1 - I want to thank you for praying for our IT person, Mr. Richards, and our Guidance Counselor, Mr. Coyner, for the continued work in restoring our PowerSchool student management system. Our goal is still to have it up and functioning properly by April 14. We have it back up right now, but there are a number of items that need to be accomplished to bring it back to where it was before it was hacked and destroyed. Your continued prayers are very much appreciated!
2 - Just a quick note about Ben Coyner. He has been back almost full time now. He tells me that he is feeling better each day and is eating better and his saliva problem is much better, as well as his taste of food. He is able to talk much more. He continues to see the doctors, but it appears that most of the problems right now are because of the side effects of the radiation treatments. He is smiling much more and even led the National Honor Society auction this past Friday. This is a fundraiser that NHS sponsors where teachers and students can bid on the NHS members to be their "servant" for the week! During lunch on Friday, Mr. Coyner conducted the auction the students and teachers had such a great time bidding. The person who was bought for the highest bid was our student body president and NHS officer, Mokin! The students were already very excited and surprised at how high the bids were. Some were at 50,000 Won to 60,000 Won. For students, this is like $50 - $60 in USD. Mokin was the last NHS member to be bid on and the bidding kept going and the students kept screaming with delight as the bid went higher and higher. Mokin was sold for 130,000 Won to two students who pooled their money to purchase him. Next week will be so much fun, too! Mr. Coyner made the auction a lot of fun and through it, the NHS raised over $500!
Mr. Coyner, the auctioneer, seeking bids for this NHS member.
This one is Joonha, bought by his girlfriend. :-)
One of the NHS ladies up for bid!
Mrs. Okamoto, our head cook, watching as students bid on her daughter, Sandra, a member of NHS.
Mokin starting to get worried. :-)
More bidding by those in the audience for Mokin/
Mokin looks surprised as he watches a table of girls trying to get some others to pool their money in order to win Mokin! :-)
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3 - On Monday, our new ELD (English Language Development) Coordinator/Teacher for 2017-18 came from China to visit ICS-P. Her name is Dale Amos and she was accompanied by her husband, Joseph Amos. They are so excited about serving at ICS-P. They spent the morning speaking with those teachers who have been teaching in the ELD program this year to get a handle on what has been happening. They love being part of our community and will fit right in. Our staff are so excited that they will be with us next year. I know Dale and Joe would love your prayers as they prepare to finish in China and then pack and move things to Pyeongtaek. Dale's sister is in ICU back in the States so she and Joe are going for a few weeks in April to be with her. Thanks for your prayers. I wanted to get pictures of this beautiful couple, but forgot! :-(
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4 - Thursday morning, Mr. Mooney and I had the privilege of interviewing a wonderful candidate for our High School Science Teacher position! His name is Raymond Febus and we were very pleased with his interview and his experience. He would be a great addition to our community at ICS-P. We actually had this interview face-to-face and were able to show him around the school. We received the go-ahead from the NICS Home Office to offer him a contract on Friday evening. So on Saturday, I sent him an official offer from ICS-P for the HS Science teacher position. When he left on Thursday morning, he was excited about the possibility so we are praying that God has Raymond in mind for our HS Science position. We definitely would love to have him! Thank you for praying for Mr. Febus and his wife as they make this decision. Here is a photo of Mr. Febus for you to use to pray for him.
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5 - We were also scheduled to have an interview with a candidate for the Grade 5 teacher position on Thursday morning. However, she never showed up on Skype at the time confirmed and didn't let us know she would not make the interview appointment. Mr. Kuhn and I were a little upset. She seemed like a very good candidate on paper, but God had other plans. She finally wrote to us on Friday to inform us that she had accepted a position elsewhere.
Before I say anything additional, I need to update you on the open position. The teacher who we accepted to replace our original Grade 5 teacher for this year, came to me on Wednesday after staff devotions in the AM to ask if she could change her mind for next year. She was planning to teach Grade 3 next year after completing this year in Grade 5. Her name is Mrs. Hollie Gross, and she is doing a great job. She wanted to teach grade 3 because her daughter was going to be in Grade 3 next year. However, she has fallen in love with Grade 5, the age of the students and the curriculum. She and her husband also think it would be better for her not to teach their daughter. SO, instead of a need for a Grade 5 teacher, we have a need for a Grade 3 teacher for 2017-18. :-)
We have scheduled another interview with a second young lady who is very interested in the Grade 3 teacher position. Mr. Kuhn and I have been in contact with her and we have arranged an interview for Tuesday, April 11 at 7:00 AM via Skype. Her name is April Garris. Please be in prayer as we chat with her on Tuesday. This may be the one God has for us.
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6 - On Thursday morning after our interview with Mr. Febus, I was invited to a very impromptu Skype Author Visit in Kindergarten. Some of you may remember that our Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Cho, is an accomplished author of children's books as well as a superb teacher. One of her writing colleagues has written the book The Kite Princess and our Kindergarten math curriculum recommended this book to be used with the math lesson that day. Mrs. Cho contacted her author friend, Juliet Clare Bell, to see if she would be available to Skype with her Kindergarten class on Thursday morning. Ms. Bell lives in the UK so there was a big time difference, but they were able to set up a good time and the ICS-P Kinder cherubs enjoyed a visit from the author of the book they were using in Math class.
Mrs. Cho with some of her cherubs listening to, and watching, Ms. Juliet Clare Bell.
Here is Ms. Bell on Skype with our Kinder cherubs!
They look so focused and interested in this picture.
Another picture of Mrs. Cho with most of her Kinder cherubs listening to Ms. Bell!
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7 - After our excellent Palm Sunday service at Dae Kwang Church today, I was able to meet my excellent friend and former SYME student, Yeongmin Baek, to celebrate our birthdays together with some other dear friends, Justin Lim, Tony Kuhn, and his wife Sue. We had a fantastic time together at one of our favorite restaurants, Puffin, near the main gate at Camp Humphreys! What a great time of catching up and remembering some wonderful times together over the years. After some scrumptious meals, Tony and Sue had to return to Songtan, but Yeongmin, Justin, and GGG went to a nearby coffee shop, Intenso Coffee, for some coffee and fellowship. The owner's son was sitting at a table near the ordering location. I had met him before and he began talking and smiling. After ordering, we went and sat down at a table and he kept looking at us and smiling. We invited him to join us and what a delightful time we had with this little man who is only six years old! He is very intelligent and loves to smile and share. He was informing us of many of his interests on his mother's phone. It rang a couple times and he immediately took the phone behind the counter to his mother. He brought us a lot of added joy today!
Once again, thank you very much for your faithful love, care, encouragement, mail, emails, prayers, and support. It continues to be very busy and there seems to always be so much to do at ICS-P. Please pray especially during this time as we have our re-enrollment season with current families. During this time, they can re-enroll their child/children at a lower rate if they do it before the deadline. We also have a promotional dinner on Wednesday evening at the Osan AFB Officers' Club. It is an opportunity to share about ICS-P and the education we can offer area families. Enjoy your week!
Love, Gregg
Here we are at Puffins celebrating the birthdays of Yeongmin and GGG! What a great time! And Yeongmin wouldn't even let us pay for our meals; not even his! Sucha "bad" birthday boy! Left to right: GGG, Yeongmin, Justin, Tony, and Sue!
Our new little friend at Intenso Coffee! Here he is showing us one
of his sketches made with his little dinosaur marker!
He is explaining how many interests to Justin and me while
Yeongmin listens!
He drew one of his faces with his dinosaur marker on my hand! He was so happy about that! :-)
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Once again, thank you very much for your faithful love, care, encouragement, mail, emails, prayers, and support. It continues to be very busy and there seems to always be so much to do at ICS-P. Please pray especially during this time as we have our re-enrollment season with current families. During this time, they can re-enroll their child/children at a lower rate if they do it before the deadline. We also have a promotional dinner on Wednesday evening at the Osan AFB Officers' Club. It is an opportunity to share about ICS-P and the education we can offer area families. Enjoy your week!
Love, Gregg
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