of astronomy, geography of space (descriptions of various astronomical objects and phenomena) or problem solving. These problems are usually connected either to physics in or out of the curriculum as well as preparation for the astronomy olympiads.

Additionally throughout the year the club will host astronomy nights and observations (both morning and evening). Some of these are restricted to members of the club, while others are open to the Greater ACS Community. Evening observations involve the club meeting together and participating in team building activities (for example watching a movie) until the planets (or other astronomical objects) align - usually until 7-8 pm, at which point we observe said objects through Mr. Youngs’ telescope. Morning observations usually after daylight savings at around 6-8 am, in order to minimize light pollution. Note: Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the activities that require meeting in person are on hold, though they are still exemplary for the club.

The club will also have activities in the SCIFI space for different Astronomy-related projects. This works both as a team-building activity and an opportunity to become more acquainted with SCIFI.

https://stellarium.org/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rHUDWjR5gg&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtPAJr1ysd5yGIyiSFuh0mIL

https://astro-olymp.org/

The Automobiles and Racing Club’s mission is to educate people about how an automobile functions, driving on public roads and discuss different racing series like Formula 1, Formula E, Rally series, etc. This is going to be achieved by discussions, lectures and workshops which concentrate on the aforementioned topics. There will also be practical examples and applications of the learned information, which are going to be useful in real-life situations. An example of these is learning about basic road signs, rules and manoeuvres in specific real-life situations. We are also going to discuss innovations and technologies in modern-day cars

We are mainly focused on the Creativity strand of the CAS system, but we can organise events in which Activity and Service CAS can be acquired. Such events may be a go-kart race at the Sofia Karting Ring circuit or other circuits, meetings of the club members on Sundays during which we are going to watch and discuss a number of Formula 1 races together, meetings with motorsport commentators and or drivers, track days and many more.

Last year we had a formal 2 hour long online meeting with the F1 commentator Momchil Manchev, who told us all about commentating and his career in it, and answered our questions about motorsport and his ties to it. Another activity we organised last year was a karting race at the Sofia Ring Mall karting circuit, where we had a lot of fun together.

The idea of the club was born in an Informatics class. It was spontaneous and didn’t quite fit into the common idea of a school club. Its purpose is to educate students on topics such as the Arab countries, common stereotypes concerning them, lifestyle differences, holidays, and cuisine. It helps students improve their worldview and mindset.

            Everything is done in some sort of a creative way - either presentations, posters, or just open discussions. It all helps the participants improve their group work, critical thinking, and analysis skills. We are using various platforms to learn something new every day - soon we will implement Tik Tok, Instagram, and Buzzfeed into our activities. We also go on small trips to local mosques, learn their history, and record videos or write texts where we share everything we’ve learned. Going to authentic restaurants is our most favourite activity because it’s an incredible experience and goes well into the CAS portfolio.

            The most basic thing we try to do here is to learn something new, have fun and break common stereotypes. We are also lucky to sometimes have guest speakers who can share their incredible first-person experiences with us. We host weekly meetings on Thursdays but also consider the participants’ schedule and workload and try to make it easy and flexible for everyone.

The Banking and Finance Club was established this year. It is the place where we discuss the basics of financing and banking. Our mission is to introduce basic principles of finances, starting with the history and development of banks from their establishment to today, then continuing with the basic principles of finance, basic terms, stocks, loans, etc. 

The purpose of the club will be to understand the basics of the financial principles and the fundamentals of the banking systems as orientation in the financial and banking sphere. Our purpose is not to become the best financiers, but to give a better understanding of the idea of finance that will help the members of the club in their future choice of university. During the meetings, we have discussions, sometimes watching movies about some of the most successful financiers.

BG drama devotes itself through rehearsals and practice to educating students in different aspects of Drama: 

• acting
• directing
• stagecraft

Additionally, it educates the ACS students in the history of the performance text preparing them for the performance in their mother tongue. It is in the play where the students may unlock their hidden talents in and take journey in theater.

Brave New World Society described in one word is diversity. There’s everything you could possibly think of: from debates to science labs and drawing, and this has to do with the fact that when exploring the world, one cannot simply look at it from a scientific or political or sociological perspective. You should take into consideration all views on the matter, and this is what we do in Brave New World Society—we explore the world in a non-conventional manner. All our activities reflect on the idea of becoming well-rounded individuals, and we manage to combine the arts and sciences in our meetings. We watch prominent films, read world-class literature, listen to relaxing music after a busy day, discuss current and controversial issues regarding Artificial Intelligence, Nuclear Energy, Modern Physics, Anti-utopian societies in literature, etc. Throughout the year we will also do various creative tasks: writing letters to our role models/scientists, painting constellation maps, star-gazing, organising art/science workshops, and visiting the observatory in Rozhen as part of our space exploration. Our approach might be different, but then again how are we supposed to popularise science otherwise? Life is exciting, and while we are still young and curious, we might as well explore all of its opportunities.

http://nao-rozhen.org/index_en.html

https://www.instructables.com/DIY-Star-Map-Memento/

https://www.george-orwell.org/1984

https://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/huxleya-bravenewworld/huxleya-bravenewworld-00-h.html

https://owlcation.com/academia/100-Debate-Topics

The Bulgarian Folk Dancing Club is a club created in 2019. The club is focused on dancing only Bulgarian folk dances - hora.

The club instantly attracted people that were interested in learning more about Bulgarian culture and dancing our traditional dances. During our meetings we dance and talk more about each region in Bulgaria. As a group, we choreographed our own dance for the Christmas concert. At the end of the event we formed a horo that attracted the audience of the concert to be part of the ACS community and show how important the Bulgarian heritage is.

Another thing we did last year was visiting the Daily Epilepsy Center for children. We taught them how to dance simple folk dances and played board games with them. It was a memorable experience that we cannot currently do but hope to continue with such activities when the pandemic is over.

When the pandemic started, we created a video that greeted the ACS community by wishing them a happy holiday and showing them what each club member learned throughout the year. This year, we saw each other in person while going to school and we are currently meeting online. In our online meetings we aim to gain more knowledge about each ethnographic region in Bulgaria. Also, if possible, we would like to participate in the Christmas concert and Arts Fest - both hosted by ACS.

Our goals for next year are to participate in more concerts and try to attend events where we can show how much we have learned. We are proud to share our story so far and continue to make history in the ACS community. Our club aims to gain more participants in our club so that we can form a longer horo. :)

The main purpose of the club is to organize seminars where the participants meet leading Bulgarian businessmen, learn valuable tips in order to succeed in their own career path, attend interesting workshops with professionals from different spheres of business and economics. Through discussions spanning international relations, entrepreneurship, marketing, finance, and the realty sector, students move beyond the confines of material in the school curriculum. In the seminars, we also discuss topics on the Bulgarian and world economy and politics. Some of the most interesting speakers that have come to deliver lectures are Mr. Stanimir Iliev, NDSV party member and former MEP, Mr. Levon Hampartzoumian, former CEO of UniCredit Bulbank, Ms. Milena Dencheva, main director of Lidl Bulgaria, Ms. Ralitsa Slavova, CEO at Maxxium Bulgaria, and many more. Some of our guests, such as Ms.Elena Marinova and Elvin Gury, have even been on the cover of Forbes Bulgaria. This year we will organize a fundraising event to raise money for donation and continue inviting exciting guests. We plan on organizing an event for the student body in the College to come and listen to lectures by some of the most accomplished Bulgarian businessmen from different spheres.

This is a new club that we formed because of all the people that like calisthenics and for everyone who wants to learn. This is going to be a nice environment where people can progress and keep fit whilst learning something new each time. With the help of Mr. Lozanchev, we finally formed the club and the response from the students has been great. Now we are a group of 18 people. Every week we are going to do different activities, for example some are going to be simply workouts and other more fun and entertaining activities and games connected to calisthenics.  At the start we did an entrance test and we have everybody’s results so at the end of the semester we will make another one to see their progress. And in some time depending on the group level we might be able to go to some competitions.

More about our Mission Statement:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dHY6Bk7U5ONW9Cj0kPFCvnK-GcYSF0AlIe6zO7pVjUE/edit?usp=sharing

The Career Orientation Club was founded in 2016. Since then, the club was involved in different meetings and events in order to help students decide for their future plans and path. A Career Fair was organized twice (in 2017 and 2019), and it was a very successful event, attended by a significant number of students from ACS. During the academic years, there were seminars and presentations which were meant to help people learn more about different professions and talk to different people from certain professional areas.

The club holds weekly meetings where members can discuss their ideas for the future and help each other with information, support, etc.

Our mission is to prepare for the Chemistry Olympiad this year as well as to have fun lab activities connected with chemistry. We want to share our resources with others and to help each other with preparation. We are doing lab experiments when we have the chance at school, and online we plan on solving chemistry problems and preparing for the Chemistry Olympiad. An important note here is that we want to present this science in an enjoyable and satisfying light. We will learn new things, some connected with the material at school, and more beyond that.

As a part of the entrepreneurship profile and the Green Elective in 10th grade, I became very passionate about saving the environment. Sofia is one of the most green cities in Europe but the parks are heavily polluted due to negligence and lack of awareness and volunteers. Some of my best childhood memories are going to the South park with my friends and family, and it is a shame when I think about the present and future generations that won’t be able to enjoy nature as much as I did. I hope that other ACS students will have the same drive to help keep the memory of a clean and green environment in Sofia and wil take part in the club.
As a senior I understand the busy schedule ACS students have. That is why the club will meet once or twice a month on the weekends so that more people can participate. I don't think there will be a need for maximum student capacity; the more the merrier. Club activity will incorporate both service and activity hours as it will include walking around the parks. Hopefully we will be able to have a social media platform to spread the word or put up posters around Sofia, which can possibly add to the creativity strand as well. The only requirement will be for the participants to wear their ACS block t-shirts, which will help us find each other around and show the people of Sofia what ACS represents as an institution.
I am sure that people will be excited about the club. I am hopeful that we will be able to help make Sofia cleaner.

The Creative Writing Club is much more than an affiliation to school. It combines both independent and group work through various activities: from competitions, presentations, critiquing one another’s work, to going on walks outside that may give us inspiration, discussing books, and other pleasurable pursuits. 

No author has the formula to perfect writing, since there is no such thing, and that is what makes it so exceptional and bewitching- this is what our club will promote. Mistakes are normal and the first step to improvement is making such errors which expand the space for long-term growth. Furthermore, the level of your ability is in no way of importance: you can be completely unfamiliar with the writing process or you could have engaged in the activity for years. In any case, our goal is certain: to expand your writing potential.

Ultimately, the idea of the club is to bring together students from all grade levels who will combine their own unique experiences and different starting points. However, they will all have one thing in common: the love for writing. We aspire to create a safe space for people to independently express themselves through the 26 English letters and cannot wait for the meaningful connections that we will form with one another during the course of this school year!

https://blog.reedsy.com/writing-contests/

https://dystopianstories.com/writing-competitions-contests/

https://www.udemy.com/course/the-complete-creative-writer-all-genres-a-full-course/

The goal of the club’s activity is to help and support those within our community who are in most need. Regular charity events (donations), which could consist of anything, from food and clothes to old books or money, are created by all club members. The club provides plenty of Service hours for CAS portfolios, as well as the incredible inner pleasure of having done something good for others.

Club meetings are held every Wednesday after the 8th class period. Club Sponsor is Dr. Arash Arjomand (Science Department). Meetings take place in his classroom, Djerassi (DJE) 301 B, and last for around one class period (40 minutes), 3:50-4:30 PM.

Regarding contributions from club members, each club member creates at least one charity event (donation) of any kind by themselves or with a partner/group and participates in at least one such event made by another club member(s). The agenda for creating a charity event (donation) consists of coming up with an event with most details already observed, proposing the event to the Heads of the club, working on any essentials of the event within club’s meeting time, presenting the event to the rest of the club members, setting a deadline for contribution to the event, promoting the event within the school community, and sharing the outcomes of the event (possibly in the newsletter).

Overall, this club is a brand new idea of mine, Iva Ivanova 10/8, that is about to come to vision with a bit of Dr. Arjomand’s help, as well as my best friend, Elitsa Tsvetanova 10/10 (Vice-President of the club), and it is about organizing charity events (donations) in huge service. All club activities are mostly pleasing to do, but they also follow the great cause of helping others.

Donation Station: Members List

The club was created for people who want to relax after school and bond over their shared interests for board games such as Dungeons and Dragons, The Settlers of Catan, Magic: The Gathering, Monopoly and many more. The club in not exclusive to those who know how to play said games. The members will be able to learn and develop their skills. Tournaments will be organized within the club. CAS opportunities will include the design of game characters (creativity), the design of games (creativity), the creation of said games (activity, creativity) - more will be added.

There are no restrictions for club members - everybody is welcome! We will use Mr. Plass’ game collection, but if you want to play something different, feel free to bring your own games.

The club was originally founded in 1933. It was reestablished after the reopening of the College and since then it is an essential part of the CAS program. Since the founding of the National Debate Team in 2015, ACS students from the club have been forming the backbone of the team, with a record 4 out of 9 people on the team coming from the college. For two consecutive years (2017 and 2018) the national debate cup (BDA Open) was won by ACS students.

We hold weekly debates where members can try out and develop their public speaking skills and get detailed individual feedback afterwards. We also hold workshops and exercises aimed at improving specific skills. On a regular basis, the club is taking part in debate tournaments in Bulgaria.

Events: We hold the ACS Debate Open annually, where teams from the entire country gather to compete for one of the most prestigious debating trophies in the country.

Debate Blog - https://sites.google.com/acsbg.org/otvaryashtopravitelstvo/%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B3%D1%8A%D1%82-%D0%B7%D0%B0-%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%B1%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B8

Digital World Club is about creating video games, 3D models and engineering using different professional software. The club was created in 2018 and uses 3 different apps to create material: Solidworks, Blender and Unity. First we learn how to use the software when we meet in the computer lab, and then the members are assigned individual projects so that they can work on utilizing the skills to create new material on their own. Finally, each student presents their work on Digital Fest. Last year we worked on 3 different projects in the club -  CouncilTrack; Virtual Map of ACS, and AR Learn, which are all used at the College to make the educational experience more interactive and overall better.

Discover Bulgaria is a club devoted to Bulgarian culture, literature, some history, nature, and mysteries. It has been around in the American College of Sofia for more than a decade and it attracts a lot of new members every year. Its purpose is to educate its members about Bulgarian facts concerning its culture. Here we do presentations on different topics about significant Bulgarian events, people, or places. Later, these presentations are all collected in a single google website. Its purpose is to be of use to other students or people who are interested in the topics that we discuss. Ideally, the club also invites guest speakers to talk about a specific professional field that has something to do with the main themes of Discover Bulgaria. We organize visits to museums and hikes that have a purpose of enjoyment and appreciation of the beautiful Bulgarian nature. We collaborate with other school organizations like The Fountain and SMACS (Short movies). The goal of DIscover Bulgaria is for its members to have fun while actively participating in activities that interest every one of us. Discover Bulgaria is a place where all members feel welcome and are strongly encouraged to take part in club projects and activities. The projects include group work as well as individual research. Discover Bulgaria strives to be flexible enough so that the topics that are discussed are interesting and relevant to everyone.

The Economics Club’s mission is to provide a better understanding of global, national and local economic issues that are confronting society. We strive to enrich student knowledge and skills in the field of economics which provides a systematic framework for analyzing, researching, writing, and teaching about a wide array of financial and regional economic issues. Our usual meeting includes a presentation, covering material either from the AP Micro- or Macroeconomics exam and a discussion based on a relevant problem that is affecting society. The idea is not only to lay out the basic concepts of economics, but to create the link between the theory that the school system teaches students and reality. Implying the studied material, students must be able to analyze an economical situation, predict its future and be able to weigh which solution is best and what its outcomes might occur. Even more, we are not only talking about current on-going issues, but also ones that have occurred throughout history, in order to create a parallel between the past and the present. The CAS is based on attendance, submission of the forms posted in the classroom and participation during the discussions. It will count mostly as creativity, but if a student provides materials for a discussion and wants to lead it, this will count as service. The students are encouraged to ask questions if they don’t understand something or want to learn more.

English Drama's mission is to provide performance opportunities for all interested students of ACS, encourage learning through performing arts, acknowledge the educational power of theater, build better relations within the ACS community.

We build a team of motivated and dedicated students, and produce a quality drama production, and present it in front of an audience. We entertain and inspire the public.

The Entrepreneurship and Enterprise club’s focus is on innovative businesses. We will discuss new trends in the business industry, what qualities successful entrepreneurs have, turning ideas into action, and eventually planning our own business. During club meetings we will discuss articles from business magazines, business related news events, watch TED talks, listen to PodCast, and write a business plan. One of our major goals is to bring innovative business ideas to the ACS community and we will do this by inviting entrepreneurs for round table talks.

We created this club because we wanted to learn more about innovative business ideas and how to create a business plan. We are also greatly concerned with sustainable business practices.

Students have a one-of-a-kind opportunity to actively create work and take risks while exploring their own distinctive artistic identities through the ACS Filmmaking Club, which meets on Mondays at 15:40. In order for them to develop and articulate their creative practices in film, television, and digital media, the club encourages young and enthusiastic students to participate in meetings and events. We offer hands-on experience in the filmmaking, analyzing, and marketing processes, among other things. Masterclasses with Bulgarian directors such as Dan Iliev will be held as part of the program. We hope to instill in our students a culture of self-discipline and risk-taking, as well as the fundamentals of the art of storytelling, through our curriculum.

The mission of the Financial Markets Club is to connect students that have enthusiastic interest and unlimited curiosity about finance, marketing and investment of all types. In this club members will share knowledge and insight with everyone, and in this way, they will feel comfortable talking about finance and performing different investment strategies. Our purpose is together to educate on investment banking and learn more about different careers in finance. This will become a reality through career-oriented activities based on finance that will give members the opportunity to learn useful information which will prepare them for their future choice. Our Club is keen on providing an environment where students with common interests can learn from each other, develop major financial skills and improve through live experience like guest speakers, presentations, projects. Moreover, members will broaden their minds by using creativity, critical thinking and strategies which are all required for the finance and investment world. A priority in our Club is to work on real-life projects in which every member will take a significant position. The major purpose of this is to provoke the critical thinking in members and improve their creative skills at the end. The purpose of the Club is to gather together students with common interests in finance and to give them the opportunity to improve in this field. Members will be exposed to a wide variety of finance-related problems such as investment banking, wealth management, sales, trading, etc. In order to manage, they will use their creativity and critical thinking, which is what the Club aims for. Our purpose is to learn various aspects of finance and investment that will help students explore different career-paths based on it. Learning will be based on theoretical and practical activities that will provoke members’ creativity and extraordinary thinking.

“Fridays for Future” is a new club that focuses on raising awareness about climate issues among students of ACS and citizens of Sofia. This means that we do not plan to simply participate in the climate protests every Friday and call it a day; we plan to invite speakers to the school and host talks with them, as well as to organize student-led events with games, presentations, and competitions, which would help establish a healthy eco-friendly lifestyle within the ACS community. 

For now, we plan for the club to meet Fridays after school or during consultation. Our meetings will be dedicated to creating materials for our campaign, getting in touch with our supporters, and discussing the work done so far. 

Members of the Club do not have to participate in every single activity - some might make posters to hand out to protesters, which they could count for both Creativity and Service, while others might help organize events by talking to the administrative bodies of ACS. Despite the name of the Club, it is certainly not imperative to participate in the protests in order to be a member - as it is stated on the official website of the event, “All support is welcome.”

We hope that over the year, this club would be able to participate in or organize events that count towards all strands of CAS. However, is important that those who consider joining know that since the main aim of the Club is to raise awareness, we are going to focus primarily on Service and, to some extent, on Creativity.

The club First Aid aims to expand the knowledge of ACS students in providing first aid to injured people in an accident until the arrival of the emergency medical team. The club members will gain general theoretical and practical knowledge and skills on how to act if they accidentally find themselves in an accident situation. The training includes presentations, practical exercises and tasks in simulated incidents, and interactive games to learn more easily the steps in each emergency.

Having the desire to help is not enough: you should learn how to do it. We aspire to attract and train as many college students as possible to provide first aid, because the difference between life and death for the victim is sometimes seconds or minutes. Everyone of us may save a human life, but we need to know what and how to do it. The gained experience here, in the club, will remain for a lifetime.

Friends of UNICEF is a club which gives its members the opportunity of expanding their world view through communication with people of different ages and backgrounds, while participating in charity events, which will result in positive outcomes for both the students as developing adults and citizens and the people in need we will be working with. 

The club concentrates on helping the community in any way possible. We participate in a variety of different campaigns and work with several organizations in order to get to more people and achieve greater results, which for our team means making someone’s day better, having a short talk concerning their problems, or even having fun together. The focus in our club is on charity in all its various forms and teaching young people that caring about the society means taking care of themselves and their closest people as well. The members of the club are responsible students whose only goal is to provide help to those in need. The club has been working with several organizations for a long time, so we do our best in order to satisfy the expectations of our partners.

The main goals of  “Friends of UNICEF” are two - helping the community in all its forms and teaching young people and future adults that the action of doing charity work is not only useful for the society we live in, but is also satisfying for the person who does it and this is what we aim for - achieved results and happy people.

It completely covers the Service factor in the CAS criteria, as well as the Creativity one if the specific members participate in such initiatives and according to the specific task they will be doing in the club.

How did we come up with the idea?

This is a new club that together with my friend and vice president decided to create in our school. This summer I went to a two-week-long summer course for AI programming. It was organized by alumni from Stanford, MIT and other prestigious universities in the US. All of them had specialized in computer science with that, however, they had degrees in other fields as well. I saw how AI isn’t just something for the technology geeks but it also has an important role to play in healthcare, politics, science, the environment, etc. This vast implementation of still new to the human mind systems raises the question of how ethical it is. Here is where our club initiative comes in to try to answer such concerns.

What will the activities of the club be?

I got accepted to an additional program for AI Ambassadors and I have the obligation to inform my peers and people interested in AI about the opportunities Inspirit provides. They offered to give me resources I can use to create an AI Ethics Club in my school. I believe students could benefit a lot from presentations created by world-leading engineers in the field of AI. We will hold discussions and lectures on the said presentations about the ethics of AI. We plan to also introduce the club members to AI, on what principles it works, how it is being developed and what are the latest discoveries in this “tool” that could either significantly improve our future or completely destroy it. Other activities could include: teaching students how to do proper research, maybe trying to program a very basic machine learning algorithm, making presentations, posters, watching movies about the future with robots from the vision of imaginative writers/directors, going to local exhibitions and/or conventions about AI.   

What strands of CAS does it cover?

Of course, everybody likes to get all of their CAS hours by attending only one club and maximizing their free time. That’s why we have come up with ways to help students meet two of the three CAS strand requirements. First, we will give Creativity with all of our future projects to come, where members of the club will actively participate. Our open discussions that require the students’ ability for critical thinking will also be a great way to incorporate the creativity aspect. On the other hand, Service will come from learning about AI ethics and spreading the information through the form of presentations, emails, google forms and physical or virtual posters that will be available for everyone at school to interact with and learn. Another service goal of ours is to share ideas/worldviews amongst each other, which would hopefully spark conversations and give students the opportunity to teach what they know, the greatest act of service.

Inspirit AI - https://www.inspiritai.com/

The Golf Club in ACS presents a wonderful opportunity to try something new: a sport that is not widespread in Bulgaria. You will find new friends, learn more about golf -- terminology, rules, dress code, manners, and last but not least -- how to hit a golf ball!

          The Golf Club was created some years ago by an initiative from ACS students under the guidance of Ms. Papazova. It is able to function with the help of Magdalena Borisova. Every year we participate in the Arts Fest where we play chipping and putting and show how an “aristocratic game” can be fun and easy to play. The Club also goes to the National Sports Academy “Vasil Levski” in Studentski grad where we are able to practice on a much larger area - up to 210 meters. There we play full swing and members can enjoy the magic of golf. Todor Aleksiev, the instructor of the Academy, gives excellent advices to the members in order to improve their game.

          During regular meetings of Golf Club, we play chipping outside (on the field by Sanders when the weather is suitable). When the conditions are not appropriate to play outside, we usually play putting in the Fitness Center and make creative presentations about golf and examine the different types of shots in greater detail. When the spring comes, the Golf Club visits the National Sports Academy and receives useful advice.

Even though we are not in school in-person, we meet online. We watch movies and make presentations about golf. Join the Golf Club, because you can try something different and exciting, and represent your block!

President: Magdalena Borisova 12/2

Vice-President: Joseph Fard 12/8

                       Nikola Kolev 12/2                           

Club Sponsor: Mrs. Papazova

ACS’s GSA provides a safe place for students to meet, support each other, talk about issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity and expression, and work to end homophobia and transphobia.

ACS’s GSA is not a club only for LGBTQIA+ students, related to sexual promiscuity, anti-religious, exclusively political, or a place where you have to declare your sexual orientation or reason for participating.

Anecdotal evidence indicates that GSAs can greatly improve the school climate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning students and their allies. GSAs that conduct student and teacher sensitivity trainings typically see a decrease in slurs, name-calling, and harassment following their advocacy efforts. GSAs also create safe spaces for students to meet and socialize in a harassment-free environment.

GSAs Provide Support

Many GSAs function as a support group and provide safety and confidentiality to students who are struggling with their identity as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or questioning or those who are experiencing harassment at school because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. These groups often provide one of the few safe spaces for students to express themselves.

GSAs Build Community

GSAs are also social groups. They provide a sense of community and a space for LGBTQ and straight ally youth to build a social network where their identity is respected. Lots of GSAs organize barbeques or movie nights, organize field trips to a local LGBT prom or an LGBT pride parade, and attend conferences together. GSAs are a great way to build community at your school and lessen the isolation that LGBTQ students might otherwise experience.

GSAs Take Action to Create Change

In addition to support, some GSAs work on educating themselves and the broader school community about sexual orientation and gender identity issues. They may bring in outside speakers to cover a particular topic such as LGBTQ history. They may organize a "Pride Week" or "LGBTQ Awareness Events" and offer a series of educational workshops, panels, and pride celebrations. Some GSAs organize a "Teach the Teachers" staff development day, which focuses on teaching school staff how to be better allies for LGBTQ students. There are many other types of educational and activist events that GSAs can do.

ACS’s GSA has participated and helped organize ACS Art’s Fest, Coming Out Day, the Day of Silence, and Sofia Pride. We have invited many guest speakers and visited panels and events in the larger Sofia community. Sometimes we just eat pizza and watch movies. Anyone is welcome to join us at any time!

In Bulgarian, we often say "wish you health" before the holidays and even in cases of success or failure. Life and health always go hand in hand. This is why lately more and more people strive to strengthen this connection. Caring for one’s health has become a priority for both adults and young people. This is why we, a group of students at the American College of Sofia, found the Healthy Lifestyle club. Our goal is to demonstrate how to take care of our physical and mental well-being. We do not claim to be experts in this field but we truly believe that regular exercise, a balanced diet and a healthy mindset can be the cherry on everyone’s cake (although we will definitely convince you that the cherry is better than the cake☺). Lead a healthy lifestyle, dedicate to it, and enjoy!

Helping Hand Club is a place where students meet to serve the community by being a helping hand to those in need. Throughout the year the students can choose from among various initiatives and fundraisers to take part in. The initiatives may focus on one-on-one communication, assistance of elderly people and children, or volunteering in charity events. During fundraisers we typically collect food, money, books, games, etc., for day care centers for children with disabilities.

Helping Hand Club meets every Wednesday after school to discuss future initiatives or to organise fundraisers. During weekends the club members can choose to participate in initiatives based on their interests and availability. Our goal is that every student should be given the opportunity to help the community in the best possible way. Ultimately, the club members will learn the significance of doing good, improve their communication skills, and gradually become the leaders we need nowadays.

The Hiking Club has been around for the past five years; its mission - gathering people who enjoy spending time in nature and allowing them to do so in an ever-changing and growing environment. Ever since its establishment, it has brought both students from different grade levels and teachers from various backgrounds together to explore the natural beauty of the Bulgarian mountain regions.

It gathers once or twice a month (depending on the members’ schedule) for a hike and at least once for a planning meeting, during which the route chosen can be discussed, edited, and completed. During this planning meeting, students receive important information regarding safety as well as equipment needed for a successful hike. Although we usually hike in Vitosha, since it is in close proximity to Sofia and access via public transportation is easy, we are known to organize trips in Rila, Stara Planina, etc. We have previously arranged overnight hikes, supervised by ACS teachers, an opportunity for members of the club to explore more challenging hiking trails. This usually happens during long weekends or breaks. In the past, we have also conducted joint ventures with other clubs in ACS such as the Photography Club.  This year we plan to get in contact with the people who take care of the national parks or the Mountain Rescue Service of the Red Cross and help them with marking the mountain tracks or putting signs in regions that have been neglected. We contribute to the community by giving students a chance to meet new people who share a similar passion and spend more time in nature, thus promoting a healthier lifestyle in the indoor-oriented world we live in.

The Human Rights Mock Trial club was created approximately 4 years ago. We have organized a Mock Trial for both high school students and college students. With the help of volunteer judges and speakers, we have been able to make the Mock Trial a reality again this year. This club does create an event that is nationally recognized and includes many participating schools but more importantly -- their students. The members of the club set a foundation of law by choosing and altering lawsuits for high school and college students. Moreover, the club improved its members’ organizational skills by dividing the work amongst students. Each student can choose what they are passionate about and organize this part of the event. The Mock Trial is organized during the year and the event lasts a weekend during March or April. The event consists of a meet-and-greet on Friday, along with a speaker event. We meet up somewhere in the center and have a couple of hours to really meet the participants and for them to get to know each other. Then, on Saturday, we start with workshops and time for the students to work on their speeches. We have some educated people that have had some experience in mock trials tell them strategies and prepare them. After a couple of rounds and the finals on Sunday, the event ends and so do the meetings of the club. We all come to the conclusion that our passion for law and organization bring us together in this club, where we all come ready to learn and work together.

A place for anyone interested in exploring the legal system to come, learn, and have fun.

The Introduction to Law Club was created in 2020 to provide students who are thinking of studying Law at university or simply have an interest in it with a strong basic knowledge of what law is and how it impacts our lives. We will be learning some basic legal terms and ways to memorize them. Furthermore, we will get a better understanding of legal systems from around the world and look into the differences between them. We will also be exploring interesting cases and discussing them, as well as topics like morality and justice. Moreover, students will learn about exams which they might potentially need to take if they decide to pursue an education in Law and how they could prepare for them. Additionally, members of our club will have the opportunity to be a part of a European Court of Human Rights Mock Trial where they will be provided with insight into court hearings and the preparation that goes into them. Participants in the event will be able to get in the roles of a prosecutor, defence attorney or witnesses. They will also have to do research to prepare their case, present their arguments and try to refute those of the opposing party. Being a member of The Introduction to Law Club will give members the opportunity to meet new people with a similar interest in Law, be in a safe and supporting environment to share their views on different topics, develop their ability to speak in front of an audience and get a great preparation for an education in Law.

The Italian Culture Club creates a great sense of community for ACS students who are passionate about Italy. The main purpose of the club is to engage its members in unique and fun experiences that allows them to enhance their appreciation and knowledge of the Italian cultural heritage regarded by UNESCO as World Heritage. The club offers many opportunities to receive CAS hours for all three strands. Meetings take place weekly, on Thursdays from 15:45 to 16:25.

Throughout the year we will be covering the general presentation of Italy, its history and art. The Italian Culture club also offers regular visits at the Italian Culture Institute in Sofia. While exploring the culture, you may learn more about Italian Christmas and New Year traditions, namely, Capodanno and La Befana. Other aspects of Italian culture that will be covered include fashion, design, automotive industry, and food. Italian gastronomy is an important aspect of society in Italy, which is why we will be tasting different foods as well as learning the art of “slow cooking” Italian style from experienced Italian chefs. Finally, a trip to Sicily may be planned in order to realistically explore the unique mixture of cultures existing on the biggest Mediteraеnean island. Members will be participating in charity events in support of the St Nicholas Orphanage in Novi Han as per the tradition of the club. If anything mentioned above sparks your interest, consider joining the Italian Culture Club!

Keep Our Planet Alive’s main aims are to inspire and encourage students to become aware of their environmental impact and to aid our planet’s conservation by regularly cleaning different polluted areas. Our activities involve a new kind of recycling in which club members show the beauty of it by creating handmade ornaments from bottles, lids, paper, etc. We plan on visiting different schools and kindergartens where we can teach the younger generation about pollution, recycling, and how to lead a more sustainable lifestyle. The organization was also introduced in Plovdiv, so we have two main locations, and thus, a greater impact.

The members of Keep Our Planet Alive have already done three clean-ups, one in Plovdiv and two in Sofia. We held a Christmas fundraiser in ACS, where wel presented our innovative and unique creations made from recycled materials. Our planet needs help and our team is determined to use our skills, passion, and enthusiasm to help her! 

Website: https://keepourplanetalive.mobirisesite.com/

The Latin Club was launched in August 2020 as a response to a number of students who expressed interest in learning and/or practicing Latin. The goal of the Club is to inculcate a love for the language. The Club meets on Mondays. Its activities include reading Latin, translating, playing games related to Latin, and generally cherishing the usage of the language. Since this is the first year for this Club, the members are keen to rope in more enthusiasts and are on a look out for events they can organize and activities they can do using Latin beyond their Club meetings.

There have been library helpers since 1998. At first there were only several volunteers to help with shelving and labeling books. During the years 2000-2007 the members numbered 30-40. During those years helpers were specialized. We had several helpers on duty during lunch breaks and after classes shelving books, making photocopies or cataloging books. In 2007-2008 we moved to IB compatible computers. We found another program which was more professional. During the next years the students moved from copying to printing homework. The number of helpers dwindled.

In more recent years the library was moved to Abbott 3rd floor during the reconstruction of the America for Bulgaria Campus Center. The club stopped its work. The second big school change was the gradual exchange of desk computers and LAN network to WiFi network and Chromebooks for teachers and students. It changed the library service system.

Since the 2018-2019 school year when the library moved to the new space on the second floor of the America for Bulgaria Campus Center the school adopted the paperless policy. As of June 2018 the Library Helpers club was resumed. The students helped with the shelving of the whole collection of about 16,000 books. This year the members of the club will help with book processing - labeling, stamping, taping donation labels of new books. The total number of titles donated by alumni and others is about 800. This will support the overall friendly and organized atmosphere in the library.

The Math Company is a club organized by students for students. This year is the first year the club is operating. 

It’s no secret that quite a few students find mathematics challenging. However, we believe that mathematics is the basis of everything. That’s why we decided to form The Math Company. Focused mainly on 8th and 9th grade students, the club is dedicated to the development of students’ understanding of mathematics. Our goal is to help those who experience difficulties in Math by providing them with a better perception of the subject. Those who are part of the club will be able to send us, the teachers, the problems from their Math homework which they struggle on and ask us questions about them. During the club meetings, which will be held on Tuesdays from 15:45 to 16:25 in room 5203, we will explain the problems and questions raised by the students. In addition, we will solve similar problems but in a more interesting way, so that the process becomes much more memorable for the club members. The club will provide a pleasant atmosphere in which students will feel comfortable asking us questions as a result of the fact that they will be able to ask their peers for help rather than someone else. Because it is their classmates who have a much closer experience to theirs and who can give them explanations in the best ways possible. 

The ACS Model United Nations club was established in 2005 following the now 100 year-old tradition of organised, student-lead conference simulations. A steadily growing community, it is currently composed of almost 20 members who share an interest in diplomacy, international relations and public speaking. 

The club introduces students to the basic structure and main bodies of the United Nations. During meetings senior members conduct delegate training where new participants are guided through the rules of procedure and jargon of a Model United Nations conference. Preparatory conferences are held for the purposes of learning and improving speaking, debate, negotiation, and resolution-writing skills which members later implement during actual conferences. Students represent different countries and try to find solutions to issues such as “Measures to prevent the proliferation and to lower production capabilities of weapons of mass destruction through an active international political agenda” and “Measures to protect human, economic, social and cultural rights of people who identify as LGBTQ+”

In recent years, the club has participated, both in person and online, in many international and domestic events such as the MIT Model United Nations, the American College of Greece MUN, the Coornhert MUN, and the Deutsche Schule Sofia MUN. Many ACS delegates are thus already decorated with awards for excellent performance. This year club members plan on organising the second edition of the ACS Model United Nations, our school’s very own conference. 

My MUN - https://mymun.com/

The mission of the Particle Physics club is to provide students with a better understanding of the fundamental principles and building blocks of the Universe. The club is designed to engage students in this Science field and to make them curious about the structure of the world as well as to discuss the biggest, most valuable, and influential science experiments. Our usual meetings include presentations about different topics, for example, accelerators and particles, followed by discussions among students. Our main idea is to outline the impact and value of the experiments, performed at CERN, Switzerland, the largest nuclear physics laboratory in the world, and other nuclear physics laboratories, and their results. We plan to talk about some historically impressive achievements in Physics, and also ongoing research and unanswered questions. We also plan to learn the details in the construction of an accelerator and even try to make a simple model of it.  

The club meets every Monday, Djerassi (Science) Building, room 103.

Everyone is welcome!

The Psychology Club was founded in the second semester of 2018/19 because of student interest. President of the club is Yuliya Kostadinova ’21 and sponsor is the School Psychologist Ms. Teodora Vuldzheva. The first year activities were focused on Emotional Intelligence and Communication, how to connect feelings with needs and how to address them in a nonviolent way. The participants were very persistent and managed to achieve great improvement in self-reflection and communication.

The mission of the Psychology Club for 2019/20 is to raise awareness about Mental Health among ACS (and out) community. The plan is the participants of the club to work on different topics related to Mental Health and share their knowledge with the ACS community. We plan to develop different visual materials like posters, presentations, one-pagers and a library with resources accessible to the student and faculty body. Knowledge can be shared during Advisory, in class or at specific events (TED talks, etc).

All interested students are welcome! We offer you a chance to serve an important cause and be creative!

The Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement are the official organizations and we are just a small strand of their 97 million volunteers. It was created in 1863 by the Swedish businessman and humanitarian Henry Dunant during the war of Solferino and since then its main purpose is to help people in all ways possible. Every volunteer of the organization should abide 7 principles, which are: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, universality;

            Red Cross, Bulgarian Youth is a voluntary club within the American College of Sofia’s territory. It is mainly focused on learning how to render first aid - physical and psychological. It also includes supporting different communities, raising awareness and organizing charity events. This year we have planned to do a lot of activities including giving presentations, discussing important themes, organizing events, collecting caps/clothes for donations, visiting orphanages and being of help to the ACS community as much as possible. Unfortunately, our activities are, and will continue to be, limited due to COVID-19 but we will still do them as long as we prioritize our health and this of our surroundings.

The objective of the ACS Science Club is to explore areas of science not covered by the curriculum, to give the club members various opportunities to do practical science. The Club will do its best to provoke its members to explore scientific phenomena and to raise public awareness about the way everything works in a fundamental level. Moreover, the Club will provide opportunities for its members to accumulate scientific experiences to further the boundaries of their knowledge.  In the process of planning and executing the activities which include but are not limited to peer tutoring, presentations, science challenges, and lectures we have the context and opportunity to gain scientific and logical thought as well as to develop our scope of organizational and leadership skills. The Science Club is by no means limited in terms of members, grade level, or number of projects.

The purpose of the club is to prepare the students for the national Olympiads in chemistry and physics with adequate knowledge that will get them all the way up to the third round of the Olympiads and even exceed that level. We strive to awaken further interest and give every member a wider perspective on the sciences. Many of the members of the science club have brought various medals and awards from physics and astronomy competitions in recent years. This year we plan to maintain this tendency by preparing students for both practical and theoretical Olympiads.

Several major activities are in the Science Club’s focus for this year:

• Student Lectures 

Every meeting will research and prepare a physics/chemistry lecture about a particular topic which will be examined in its fundamentals. They will present this lecture in front of the rest of the members. This type of service will enrich students’ scientific knowledge.

• Presentations and exhibitions visits
  If there are any presentations, lectures, exhibitions, etc. in/out of campus which are in Club’s interests, they will be attended.
• Preparation for competitions:
  The Science Club will try to continue to prepare its members and other students for various science competitions.
  
  
• Experimentation and solving practical problems:
  The Science Club’s members will organize and perform experiments, as well as solve creative practical problems. In the club, students are prepared for the International Young Physicist’s Tournament, which includes 17 experimental problems. More information is provided in the links below.
  
  
• Latest Science
  Science Club members will stay on top of the latest discoveries and news in science, as well as inform each other and the school society of the most interesting aspects.

The club was created by ACS graduates who are now successful in the movie industry. The purpose of our club is to produce interesting films that allow the club members to help in the process. The making of a movie is a difficult process, which consists of different parts. Except for the obvious things like directing, acting and screenwriting, there are many different things that a movie needs. In this club we learn all other existing components of film-making and how to be able to do most of them good or specific things excellent. We learn how to make our own movie. Our biggest project for the year is going to be the NuBoyana24 Challenge, in which we are going to participate with a movie all of us made.

Our club- Success Stories’ purpose is to meet our members with as many successful people as we possibly can. This way our members learn from the best and are able to incorporate some of their habits and advice in their life and thus have a higher chance of succeeding. Our meetings are predominantly online via an online video chat service like Google Meet, Zoom Call, and others. For some special cases we have a live in-person meeting with a guest. The people that have been to our meetings are rewarded with Creativity CAS hours. We don’t have a fiscated day or time for a meet because everything depends on our guests. Another CAS opportunity, we give our members, is that if they manage to arrange a meeting with a successful guest, they will receive Creativity and Service hours. Some of the meetings Kaloyan Karandzhulov and Boris Penev (the club’s presidents) have organized until this moment have been with the CEO of NOVA- Nikolay Andreev and with the Head of Investment Banking in ING - Stefan Shiligarski.

The Art of Cinema club is meant to be a place or time for people who are interested in cinema to come together and work on their passion. We plan and have already started to act on our plans to analyse movies from all genres of cinema and design a minimum of two projects for the year which will be short movies around 5 minutes. We think that this will help the students in their pursuit of a film production career because short movies are often required in the portfolio needed for universities. If not used for that purpose, short movies are also fun to produce so making that a hobby is also an option. The analysis we plan to do is in the Horror, Romantic, Comedy, Fantasy, Action, Drama (with a bigger emphasis on drama because we feel drama is very important for cinematography) and other minor genres. We plan to spend 2-3 weeks per genre and 4-5 for Drama. The short movies we are about to film will all be fully created by us: script, actors, equipment, director work, camera work, editing, etc. After producing them, we might want to showcase them in front of a larger audience which may happen in one of our advisory periods (this will be previously arranged with the dean, of course). We do not have history behind us but we plan to create one!

Events we will participate in include some competitions for short movies, scripts, photos or acting. Some of our club members are part of the Bulgarian Drama and the English Drama. We, as leaders of the club, will provide our students with resources to join whatever competitions they want or give ideas to join some as a club. We are also planning to host an event between the cinema clubs since there are a lot this year and organise a competition for best short movie.

Our club is meant to be an environment for film-lovers to feel free to express themselves and have fun!

The Fountain has been the journal for literature and culture of the American College of Sofia since 1994. It emerged as a voluntary initiative of actively writing students and teachers and gradually became one of the official releases of the school. The journal obtained an international ISSN number in 2011, which officially recognized The Fountain as a periodical.

The journal aims at giving talented students space to express themselves by publishing texts, photographs, and illustrations, and by organizing annual competitions (for prose and poetry, for translation and for cover design). Being part of the publishing team, students get introduced to the whole spectrum of activities related to the publishing process of a periodical — choosing texts for publishing, editing, working on the overall design, using prepress programs, conducting interviews, giving book reviews, advertising, organizing events, managing finances. One of the important goals of the journal is to create a taste for literature and personal criteria for the valuable cultural displays among the student body and in the same time to keep up with the current trends.

Website:

https://acsthefountain.wordpress.com/

The club was created in 2018 and represents Timeheroes - the biggest charity and volunteering platform in Bulgaria. It aims to provide students with the opportunity to do good. The participants will learn to help out those who lack financial, physical or moral support. 

Since its foundation, the club has accomplished a number of successful initiatives: several visits to the Home for Children Deprived of Parental Care Radost in the village of Dren, donations and activities aiming to involve those kids and young people in social communication, participation in a soup kitchen, audiobook recordings for deaf people, fundraising in many ways to support children with Onco-Hematological diseases, disabled, and shelters for stray dogs, etc. Furthermore, the club has taken part in the organization and dissemination process of a charity ball hosted by the Second German Language school. 

The next goal of the club is to broaden the mission and create initiatives related to improving the local environment and further involving the ACS community in seasonal charity events with the purpose of helping people in need. These are just some of the numerous activities we are going to be involved in.

Uni-Prep Academy is a club that aims to help Juniors and Seniors with their preparation for applying to universities. To avoid overlap with the College Counseling Office, the topics covered are discussed with our College Counselors. During the first semester, we were covering some of the basics that every applicant should know. Depending on the country they wanted to apply to, they were introduced to the different requirements, important dates, attended university visits, etc. Out of the university frame we spent time on how to communicate properly with teachers who are going to write recommendation letters which are an important part of the prospective student profile. Based on the knowledge gained during the first semester and their own interests (where to study, what to study, financial aid needs and many other factors), the members choose a topic for research. After that, they present their research to the rest of the club and they show everything they have acquired as knowledge about the new educational system they want to enter.

The “Unsolved Mysteries” club was created last year by Emma Pentcheva and Polina Ilieva, however this year they will be unable to lead it, Nia Dimova and Rossitsa Kuncheva, decided to continue it. We plan to have presentations about actual unsolved cases and unexpected events, as well as games based on solved cases. In the game we will reveal the facts of the case and suspects, then let the club members discuss and finally reveal what happened in real life. We also plan to go to an escape room if possible or subscribe to a murder mystery box such as “Hunt a Killer” where in the span of 6 months we would be delivered materials needed to solve the mystery. Our purpose is to further develop our analytical abilities and to train our logical skills. We want to try getting as close to solving unsolved crimes and mysteries as we can. We are aiming to help build base level ways of thinking to solve puzzling situations.

https://unsolved.com/

We are the Video Production Club, which has the goal of making studying easier. We want to achieve it by producing educational videos, which aim to make the content more understandable, and easier to remember. Both teachers and students as members of the ACS community can request the creation of an educational video, suitable to their needs. 

Students develop: 

• collaboration skills
• creativity
• serve the community’s authentic needs
• practice their English and Bulgarian languages
• Develop video editing skills 

We create videos from start to end to make learning fun.

The ACS Girls Volleyball Club was established in 1994. The club has a very rich history, full of events, competitions, tournaments of different rank, in Sofia, Samokov, Ankara-Turkey, and Thessaloniki-Greece. Until 2010, the volleyball club had year-round training and participated in 5 competitions: Hector Cup at National Math H.School, Claris Cup of the eight elite language schools in Sofia, Student Games in Mladost Municipality and Sofia - in two age groups 8-10 and 11-12 grades, ACS Open - our College Tournament - organized among up to eight schools, Bilkent High School & University International Tournament in Ankara, and Anatolia College International Tournament in Thessaloniki. 

After 2010 we have been playing sports by seasons in the college, and we prepare two teams for two competitions - the Student Games of Mladost Municipality and the ACS Open. Volleyball season starts on 23 September and ends on December 6. The practices are every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday after school from 3:45 to 5:30 in the Gym. The teams consist of 25 girls from 8th to 12th grade level.

One of the most successful sports club in the last four years, this team is the only one in the history of the college who won 4 years consecutively ACS open and every other competitions where they took part. The purpose of the ACS volleyball club is to offer young volleyball enthusiasts an opportunity to learn and participate in competitions beyond the school related activities. Club volleyball offers players the chance to receive instructions in skills development and team strategy, as well as to participate in an environment learning teamwork and sportsmanship. Each club season is roughly equal to 3 months. Each September tryouts are held and invitations extended to ACS students. The teams of ACS take a part of different rank competitions and each season ends with ACS open which is the tournament of the college.

The Yearbook club has been active since 1997. In truth it was created in 1926 when the first yearbook was published. During the years after the reopening of the college it has been an elective, a club, both, or a CAS activity. Usually there are several very active students but most of the rest prefer to be engaged only with a shorter job - taking photos or creating pages only of one section or two at the most.  

Our club creates a final product which must be printed and delivered to the college by Graduation so seniors can buy it. There are different activities and therefore different strands. The photographers take photos of the sections, clubs, sports teams, games and special events. The Photoshop layout specialist must have a vision of how to create a page as well as necessary skills and patience. Finally, there are the editors who become active during the second semester. They check the pages for mistakes.

The main goal of the YouTube Flimmaking Club is to build students’ skills in video making and editing in order to help them build a successful YouTube channel. Throughout the year students will go about the process of creating their own channel, from the beginning stages of making the artwork for their channel to the final stages of filming and recording their videos to be published on the platform. Ultimately, it is up to each student to decide how far they want to take their YouTube channel and what type of content they want to produce in it. However, at the end of the day each student will be able to enjoy his/herself while producing videos to share with the world!

I, the president of the club, attended last year and fell in love with the sports and the whole idea of Zumba, and am hoping to inspire others to think of it the same way as I do.

 I don't want to  pressure the participants into having to practise and perform a final dance. The club was established to create a safe environment for everyone to feel free to dance however they want to, and I want to continue following that idea. 

Zumba is about expressing oneself through movements and having fun, even while sweaty and tired. I want to show it as a way to escape reality for a little bit, and only concentrate on the different moves, the other people around you, and the music. When something can totally transfer you into a different world, like Zumba does for me, it is the best feeling ever, so I am eager to share that feeling with others.

 Zumba is basically dancing + exercising. The perfect combination of health and fun. To define what the actual sport consists of, I would say that it’s a fun high-intensity workout combined with Latin dance. 

During last year’s online studying, the previous presidents gave us different dances to choose from and perform in a video. We also could do it during the weekly meetings. This shows that Zumba isn’t only about doing activity, but it also includes the brain and encourages creativity. I will continue doing that, but try to involve the other members more. 

Links to sites related to the club activities:

Zumba website: https://www.zumba.com/en-US 

The google classroom code will be given to people who want to  join the club. Whoever is interested, can contact me (e.dimitrova25@acsbg.org) or the Club Sponsor (a.gauthier@acsbg.org).