This past week was a bit warmer in Seoul for which I am grateful! After School Activities have begun for Quarter Three and I am already in the middle of planning for Quarter Four. I am praying that I will be able to offer some new activities and build on the usual ones. If you ever want to come over for 6 or 7 weeks to lead an after school activity, that would be wonderful! What do you think?
I am going to begin to ask your prayers for some discipline issues that we have been facing this past week. One fifth grade boy, Ryan, has been a very interesting boy ever since I met him in Grade 3. He has this great smile and he is so caring with others, but he can change so quickly and become so depressed. On Friday at the close of school he became extremely depressed and began talking of ending his life. One of the tough things with Ryan is that his parents are so busy with their business lives that he does not see them often. When his mother was called on Friday, she told the teacher that she would call her back in a few minutes because she was in an important meeting. My heart breaks for Ryan and others like him. Our high school counselor came right away and began the process of getting help for Ryan. Please pray that the parents will realize the importance of the life of this precious boy.
Another boy, Yaejoon, in grade 4 has anger issues. He is one of the most intelligent boys I have met and so full of energy and passion, but has been used to getting what he wants by demanding it. When things don't go the way he wants them to go, he lashes out at the student who has upset him. This past week he began hitting a classmate for no reason except that Yaejoon did not like what the classmate was doing. He caused some physical damage to the boy and Mr. Lazor is taking appropriate action. Please pray that we will be able to help this young boy!
On Wednesday afternoon I was invited with other administrators and some of the parents to a food tasting event sponsored by the catering company (J & J Catering) who prepares our delicious meals at YISS. I am going to show you some food pictures so if you do not want to see, you better scroll past them! We had a delightful tasting some possible new additions to the menu at YISS.
Above are some of the taste testers! They include two PTO representatives, our Community Relations Director, Admissions Director, High School Principal and Elementary Principal! We had a great time!
Very tasty!!
I hadn't had yummy Brussels Sprouts in such a long time! These were actually very yummy!
Not my favorite, but still very good!
I didn't think this would be very good, but I really liked this lasagna!
A bit spicy for some, but I enjoyed it very much!
This was quite interesting, but actually tasty!
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Thursday was a real highlight for our students in Grade 5 and me! I have always wanted to attend a Special Olympics event but have never been able to coordinate my schedule. This past week Korea was hosting the Special Olympics World Winter Games - 2013 in PyeongChang, South Korea. Our fifth graders were asked to come on Thursday to cheer on the Special Olympic athletes from all over the world. What a great day our kids had! I was so impressed with their attitude and their care and their encouragement shown to these special people! They also were able to have a surprise meeting of a former Special Olympian, Loretta Claiborne. What an amazing lady. She was born in York, PA and was not able to talk or walk until the age of about 5. Her courage and string faith in God helped her to learn to run and compete in Marathons all over the world! It was a grand day! I will let the pictures do most of the talking. You can see more pictures on my facebook page.
This is Edward, my seat buddy on the
bus ride to and from PyeongChang! He
had this special bubble gum and shared
it with some classmates and me and we
had fun blowing HUGE bubbles! It was
great getting to know Edward!
Some of our fifth graders were captured by the Korean TV network, KBS, for interviews! The kids loved it and I was so proud of the way they responded and their thoughtful responses about the Special Olympic athletes!
Here I am with two of the Russian snowboarders after
their runs down the slopes! They were awesome!
My special group of fifth graders for the day! These kids were amazing! We developed a special dance as a group! We had out own special singing note to locate each other when we were separated! From left to right: Maya, Lucas, Joshua, Justin, Rachel, and Jane! So awesome!
This is my favorite picture of the day! This is Ben,
a fifth grader with Asperger's Syndrome, getting an
autograph on his Korean fan from Loretta Claiborne!
When Ben started at YISS, he would not say anything
to most people including me, but now he communicates
so well! It took a lot for him to go up and ask Loretta
for an autograph on his own!
I was delighted to have my picture taken with this amazing lady! Please Google her and check out her background and all of her accomplishments! She even has a movie that was made about her! I am wearing her scarf. As she posed for pictures and gave autographs to our students, her scarf kept falling from her arms as she signed autographs. I took it and then almost forgot to give it back to her at the end. We had a good laugh together!
On the left are three of our fifth grade boys who took
the initiative to go up to these two Team USA Special
Olympic athletes to congratulate them and ask them for
their autographs! You can see Benton at the bottom left
talking with the athlete on the far right! It was such a joy
to witness this by these young boys!
Above Loretta is sharing an inspirational and motivational message with our students! She saw our kids and as they gathered around her, she began sharing! The kids were thrilled! She gave them some awesome advice!
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In our Chapels and OASIS assemblies we have been centering in on bullying. This is a very big issue in Korea especially, and is very secretive and is not always found out because parents keep quiet because they fear being shamed. I had the privilege of reading, and then discussing with the children, a book entitled The Juice Box Bully. I was greatly impressed with the listening attitude of each student from kindergarten through grade 5. We had a great time on Friday and I am praying that our kids will learn what it means to stand up and do the right thing when they see another classmate being hurt or bullied and not be a bystander! Thanks for praying for our precious cherubs!
Read-A-Thon has its kickoff on Monday morning as we have our kickoff assembly! Students were given their Read-A-Thon packets on Friday and throughout the day students came up to Mr. Lazor and me with a big smile on their faces saying, "I am going to read so many books! I want to see your shaved heads!" So the word is out and I cannot get out of it. Oh man, what a very weak moment when I agreed to this!! My mother would be happy though since she always had my brother and me have GI haircuts until high school! Maybe I will like it? I am thinking of the money saved on haircuts and hair products, too! :-) This next week the exciting events begin for the Read-A-Thon! It should be a great month of reading!
Again, I hope you realize how special you are to me! Thank you for your words of encouragement, your prayers, your love, your gifts, and your support! Enjoy a wonderful February!
Love, Gregg
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