Another Exciting Week at YISS as RAT Ends!

The last week of February has come to an end and with it comes the end of our annual Read-A-Thon (RAT) at YISS.  The teachers and kids had a great time and this past week there were a number of activities to bring it to a close.  The kids are still waiting to hear the final count of minutes of their reading.  They are so eager (too eager as far as my face is concerned) to see if they have reached their goal to throw pies in the faces of the elementary principal and her two assistant principals!  That will be determined next week and then we will see what happens at the Wrap Up Assembly the following week!  The kids, of course, are very excited!

Wednesday was the final day of reading (to count for minutes read) and it was also Pajama and Pancake Day!  The kids love this day...as do the teachers!  They get to wear their pajamas to school, bring their favorite stuffed animal, and enjoy a yummy pancake and sausage breakfast for lunch!  I believe it is the only day that there is no Korean meal offered to the elementary students, and they do not mind.  They love the pancakes and sausage + the extra breakfast items at lunch on that day. Here are few pictures from that day!

The YISS PTO had prepared a Photo Booth for students and teachers to use.  Here I am with my face in the opening of the YISS mascot, The Guardian.  The kids had such fun!

                 Kinder cherubs in PJs at "lunch."

Some fourth grade girls in their PJs at "lunch."

I took this picture of James while he was  

raising his two fingers indicating he wanted

seconds on the pancake and sausage "lunch.

One of our first grade Teaching Assistants, Ms. Kathy Lee, in her PJs at lunch!

  Elementary Principal Mrs. Birmingham and me 

                              in our jammies! 

Here I am with one of my grade 5 buddies, Ryan! He was coming back with seconds.  He was wearing his hooded bathrobe over his jammies; wanted to stay warm! :-)

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I continue to work busily with Mrs. Williamson on Quarter Four After School Activities as well as keep things moving with Quarter Three activities.  Quarter Four hopes to offer several new activities for the students.  They have loved Speed Cup Stacking and that teacher, Ms. Buster, is planning to have an Advanced Speed Cup Stacking class as well as a Beginner Speed Cup Stacking class.  She is planning to have a new one for students in Grades 4 and 5 - Ultimate Frisbee!  I know the kids are going to love it.  One of our grade 1 Teaching Assistants, Ms. Kathy Lee, is planning to have two classes called 10 Artists Children Should Know.  Kathy's background is in art and the kids love her creativity. These two classes are going to be so good!  One staff member is planning to have an activity that involves fun with a Spelling Bee activity and competition.  I would value your prayers as we prepare to have everything ready for parents by March 20 - right before Spring Break.

I thought I would share a few pictures of some of the Quarter 3 activities.  Many of these photos were taken on Wednesday afternoon, the day of our PJ and Pancake Day so you will see kids involved in their activities while wearing their pajamas! :-)

Some of the children in Joy of Chinese Culture enjoy-

                 ing making Chinese firecrackers.

Some of the 4th and 5th grade students involved in Speed Cup Stacking.  Joshua on the right is practicing on the time mat to gain speed.

Some of the girls practicing their new skill!         

Another picture of some of the girls focusing intently on stacking their cups.

            Several more working with great focus!

Some of the boys working on picking up speed and accuracy!

The Arts & Crafts class after school is always a favorite

of children in Kindergarten through grade 3.  Here they 

are doing some painting!                 

This little lady is intent on painting her cat!

Two boys very focused and one seems to

be making an impression on the little girl

              with his artistic skill. :-)

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On Thursday morning I had scheduled appointments with six fourth grade cherubs.  They have been studying the calling of the prophet Elisha in their Bible class and how he completely left behind his old way of life to follow God.  They were comparing that to the passage in Luke 14, when Jesus calls His disciples and the crowd to count the cost before deciding  to follow Him.  Their assignment was to interview a follower of Christ today to discover the challenges and blessings that person has had in her/his walk with Jesus.  These six had chosen to interview me. They were to come up with some questions of their own and then meet with me to get my responses. I had such a delightful time with these six young people!  They had some great questions (some not very easy) and it was so much fun to see them writing down notes from the interview and asking follow-up questions.  What an exciting time we had!

Here I am with all six of the interviewers from Grade 4!  What a wonderful group of youngsters!

  Here are the three boys who interviewed me on Thursday in my

                  office.  We had a special time together!

After the three young men left, the three young ladies came in for  

another great interview. They had some excellent questions!       

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In addition to participating in three Chapels and the OASIS Assembly on Friday, I was invited to the Publishing Party for our Kindergarten (KB) class.  Ms. Han has been doing a great job in her first year at YISS and it was so much fun to go to her class in the afternoon to listen to her delightful cherubs read the books they had authored and illustrated!  So many parents came for this special event and I always love seeing them interact with their children!  Such a great time of fun and learning and encouragement!!  Enjoy some pictures form this special event!

One of the mothers brought her baby to listen to her daughter read;

            Ms. Weir also listening as another cherubs reads.

I am always so happy when Dads come to special events during the day.  Here is one listening to his little one and Ms. Han (the KB teacher) listening to another.

Oh, how I loved having Trinity read to me.  She had some great  

illustrations, too!! I love her smile!!                   

Ms. Han, Ms. Weir, and Ms. Buster took time to listen to some KB cherubs, too!

  Here I am with Jamie. He loved reading a couple

of his books to me. (He is a hard one to get to smile.)

Here I am with Luke.  On each of the children's books we were encouraged to place a post-it note of encouragement.  The kids love these. I like to print my comments and then ask the kids to read what I wrote.  They did a great job reading some words that I thought they would have trouble with.

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Then Friday evening I went to the Opening Night performance of our Drama Club's rendition of the musical, Mulan, Jr.  Our Drama and Speech teacher, Dr. Murdoch did a fantastic job of bringing some very talented middle school and high school students together for a fantastic performance of this Disney production.  I was so impressed with each one of them.  A new girl to our sixth grade really captured my attention.  She was a Chinese Grandmother in the musical and she was so outstanding!  I wish you could have witnessed the production.  I am sorry but because of all the restrictions on shows like this, I wasn't able to get any pictures. :-(  The only picture is the front of the program.  The picture isn't real clear.  The cast also performed at 2:00 and 7:00 on Saturday in the YISS auditorium.

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Saturday was a relaxing day!  I enjoyed my early morning coffee at Starbucks while working on my weekly post.  Then I did some walking, which I love!  I walked to my favorite bookstore in Itaewon, "What the Book?" to see my author friend, Darren Farrell.  He was there reading his new book (soon to be published) Stop Following Me, Moon!  Kids and parents enjoyed the time with Darren.  Our YISS kids really love him when he visits us at YISS.  There was another company there who is taking some of his illustrations and making them into fun art pieces for children to select their own colors for the piece and by just pressing on strips of paper, they can color the little wall hanging. More later on this.  I am hoping to meet with one of the owners of the company this coming week to see how all this works.  I know our YISS cherubs in Kinder through grade 2 would love these.

My friend, Darren Farrell, reading one of his books, Thank You Octopus! to children and parents at What the Book? bookstore on Saturday morning!

Some of those gathered on the carpet area in the What

              the Book? bookstore to hear Darren!

Darren preparing to read from his third book, Stop Following Me, Moon! - soon to be published.  Our kids in Grades K-2 were the first to hear him read this book and they loved it.  The kids at What the Book? loved it, too!

Some of the children watching and listening as    

Darren read his book to them.              

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After the Darren Farrell reading, I walked to get my haircut.  On the way I stopped for lunch to enjoy some of my favorite pizza in Korea.  Pizzarium makes a number of creative toppings for their pizza, but my favorite is Rucola Ranch!  I enjoyed mine with a side of pickles.  Since coming to Korea, I have learned to eat my pizza with pickles.  It seems that most Koreans have to have their pickles with their pizza. :-)  Actually not bad!

Oh, so yummy!!!!

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There is a magazine published mainly for foreigners each month simply called SEOUL!  I enjoy getting a copy at YISS each month for free and seeing special places to visit in South Korea.  It includes eating places to try, musicals, dramas, music concerts, etc.  On Friday at YISS the March edition of SEOUL was available.  On the inside cover was a full page advertisement for YISS. It had a really cool photo of our elementary principal's son, Blake!  Blake is now in Middle School and this photo was one that was not posed.  Our tech director found it in a collection of photos that staff members have taken candidly over the last year.  I am sure Blake will be giving many autographs!

Here is the inside cover of the March issue of SEOUL magazine showing my friend, Blake!

This is a picture of the cover of the March issue of SEOUL magazine.

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After a great worship service at New Harvest Ministry Sunday morning, I decided to stop and enjoy lunch at a small Korean restaurant near my home.  I enjoyed some very tasty Kimchi jjigae and Chamchi (Tuna) Kimbap!  Oh, it hit the spot especially on a chilly day!!  Sooo good!

You want some, don't you?  Oh, it was so yummy!  Come on over and enjoy some with me!

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It is hard to believe that today is March 1 and in less than three weeks Quarter Three will be history and teachers and students will be on Spring Break.  Our GWAM teams are in the final weeks of their preparations for various mission and service trips to about 7 or 8 destinations.  I know they would value your prayers.  You can also remember our elementary student-led parent conferences on Friday, March 6!  I always enjoy these times where the teachers have worked with students to lead the parent conferences.  It is so wonderful to see students using communication skills they have been learning to share their accomplishments and their progress.  Teachers are in the room for any questions students are having difficulty answering.

Thanks so much for your faithful encouragement, love, emails, notes, prayers, and support.  Please enjoy a great month of March!

Love, Gregg