Workshops, Conferences, and Celebrations!

Is it really the end of October?  I am afraid it is.  This past week on Monday and Tuesday the students had the days off so that teachers could conduct Parent-Teacher conferences and administrators could be involved in some workshops and seminars on Supervision, Observation, and Evaluation of Teachers.  Conferences went well and it is always exciting to see the parents come to YISS to learn more about working together with the teacher with strategies for getting the best out of each student!

During these conferences, our headmaster had invited a colleague to come and share with the administrators concerning the Supervision, Observation, and Evaluation of our teachers.  It was a good time of working together with each of the administrators from the elementary, middle, and high schools.  We spent much time discussing how YISS can better serve its teachers through our supervision, observation, and evaluation process.  There is still some work to be done on this, but we have a great beginning of bringing all of the schools together on the same page as we seek to be the instructional leaders of YISS.

I also had the privilege of meeting with some fifth grade students concerning a situation with one of our new students from Kuwait.  Abduhl wants to have a friend, but because of his very limited English ability and the new culture he has been brought into, he is not doing so well with his social skills.  His teacher along with me have spent many hours working with Abduhl.  Our ELL teacher, Ms. Koh, has also been very helpful in this process.  In addition to the excellent discussion I had with 6 of Abduhl's classmates, I had a conference with Abduhl's Dad.  I learned a lot about Abduhl and his family and I am excited to see what develops as we work together to provide a good experience for Abduhl and his two younger brothers.  Your prayers are appreciated.

Above is Abduhl.  He has this great smile!  Please pray that this young boy will be able to improve his English and be able to make a friend or two.

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In between the workshops on Monday and Tuesday, I was working to complete all of the arrangements for Quarter Two After School Activities.  Communication with teachers, parents, instructors of the After School Activities, the Aquatics Director, the Bus Coordinator, the elementary secretary, and YISS Facilities Director took all the extra time in order to have everything ready.  Quarter Two swimming after school activities begin on Tuesday and the remainder of the activities will begin on Friday and run through the end of Quarter Two on December 14.

One after school activity that really is a Middle School activity has been added to the Elementary ASA. The Middle School had the opportunity to have a Scratch Computer Programming class through MIT in the USA for students 10-15 years of age.  It is an exciting class that will give these students a jump ahead of others in the area of programming skills.  The Middle School Principal had spaces for 6-8 of our 5th grade students.  I sent out a email and almost immediately had 15 parents indicating their child was interested.  We took the first 8 students and they had their second class on Wednesday.  They are really excited about the program and it is impacting many students who would not otherwise be involved in many of our after school activities.  We are hoping that we can have the class again in Quarter Three, but have one only for elementary students.  Thanks for your prayers.

Some of you may remember Danny.  Danny was in my Discipleship Group last year when he was in 5th grade.  I believe he has some Asperger's Syndrome.  He has grown so much!  Danny is now in Grade 6 and was one of the first to sign up for the Scratch Computer Programming class.  When I stopped by on Wednesday to see how the 5th graders were doing, Danny greeted me with his smile and then the instructor asked Danny to show me what he had already developed!  he was so proud of Danny and so am I!  Keep praying for this dear young boy!

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As I mentioned, there were celebrations this week!  Tuesday was the birthday of our elementary principal, Mr. Dan Lazor!  At lunch time, elementary teachers were invited to the teachers' lounge to have a surprise birthday cake, etc. for Mr. Lazor.  It was a very special time!  Then on Wednesday, the elementary office staff (Mrs. Birmingham - the other Assistant Principal, Mrs. Baek- the elementary secretary, and GGG) took Mr. Lazor to lunch at a brand new restaurant within  5 minutes from YISS.  It is called Pizzeria D'Buzza and it is extremely popular and the pizza is very delicious!

From left to right: Mrs. Birmingham (Assistant Elementary Principal), Mrs. Baek (Elementary Secretary), Mr. Lazor (Birthday Boy and Elementary Principal), and GGG at Pizzeria D'Buzza for Dan's birthday celebration!

One of the very yummy pizzas we shared at Dan's Birthday Lunch!

Last year's PTO president was with a group of ladies

 at Pizzeria D'Buzza for lunch.  She ordered this banana,

ice cream, caramel, etc. dessert pizza for Dan!  It was 

sooooooo delicious!!  Would you like some?

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Thursday evening was another wonderful celebration!  Ho Jae, the accompanist for our church choir, had his graduation recital at Yonsei University in Seoul.  I have been so impressed with his amazing skills at the piano.  He is such a great accompanist!  He had his recital with another student who was graduating.  About 10 members of the choir were in attendance at his recital on Thursday evening.  All of us were so impressed!  Ho Jae amazed me with his expression and dynamics.  Simply magnificent!  He did some works of Schumann, but I especially enjoyed a piece by Liszt that he performed!  I am so lad I was there for this great celebration!  In the days to come, I think you will hear more from this humble pianist with the name Ho Jae Lee!!

Above is Ho Jae playing his first Schumann piece, Arabesque in C Major, Op. 18 at his Graduation recital at Yonsei University.

At the close of the recital, both pianists received tremendous

applause and they came out and did an encore duet!  It was a

tremendous piece!  I loved it - a mixture of jazz and classical!

Here are some of the New Harvest Ministry choir members

surrounding Ho Jae following the recital.  Ho Jae had his arms

full of flowers!  What a delightful evening.

When I arrived at Yonsei University, I started looking for the College of Music Building.  I ran into the above group of students. They appeared to be filming the infamous "Horse" dance from the Gangnam Style song.  I stopped to ask them where the College of Music Building was.  They did not know but they wanted me to perform the "Horse" dance with them for their class project.  I discovered they all attend Seoul Foreign School, another international school in Seoul.  We have a friendly competition with them! :-)  

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The big celebration at YISS this week happened on Friday evening!  The PTO organizes an amazing annual event that involves the entire YISS community and all of the family!  Fun Fest 2012 had perfect weather for a grand event with an Hawaiian theme this year!  I have posted more pictures on my Facebook page, but I will put some here as well.  I wish you all could have been present to enjoy the delicious food, creative and fun games, teacher raffles for the kids, great music, and excellent fellowship!

1A teacher, Ms. Ku, with several students who were preparing for the Fun Fest!

 The stage in the Courtyard at YISS.  This was one of the singing

groups who performed during the Fun Fest 2012 festivities!

Above is Joshua, one of my Discipleship Group members from 4th grade this year.  He was so eager to see me at Fun Fest and wanted to make sure I met his parents.

 Some of the many game and activity tents set up by various
elementary grades + some of the middle school and high school
clubs.  The kids were having an awesome time!

This was a riot to watch!  One of the middle school clubs had a Sumo Wrestling activity.  Two students would get inside the sumo costume and then try to bump the other to the ground.  Most found it very awkward to function effectively while in the suit and it usually took 2 or 3 students to lift the fallen opponent from the ground! :-)

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It was an excellent week!  Oh yes, I received a pone call from a former SYME Korean student.  I hadn't heard from Joey (Hyung Woo) in a long time and I was so excited to hear from him.  He was calling especially to invite me to his wedding on November 10.  It will be great to see him and meet his lovely bride.

Thanks so much for all of your encouragement, prayers, love, and support!  Please enjoy this last week of October!

Love, Gregg

PS:  How well do you know the countries of the world?  Answers will follow at the end of all the questions.

1 - What country can you eat dinner on?

2 - What did Sweden say when its next-door neighbor proposed?

3 - Where can you always get take-out food?

4 - Who's always ready to eat?

5 - What country is square?

6 - Hey, man, do you like small, Middle Eastern countries?

7 - What country wears a suit?

8 - What country left quickly?

9 - What country can you cook bacon in?

10 - What country doesn't use cash?

Answers:

1 - China

2 - Norway

3 - Togo

4 - Hungary

5 - Cuba

6 - Yemen

7 - Thailand

8 - Iran

9 - Greece

10 - The Czech Republic

Busy, hectic, yet refreshing!!

Yes, it was a very busy and hectic week!!  On Monday afternoon at 3:22 after the last of our 22 buses drove down the YISS hill to the main street, I looked at our wonderful Elementary School secretary, Mrs. Baek, and said, "It feels like Friday right now!"  She looked at me, nodded, and smiled!

October 15 was the first day for online registration for Quarter Two After School Activities.  I had everything ready (at least I thought so) to activate the website and allow parents to register beginning at 8:00 AM.  My computer was working from 6:30 AM until 7:55 AM when I go onto the website and activate each after school activity to allow parents to register.  At 7:55, my computer froze!  I am still working on my tech skills and getting better, but I froze in panic! :-)  I tried what I knew and nothing.  I then prayed a quick prayer to the Lord and called Carol and Craig, our two IT specialists.  I was so glad they were in their office.  Carol came and got my computer up and running.  Online registration began at 8:10 AM with about 10 parents hovering over the computers waiting to sign up!

8:11 AM: A parent called and said they could not register for Swimming classes.  I actually knew what the problem was.  The Director of Aquatics had forgotten to activate his Swimming classes.  He was in his office and quickly activated the classes!

8:20 AM:  I received an email from a parent who was confused by the two Arts and Crafts' classes on the website.  He thought he registered his daughter for the Kinder - Grade 2 class on Wednesday but he got an automated response that she was registered for the Grade 3 - 5 class.  Panic sets into GGG again! :-) (I think God was enjoying seeing the personality of my mother coming out in me when everything doesn't work out perfectly as I planned!)

8:21 AM:  A quick prayer and panic call to my IT friends, who came immediately.  I really love these two wonderful people, Carol and Craig!  They continue to teach me so much about patience and flexibility, and they do it with such care and love.  Well, I explained the situation and they went on to the website, but neither knew what caused the problem or why it was doing this.  After 20 minutes of working and praying, they resolved the issue and the website was back in working order.

8:30 AM:  Already two classes have filled up and are closed.

A picture of my office on Monday with all of the forms for ASA all over my desk!  In the back the credenza is filled with  books by Frances and Ginger Park.  I have been sorting them and placing the autographed labels in them.  We are still waiting for a few more books on back order.

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Throughout the rest of Monday, I was working with Mrs. Baek on a resolution for the two Arts and Crafts that had people signed up on wrong days until we got the problem fixed.  I was also working on reading Teachers' comments for Report Cards and checking Report Cards on our tech program called Renweb, which we use for grades and many other things.  I had to deal with a couple bus discipline issues with some students.  I also had to make sure the Bus Lists for students involved in an after school activity on Monday were up to date and ready for Bus Monitors at 3:00.  At lunch during Monday we also were putting into place a new seating arrangement for Grades 4, 5 and 1.  What a delightful challenge that was!  Hard to change habits and routine, but it happened and the kids have adjusted well!  Between 3:00 and 3:18 each day, the bus monitors get on each of our buses and check to make sure all elementary students who are to be riding are accounted for.  I am the contact in the office and our one third grade teacher is the contact for all of the teachers on the buses.  She calls me if there is a problem; I relay information to Mrs. Baek, who contacts the parents via phone to confirm if the child is riding or not riding.  It is 18 minutes where things need to be confirmed and decisions made rather quickly because the buses close their doors and pull out each day at exactly 3:18 PM.

We made it through Monday and the week has continued to be very busy with ASA registration, Report Cards checked and then issued, ASA payment lists sent to the Business Office so they can generate bills for each activity, dealing with some more discipline issues, conducting my Discipleship class (I LOVE my boys in Discipleship), going to the IP Clinic so that Dr. Kim could redress my toe (it looks so cute in its new dress), preparing for Parent-Teacher Conferences, and trying to complete all the confirmations and other details for the Quarter Two Activities since I found out that I won't be able to work on this on Monday and Tuesday.  Our headmaster had informed us a month ago that there would be in-service for administrators on Monday and Tuesday.  I just forgot until I received the reminder notice this past week.  So I have been working late each night this past week and will be working on Saturday when I go to ChanBros Coffee Shop with my computer and ASA folders.  Mr. Park, owner of ChanBros and father of one of our fifth graders, Francis, loves when I come to his shop to talk and also work.

I'm sorry - that got much longer than I thought.  It was good for me to write it out.  Those of you who have been praying for my bronchitis and toe problem, thank you so much!  My cough is almost gone!  My toe is looking good!  I don't have to return until Monday and then Dr. Kim will decide if I need additional surgery.  He keeps saying that it is healing very well!

I have a special prayer request this week.  There are some students at YISS who have come from Oman, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.  They usually come with very poor English and a much different cultural background, yet they are starving for a friend!  The past few weeks we are having some situations involving Abdul, Majid, and Madhav in combination with other 4th and 5th grade students.  On Friday I spent an hour talking with a group of 5th grade students to see how we could help these students develop good friendships.  Abdul, in particular, wants a friend so bad, but his English is very poor and children cannot always understand him.  He thinks being aggressive will help him make friends.  His social skills are lacking and this adds to the problem.  It was a good discussion with students, but please pray for these boys in particular to adjust to an international school and be able to make some friends.

Your continued prayers for a former SYME student, Sang-Jeon (tall Joshua) are appreciated.  Sang-Jeon  called me several times this week from Jeju BI just to talk and receive encouragement.  He also had to let me know that his baseball team, Lotte Giants, defeated my Doosan Bears! :-)  Lotte is playing SK Telecom (Yeongmin's baseball team) to see who will face Samsung in the Korean Baseball Championship.  Before going to dinner with his girlfriend on Saturday, Yeongmin stopped by to watch SK Telecom defeat Lotte 2 - 1.  That evens the series and the winner of Monday's game will determine who meets Samsung!

Congratulations to the Detroit Tigers for the sweep of the New York Yankees!  The Yankees had a pitiful offense and deserved to lose.  Detroit did a great job!  One of the YISS elementary teachers, Ms. Bandy, is a Texas Rangers fan.  When Oakland beat Texas to move on to the layoffs, several of us stopped by her class to tease with her.  She could not resist coming to my office Friday to give me similar treatment!  She brought a broom with her! :-)

I close this week with a few pictures of some of the wonderful art work that our elementary Art teacher, Mrs. DeHart accomplishes with out elementary cherubs!  The following are some of the pieces on display in the reception area at YISS.  I saw them every day last week as I arrived at school at 6:15 AM.  They gave me refreshment as I began each day and I thanked God for the children with whom I have the privilege of investing my life.

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OK, I have written too much.  If you have read this far, thank you!  Thank you for being such an encouragement to me!  Thank you for your love, prayers, and support.  You are special!

Love, Gregg

PS: Some jokes from the Library:

Q:  What did the librarian say to the book?
A:  "Can I take you out tonight?"

Q:  Why did the boxer go to the library?
A:  He wanted to hit the books.

Q:  How come the school library was so big?
A:  They kept adding stories!

Q:  What did the librarian say to the noisy vegetables?
A:  "Quiet, peas!"

Librarian:  "What do you call the author of a western story?"
Student:  "A horseback writer."

Continued Gorgeous Weather to end Quarter One!

The gorgeous weather continued this past week as we finished Quarter One on Friday!  I can't believe our first quarter is over.  Report Cards will be electronically sent out this next week and then teachers continue to prepare for Parent-Teacher Conferences on October 22 and 23.  I know they would value your prayers.  I always enjoying these times to meet the parents of our wonderful cherubs!

This past week was a busy one as we finished Quarter One After School Activities (ASA) and made final preparations for online registration for Quarter Two ASA.  I think everything is all set for Monday, when registration begins!  Thanks for your prayers.  I was able to offer four new activities (in addition to ones we have had in the past) for this quarter.  Our Mandarin teachers will begin a Mandarin Club for 4th and 5th students.  They will be interweaving the language and the culture of Chinese-speaking people through some exciting activities.  Two of our Korean staff in the Business Office at YISS will begin The Taste of Legends: French Baking and Korean Cuisine for students in grades 3 - 5.  I think I want to be part of this class myself.  Dr. Harding, one of our YISS music teachers, will add an activity called Praize by Kidz, which is designed for children in grades 2 and 3.  This group will learn many songs to lead worship in the elementary Chapels.  A local Korean lady, who is an accomplished violinist, will offer Music for Strings, a class for students in grades 3 and 4 who ant to learn to perform in string ensembles.  There are many other activities including our popular Compassion Club, who do random acts of kindness within and without the school for K-5 students.  The highlight being their awesome "Bundle Up" project where they will go to Seoul Station before Christmas to distribute warm clothing to those who are homeless.  I love this.  I have some dear friends (Ken and Judy) in Delaware who send boxes of hand knitted scarves for this project! There are many more including Boys' and Girls' Basketball, Ballet, Teens Helping Kids, Puppet Ministry, Seoul Seekers, Taekwondo, Swimming, CrossFit, Ceramics, Arts & Crafts, and Elementary Musical Co. & Crew!

On Monday, the Business Office called me and told me I had a package in the main office.  I went to the office and found this huge package of fresh pear juice (individual servings) from my wonderful friend and former SYME student, Chang Yong!  He has sent me pears and/or pear juice from his father's pear orchard every Chuseok for three years!

Thanks so much, Chang Yong!  I have shared many of these juices with colleagues at YISS and all of us love the pear juice!!

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There were many exciting events this past week in my life!  One of the things that I am still adjusting to - after many years - is saying goodbye to dear friends.  Friday was the last day at YISS for a dear family who have been so helpful and encouraging to all of us at YISS.  The Kurups are being relocated to Hong Kong after being with us at YISS since September 2010.  Thursday Grades 3A and 4A had a going away party for Jay and Vik!  We all had a nice time remembering the great memories and enjoying some taste treats as students, teacher and administrators said "Hasta la Vista" to the Kurups!

Above is Jay (4A) and his Mom during the Going Away Party!  Jay's Dad had to be working and could not be present.  Please pray for this family as they return to Hong Kong!

Above is Vik, surrounded by some of his 3A

friends, opening some gifts the students gave him!

Jay enjoying a yummy cupcake with one of his best 

4A friends, Jun.  Jun is giving the Korean victory sign

with his red-tipped fingers!  He was painting a card for Jay!

I love this picture from the party.  Conrad, on the right, always enjoys eating and his face usually shows it.  :-)  He is with Christian, another 3A student at the party!

Here is another picture of some of the 3A students at the party!

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At the end of each quarter, teachers in each grade/section select a student who has characterized the character traits of a student at YISS - at least those characteristics that we have established as our expected students learning results.  These students get to work with our Elementary Chaplain on a painting or mural.  On Friday our first quarter Guardian Way students began work on this year's "Shine Like Stars in the Universe" project.  This year Mrs. Franck has decided to have the students create an original mosaic!  The kids are so excited to do this and it is really cool to see how the mosaic develops over each quarter into the final work at the end of Quarter Four!

Above is Mrs. Franck with one of the Guardian Way students working on the border of the mosaic.

This group was one of the four groups of Guardian Way students who had the privilege of working on the mosaic for this year.  Mrs. Franck is so good with the students and with her creativity she can bring out the creative juices of our Guardians as they create this original mosaic work this year!

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On Thursday, my dear friend, Gunmo, was able to leave his work early enough to have dinner with me.  I look forward to these times so much!  We enjoy some great food, excellent fellowship, prayer, and sharing of concerns for each other as well as other friends we both know.  Gunmo would especially value your prayers right now as he is so eager to be the "businary" God wants him to be.  He is working and studying very hard and sometimes struggles with waiting!  Oh, I know that feeling!  It has been great to see how he is using the opportunities he has at his place of employment to already be a "businary" and be salt and light to those with whom he comes in contact.  Thanks for praying for him.

Come on, you know that you wanted to see our yummy food! :-)  Gunmo enjoyed a tasty cheeseburger and I had the very delicious chicken salad!  Would you like a taste?

Just a picture to remind you to pray for Gunmo!  He always has the great smile!

I had to add my picture when I had dinner with Gunmo.  If you know me well enough, you will be able to know why I had to share this picture!! :-)  (I must say that I am sad because my favorite Korean baseball team, the Doosan Bears were eliminated form the Korean baseball playoffs this week.  However, I'm happy because my favorite baseball team ever has moved on in the playoffs after an amazing series with the Baltimore Orioles, who had a fantastic season!)

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Two other wonderful Korean SYME friends, Jin Seok and  Sangjeon (Tall Joshua), have been in contact with me this week - a lot!  One reason is that they are both huge Lotte Giants fans and Lotte was playing Doosan in the Korean playoffs.  They are both giving me lots of teasing since their team has moved on and mine is done! :-)  These guys are so wonderful and I miss them both.  Please pray for Sangjeon as he studies at Jeju Word of Life Bible Institute.  He has been a bit discouraged and has had a difficult time keeping up with all of the studying at Jeju BI.  We talked a long time by phone and he is feeling much better and has committed to not giving up.  Please pray for both of these young men who are so eager to serve God!

Well, now that the weather is my kind of weather for walking, I started doing more walking.  Each year that I have been in Seoul it seems that when I start walking in the fall, I struggle with bronchitis or some type of cold.  This past week I had in my chest.  I went to Dr. Kim and he said this time is not as bad as previous times.  He ordered some medications and I am feeling better.  When I was there, I asked him if Korea has any podiatrists.  I had asked many Koreans this and they look so puzzled and always tell me they do not have.  Dr. Kim agreed but asked me the problem and I showed him the corn on the inside of one of my toes that is so painful!  He said it appears to be two corns on top of each other.  He said usually in Korea you go to a dermatologist for treatment.  He recommended one near his office.  I went and had a very unique, but so far, great experience.  Another Dr. Kim examined my foot and said he would need to do a laser removal and I would have to come every day for 7 days to have the area redressed.  After the initial nasty pain of the pain injection, I felt nothing as he used the laser machine to remove the corns.  He said I had very little bleeding and thinks once it is healed, I should be in good walking shape again.  Pray that this will be so.  Right now the toe feels fine.  It has been a reminder to me that when one member of the body hurts, the ENTIRE body is hurting!

Thanks so much for your emails, encouragement, prayers, love, and support.  Please enjoy a great week!  October is almost half over!!

Love, Gregg

PS:  If you want to have a nice laugh, you can check out the video of me doing the "Garman Style" horse dance on my facebook page.

This week I thought I would give you titles of books that you probably will NOT find in your local library:

*     Always Tardy by Isabelle Ringing

*     The Smelly Locker by Jim Shortz

*     Will He Graduate?  Betty Wont

*     Alone on the Bus by Bea O'Problem

*     Success in Math Class  by Cal Q. Later

*     School Drinking Fountains by Luke Warmwater

*     Earn Money After School Moe D. Lawn

*     Daredevil Bungee-Jumping by Hugo First

*     Carpooling Stories by Minnie Van

*     How to Write a Bestseller by Paige Turner 

Shortened Week for Chuseok and then Walk-A-Sock-A-Thon!!

What a great week!  YISS had off school on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday for Chuseok and another Korean national holiday so it was a short week!  I loved having off the three days especially at this particular time.  It gave me undistracted time to work on Quarter Two After School Activities!  I told Mr. Lazor that he should request three days off at the end of each quarter so I had this special time to work on preparation of the next quarter's activities.  He just laughed! :-)

Thanks for your prayers for the After School Activities program.  It has gone very well and preparation for Quarter Two is moving along very nicely.  Online registration is set for October 15 - 17.  We are adding several new activities which many are excited about.  The Taste of Legends: French Baking and Korean Cooking will be added for 3rd through 5th graders.  It is taught by one of our Korean staff who is trained as a Master Baker!  Music for Strings is for students in grades 3 and 4 who want to learn to play their stringed instrument in an ensemble.  Praize for Kidz is being offered by Dr. Harding for children in grades 2 and 3.  This group will be performing in our Chapels.  Our Mandarin teachers at YISS will offer Mandarin Club which will have fun activities interweaving the Chinese language and the culture of Chinese-speaking people for students in grades 4 and 5!

The following are just a few picture from some of our Quarter One activities.  More pictures can be seen on my facebook page.

Above is the Ballet class for Kinder - 2 children.  These

5 cherubs are so cute!!

Two of our Ceramics students.  They do an outstanding job.  The little girl is quite the actress.  I call her Princess and she smiles this big smile!

Another first grade cherub in Ceramics class.  I loved her focus!!

This is Izzy!  I love her so much.  She cracks me up.  She is very intense and full of energy in all she does - whether Ceramics or in her Taekwondo class!

Another very focused little boy in the Ceramics class!!

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Thursday at YISS was spent working on some bus discipline issues and helping Mrs. Franck make final preparations for our Annual Elementary School Walk-A-Sock-A-Thon held on Friday, October 5.  I posted many pictures on my facebook page if you would like to view all of them.  I will post some here for those who don't have facebook.

October 5 was a beautiful day for walking!  There was no rain!  It was a cool day and the sun stayed behind the clouds most of the walking time!  It was my kind of weather except there was a little too much haze.  400 children + teachers brought in 358.6 kg of 100 Won coins in very colorful socks!  A 100 Won coin is about the size of an American quarter.  Our goal for the students was to collect 200 kg of coins!  When the students heard the total they brought in during the Tally Rally, they were soooo excited!  After the Tally Rally on the stairs leading to the Soccer Field, volunteer high school students joined teachers and some parents to escort students in grades 1 - 5 on the walk.  Grades 1 and 2 walked the stairs and trails to the Grand Hyatt Hotel near YISS.  Students in Grades 3-5 could walk all the way to Namsam Tower!  Kindergarten students participated in crazy socks' games in the gym led by Mr. Resende.  All of the money raised (we will know next week after the bank counts the coins) is going to an organization in Nepal called Mountain Child.  They are providing clean water sources and health care for the mountain children and their families in the mountains of Nepal.  Students were reminded of what they were raising money for during the walk as Mrs. Franck placed pictures from the book she read to them the three Fridays prior to the walk.  The book is called Ali Ali, the Nepali.  It was so excellent to see children stop along the trails to read the pages of the book once again and hear many of them say that their coins were going to help children like Ali.

Grade 2C leading the way for students to gather on the stairs for the Tally Rally!

This would be my sock of 100 Won coins!  It was actually the heaviest

at 7.9 kg, but I wanted the students to be recognized.  However, it was fun

collecting coins for Mountain Child!

This is Ryan holding his heavy sock like a baby!  He was the top student winner at 6.8 kg!!

The moment the students  were waiting for!   Here I am as 

MC preparing to announce that the Blue Team (which I am

a member of) was the winning House Team for collecting 

the heaviest amount of coins!

Above are the 5 top Heavy Sock winners!  They were so excited!  The socks ranged from 6.2 kg to 6.8 kg!  Mr. Lazor, Principal, is on the far right.  He and I were in a little competition to encourage students to collect coins.  I edged him out with my 7.9 kg to his 6.8 kg.  It was a lot of fun!

Since the Blue House Team had the highest total weight in coins,

I decided to do an impromptu "Horse" dance for the kids!  This dance

has been made very popular in Korea and America and the kids were

laughing and laughing!

However, this group of parents was standing behind me when I did "The Horse". When I finished, I turned around and saw them.  The second one from the left came up to me and said with a very serious look, "We have been discussing your performance and we all agree, 'Don't quit your day job!' " Then they all smiled!!  :-)

And the Walk begins!  2A and 1A lead the way for the first and second grade walk to the Hyatt!

Will from  Grade 1 spots the first page from the Ali Ali, the Nepali

book!  It was great watching the kids find them as they walked

and remembered the story about Ali and how their coins were 

going to help her and other children in the mountains of  Nepal!

Another student locates a page form the book and reads it to her classmates!

Mario, a new student in Grade 1, could not resist trying out one

of the exercise pieces that are found in almost all of the parks and

trails in Seoul! (I tried one out when no one was looking!) :-)

On the walk the students and I were able to see for the first time the expansion construction on the far side of the YISS property.  You can see a little of it between the trees; the Soccer Field way in the distance.

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One of the high school students who helped the children on the walk is a young man in 10th grade I met my first year at YISS.  I do not think he is a believer but he continues to meet with me and talk with me and ask questions.  He says he doesn't believe in God, but I see his attitude changing.  Please pray for Aaron as I continue to have chats with him.  Pray that he will see Jesus in my life and others at 

YISS.

Here I am with my Friday Starbucks coffee and Aaron as we prepare to go with the first and second grade students on their walk!

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It is difficult to believe that Quarter One will end on October 12!  This next week will be a busy one for teachers and administrators as grades are prepared and comments are written for each student.  Immediately following the end of the Quarter registration begins for Quarter Two After School Activities.  Then Parent-Teacher conferences will be held on October 22 and 23.  Your prayers will be greatly appreciated!

Many of you have been praying for the choir and orchestra conductor at New Harvest Ministry.  Hyo Jung had surgery on her thyroid on Thursday and is recovering well.  Please continue to remember her when you think of her.  Another choir member and tenor, Justin, will be conducting this Sunday.

You continue to be such a blessing to me!  I trust that you will enjoy a great week!  Thank you for your great encouragement, prayers, love, and support!  See you next week!

Love, Gregg

PS: "Animals in School" jokes for your enjoyment!  GOPHER IT!! :-)

Q:     Why did the dog wear a cap and gown?

A:     He was picking up his master's degree!

Q:     What do you call an alligator with three tests to study for?

A:     Swamped!

Q:     Why can't leopards cheat on tests?

A:     Because they're always spotted!

Q:     Where does a sheep carry its books?

A:     In its baaaaaackpack!

Q:     Why did the rabbit teachers go on strike?

A:     They wanted a better celery!

Q:     Why wasn't the grizzly allowed in the cafeteria?

A:     He had bear feet!

Q:     Why is it hard to give an exam in the jungle?

A:     Too many cheetahs!

Q:     What did the buffalo say when his boy went off to college?

A:     "Bison!"