Our Elementary Principal, Dan Lazor, shared the following fun story to begin our week. I thought I would share it with you. Nothing special, but it made me smile at the beginning of a very busy week:
"My Favorite Animal:
Our teacher asked what my favorite animal was, and I said, 'Fried chicken.' She said I wasn't funny, but she couldn't have been right, because everyone else laughed. My parents told me to always tell the truth. I did. Fried chicken is my favorite animal. I told my dad what happened and he said that my teacher was probably a member of PETA.
He said they love animals very much. I do too. Especially chicken, beef and pork.
Anyway my teacher sent me to the principal's office. I told him what happened, and he laughed, too. Then he told me not to do it again. The next day in class my teacher asked me what my favorite live animal was.
I told her it was chicken. She asked me why and I told her it was because you could make them into fried chicken.
She sent me back to the principal's office. He laughed and told me not to do it again.
I don't understand. My parents taught me to be honest, but my teacher doesn't like it when I am. Today, my teacher asked me to tell her what famous person I admired most.
I told her, 'Colonel Sanders.' Guess where I am now?"
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In the midst of the busyness of this past week, I was reminded once again how valuable a wonderful secretary is. Our elementary secretary, Mrs. Yoo, came to YISS last year when Mrs. Baek left to give birth to her second son. Mrs. Yoo is amazing and is so helpful and so organized. It has been a real joy to add her to our elementary family! I thank her every day often and I than the Lord for her every day. Below is one of my favorite pictures of Mrs. Yoo and me. We had the joy of working together at the YISS FunFest in October. The picture shows us at the Drink Booth selling water, juices and sodas to the many who came.
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It was our second full week of Quarter Two After School Activities! Things continue to run smoothly. Still having a little problem with a few parents who don't plan to be at the school at 4:30 to pick up their cherubs. :-) Saturday, November 16, the Chess Club travels to participate in a Chess Tournament at one of the other international schools in South Korea. Four of our Elementary Chess Club ASA were chosen to represent the elementary school along with our High School Chess Club. I will be eager to hear the results. I thought I would share some pictures of our Elementary Chess Club that meets on Thursdays in our After School Activities program under the coaching of Mr. Ivan Franck. He does a great job with 32 eager Chess students.
It is so much fun going to the Chess Club on Thursdays
and seeing Mr. Franck work with each of the groups.
Mr. Franck helping two girls learn more Chess moves.
I loved watching these two boys (3rd graders)
eating their snacks,but staying intense on
their Chess moves.
The boy on the right is Ian from 5A. He and I have grown to have a great relationship since he was in Grade 2 when I came to YISS. He wrote me the most wonderful apology letter on Thursday because of his behavior in Library on Wednesday when I was subbing. Ian has grown so much and I am so excited about his future. A great young man!
Two young ladies planning their next moves + others
playing their Chess games in the background.
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One of the things I love doing so much at YISS is observing what is happening in classrooms. Our teachers are so wonderful and they are so involved with their students in so many ways. This past week I noticed some illustrations outside the fifth grade classrooms. Our fifth graders are taught Literature, Reading and Writing by Ms. Hughes. She does an outstanding job and her passion for reading and writing has a great impact on our students. She was working on a unit on Idioms. I was smiling and laughing as I viewed the finished work of the fifth graders as they took idioms from various cultures and explained them in writing and drawings. Below are a few of my favorites:
One of my favorites!! :-)
I wish that I "had a short mouth." Oh, I
am certainly not picky with my food! :-)
I am getting better at "hanging it on the nail." Still not completely able to hang everything on the nail!
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Our PTO had an appreciation brunch on Friday for the parents who have volunteered for many of our school's fall activities. I always enjoy meeting our parents and interacting with them. Friday was no exception. Over 75 parent volunteered came to enjoy the Appreciation Brunch. (I forgot to take my camera because I was involved on Friday with 3 Chapels and an OASIS assembly and just forgot.) Preparations are almost complete for the annual Fall Book Fair which will be held from November 20 - 22. The kids, teachers and families always get so excited about our Book Fairs.
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Last Saturday, most of you know that I had the privilege, along with Bev Barner, of having a special reunion with some of the students that I had taught at SYME. I included some pictures from that special afternoon but did not have the following one at the time. The picture below is of me with two special friends, Jae Hong (Dr. Fred) and Yeongmin. It was raining as we walked along the man made river where the Seoul Lantern Festival takes place. Someone snapped this picture as we stood under the umbrella. I love these two young men so much. Yeongmin still has not accepted the gift of salvation and Jae Hong continues to have many questions. I share the picture for those of you who would be willing to pray for these two wonderful young men each day.
Jae Hong on my right and Yeongmin on my left.
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Last week, I also had the privilege of meeting three former SYME students! Thursday, David Baek asked if he could come to YISS and have lunch with me to seek some wisdom and advice and prayer. We had a great time together. David is so eager to serve the Lord as a missionary and right now has some complications and he has asked me to ask you to pray for him at this time.
GGG and David Baek in the YISS Cafeteria on Thursday!
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I also was able to meet Tim and Amanda, former SYME students on Friday evening for a yummy dinner and great conversation. Both are still studying and seeking God for their next step. I know they would really appreciate your prayers. It was so good to see them and catch up with how God is working in their lives!
Here we are with our server, August, at Los Amigos! So good to see Tim and Amanda again! August is such a great server. He is from the Philippines. He told me his family and friends were not affected by the recent devastating typhoon.
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OK, I think I better stop for this week. Thank you for taking time to read this. You are very special to me and I greatly value your prayers, encouragement, love and support - especially at this very busy time! Lots of field trips, school play (Pride and Prejudice on November 22 and 23), and Christmas concerts coming up!
Love, Gregg
P.S. One additional item:
This past week the president of NICS (Network of International Christian Schools) sent the following email to each of us concerning an exciting event at our NICS school in Kabul. YISS is one of about 20 international schools throughout the world. I know several of the teachers at our Kabul school. I know this must have been an exciting event for them. I have received permission from Joe Hale, our NICS president, to share the following email and photo. He has asked that you would not post this on any social networking site. I am sharing it for your prayers and if you wish to give, that is entirely up to you. Please feel no obligation. I just wanted to share this for your praise and prayers:
"Thank you for keeping our school in Kabul in your prayers! A
special meeting took place last week with President Karzai in which he met with
our school leaders, including some of our staff children. One of our
staff family’s daughter (pictured below) won Mr. Karzai’s heart. Mr.
Karzai expressed to our staff how grateful he is for their service to Afghanistan
by serving at ISK, and reiterated how important the role of the school is in
the rebuilding of Afghanistan. At the end of the meeting, our school
leaders asked the President for his help in three critical areas: 1)
funding assistance for ISK, as many of the students could not pay what it costs
to educate them, 2) land to be donated by the Afghan government for the school
to build on, and 3) requests to vendors in Afghanistan who have made millions
($) in the country to build buildings for ISK. He assured our folks of
his support and asked for another meeting in the near future. Please keep
these matters in your prayers. And a special thanks to those who have
helped with the fund-raising drive; your donations are so needed and so
appreciated by the 370 students of ISK. If you wish to give, you can go here: http://www.indiegogo.com/
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