Another Very Busy and Exciting Week to Begin Quarter Two!

Where do I begin?  The beginning of Quarter Two was so busy!  Monday morning Elementary teachers' grades were entered into a grading system we use called PowerSchool.  Middle School and High School teachers had a deadline of Tuesday morning for grades.  I was expecting a glitch or two because when we moved everything over to PowerSchool at YISS, there were a number of problems. At ICS-P we encountered no problems with Grades 3 through 12!  In Kindergarten through Grade 2, it was discovered that there was a problem with some of the strands used for assessing standards. After several attempts to rectify the problem, we found that it was not possible with such a short time frame.  So those teachers had to enter by hand the grades for about 15 - 20 strands for each student in her grade.  It was a bit frantic as teachers were doing this and also preparing their rooms for our Parent-Teacher Conferences on Thursday.  I love all of our teachers at ICS-P and they were troopers, correcting this last minute glitch in time for distribution of report cards to students and parents.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday teachers were quite busy teaching a full load of classes while making necessary preparations for the conferences on Thursday.  It was great to see so much of the students' works being displayed in the classrooms as well as in the school hallways.  Our Art teacher, Ms. Lee, was busy this past week as well as the week before posting pieces of art work that students in grades K - 12 had accomplished.  Parents enjoyed seeing the works of their students on display.  I shared some of the HS pieces last week and this week I was able to get a few pictures of our Kinder art.  There were many other pieces on display; I just didn't have time to get pictures of all of them. Here are some of the Kindergarten cherubs' art work.

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I have had the joy and privilege of getting to know a number of our students - one of the things I simply love doing!  Early in this past week, one of our seniors, Steve Choi, came to chat with me about some ideas he has for our ICS website and social media outlets.  Our HS Principal, Mr. Mooney, has Steve as a student Teaching Assistant and has asked Steve to work closely with him in getting the message about ICS-P out to the community.  Steve came to my office to check with me about various ideas he had.  They were great.  Then he asked me some questions about me and I was able to share about my faith in Jesus Christ.  I discovered that Steve is a delightful Christian with normal high school struggles.  I began hearing his passion for becoming a medical doctor who would go to care for those throughout the world who did not have access to affordable medical assistance.  I loved finding out about his passion and his desire to follow the Lord.  Please pray with me for this fine young man as he continues to prepare for university and then wherever God leads him.

Here I am with Steve in my office following our delightful conversation this week.

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Thursday I was asked to be the Elementary Chapel speaker in place of my friend and ES/MS Assistant Principal, Tony Kuhn.  Tony forgot that he agreed to teach Mr. Mooney's first period Bible class on Thursday.  (Mr. Mooney was participating in an educators' conference in Malaysia this past week.)  So he asked me to share in Elementary Chapel about a part of the armor of God from Ephesians 6.  I was delighted to share concerning putting on the "sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God."  I had several students and teachers come to me after Chapel to thank me for my encouragement about memorizing God's Word and using some real life examples and objects to keep the kids' attention.

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Parent-Teacher Conferences began at 12:30 PM on Thursday.  Students were dismissed at 12:00 Noon and teachers enjoyed a quick lunch and then they began meeting with parents concerning the progress of ICS-P students.  We had a great attendance.  Elementary conferences are required, but MS and HS parents can choose to come to a conference or not.  Most of the MS and HS teachers told me that there were many more parents who came to the conferences this year.  Conferences ended at 7:00 PM except for Ms. Hunter in grade 1.  She has the most students and was going strong from 12:30 PM to around 7:30.  Then she had work to prepare for Friday.  Mr. Kuhn and I decided to give her a professional day off on Friday because she was just plain exhausted after a very fruitful day of conferences.  I am so proud to work with the great caring teachers at ICS-P!  Please pray for them as you think of us.  A special note:  If you would like to have a listing of teachers in order to pray for them from time to time, please email me and ask.  I will send a listing to you.

     Mother and Dad of Dennis with Mr. Coyner.

Parents of a MS student with Mrs. Kim, Music Teacher.

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Friday was another very busy day at ICS-P!  Our Boys' Volleyball coach, Mr. Kuhn, and the ICSP Athletic Director, Mr. Greener, had a sleepover at school for all of the boys on the volleyball team on Thursday.  They had an early departure on Friday morning at 6:00 to arrive in time for the first game of the Boys' Volleyball Tournament for 2016.  They had a great time together and then enjoyed a good tournament.  They did not end up in first place,

Coach Kuhn with his Boys' Volleyball team for 2016!

A fun pose by the Boys' Volleyball team!

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Our Grade 2 teacher, Ms. Dather, asked me to come to her class of Grade 2 cherubs at 12:30 on Friday to share some of my favorite books and then read one or two of them to her class.  This is one of my very favorite things to do!  I absolutely love reading to any age group, but especially children. This group of second-grade students is amazing!  They love to get into stories and their love for reading continues to grow.  I shared a few of my favorite books and then read them one of Mo Willems' books (one not so well known) titled That is NOT a Good Idea!  The kids had read other books by Mo Willems, but not this one.  It was so much fun to interactively read with them.  They are so full of expressions and they are thinkers.  I had an amazing time with them and look forward to going back again real soon.

Above are some of the second grade students' pieces they wrote about favorite books and favorite things.

The three pictures directly above are ones of GGG interacting with Grade 2 as he read That is NOT a Good Idea!

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Saturday started early!  The church where I am fellowshipping in Pyeongtaek had its second Men's Prayer Breakfast.  We grew from 7 to 10 at this second one.  We started at 7:00 AM - enjoying a wonderful breakfast of items each man brought.  Lots of great fellowship and food and then Pastor Mike shared from the book of Joel!  Then we spent time sharing our prayer concerns and then prayed in pairs.  It was a great time together!  A few of the men left to go on a Bike Ride following the breakfast.  Two of the three young men I have been building relationships with at the church came to the Prayer Breakfast.  I was so happy that both Uriah and Chris came out Saturday morning!  Uriah is teaching English and Bible at SYME (the program I taught at when I first came to South Korea in August 2008).  Chris is a graduate of ICS-Pyeongtaek a few years back and has gone to Word of Life Bible Institute.  He is living in Pyeongtaek with his mother currently and plans to return to the USA next year to study.  He became a Christian just a few years back and is so eager to serve the Lord. Please pray for these two wonderful young men.

Here I am after the Men's Prayer Breakfast with Uriah (on my right) and Chris.

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After the Prayer Breakfast, I headed to ICS-P where we were hosting the Girls' Volleyball Tournament for our division.  I was there helping at the refreshment area for the PTA and was also able to cheer on our girls as they played.  Their regular coach is our Grade 4 teacher, Ms. Laura Johnson.  She had asked Tony Kuhn to coach the girls today because she has been having some problems with her stomach and was scheduled to have a procedure at the local hospital to try to determine what the problem is.  She thought it would take only a half hour, but we all knew it would be longer.  She did arrive to see the girls play in their last two matches.  The girls did not win first place, but did a great job ending near the top.  Please pray for Ms. Johnson as you you think of her.

Mr. Greener, our ICS-P Athletic Director with a couple students who helped with the scoreboard and stats during the Girls' Volleyball Tournament!

One of the refs at the tournament during a substitution

                                     for ICS-P.

This one is really blurry but I was trying to capture      

an action shot of our girls playing against ICS-Uijeongbu

in Saturday's tournament.                     

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Sunday morning was the Sunday when we featured the children at Dae Kwang Church during the worship service.  Some handed out bulletins, one offered the prayer with her Daddy, some collected the offering, and some sang a special worship song.  It was great to see the kids involved in the service!  Following the worship service, message, and our small group meeting, I enjoyed a wonderful lunch with my new friend, Chris Haynes.  Chris is studying right now to take the TOEFL exam on November 5.  We had a great time of getting to know each other and sharing prayer requests.  Chris is 22 years old and suffers with a disease called Hirschsprung's Disease, a relatively rare disease.  He has had this since birth.  I am still learning about this disease.  Would you please pray for Chris as he seeks to find relief from a number of the problems that arise from having this disease?  I know he would really appreciate it.

Sorry for the blurry picture!  GGG and Chris at Mom's Touch Friend Chicken Restaurant after church today.

Some of our Dae Kwang kids singing during "Children's Sunday"

                         with Mr. Thornton on the guitar.

Another picture of the kids Sunday morning during worship!

Jacob Morse with his youngest and Brent Whitaker and       

his youngest during our fellowship time following unday's service!

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As November begins, your prayers are very important to me as it seems that things will get even busier at ICS-P.  It is also during this month that teachers and staff will be deciding if they will return for another year at ICS-Pyeongtaek.  Of course, I would love for them to return because that means less time searching for the right teachers to replace them.  Your prayers are very important!  We are interviewing a candidate this next week via Skype for the Librarian position that will be left vacant in January due to the expected arrival of a little baby.  Our current Librarian,  Mrs. Mooney

Thank you for your love, care, encouragement, mail, prayers, and support.  Happy November to you!

Love, Gregg