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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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."
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