ICS-P Seniors were Especially Busy During their Final Week!

This past week was a very emotional one for our seniors and our staff!  The seniors were taking their Final Exams as well as making their Senior Exit Interview presentations.  Friday was their last official day of school! The week was full of many moments of teachers and students spending time together as they brought closure to this chapter of their lives and began the transition to the next chapter.  I know they would really appreciate your prayers as they move on throughout the world.  It is always difficult at a small international school for students to leave a place they have felt safe and were loved by faculty, staff, and their classmates to go somewhere that is not so familiar with brand new faces and often far away from family.  Here is a photo that was captured at a closing dinner for seniors at the home of our Business Manager and her husband, Mr. and Mrs. Haselman.  The Haselmans' daughter, Ianne, is one of our seniors. As you look at the picture, I hope you will pray for this delightful group of bright and talented young people as they move on to a new chapter!

Here is a picture of the seniors on Friday evening on the stairs at the Haselmans' home where they were surprised with a Celebration Dinner!  What a fantastic group of young people!

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I was privileged to be able to sit on the faculty/administration panel to interview most of our seniors. This final Exit Interview is the final requirement for graduation for our students.  Each senior meets with her/his teacher mentor for guidance in preparing the presentation.  After a brief introduction to the committee of observers, the student is questioned by the panel for 10-15 minutes.  Then each is required to demonstrate through a presentation (method of presentation is up to the student) their growth in the five ESLRs (Expected Student Learning Results) of ICS-Pyeongtaek.  Their goal is to show the interview team how they have achieved each of the outcomes during their years at ICS-P. Following the presentation, each senior is asked for positive and constructive feedback to assist ICS-P in making our school even more effective in our education program.  Finally, each student's mentor is asked to pray for the student.  I really enjoyed each interview I was able to attend.

Here are our five ESLRs.  I am giving only the main title, but each ESLR has several areas listed under each as to what we are expecting our students to learn while at ICS-P.  Here are the five:

Expected Student Learning Results

*  Effective Communicators

*  Community Contributors

*  Biblically-informed Individuals

*  Complex Thinkers

*  21st Century Thinkers

Hearing each student introduce himself or herself was very meaningful to me.  I learned so much about each student's family and background.  Every student shared how he/she was impacted in amazing ways by the teachers and staff at ICS-P,  Each shared how what they learned in class as well as out of class and in mentoring times with their teacher-mentor made a powerful and long-lasting impact on them.

One student, Justin, shared that when he came to ICS-P, he was a Buddhist.  Because of the integration of a Biblical worldview in each of his classes, not just his Bible class, he became a believer in Jesus Christ!  One of the young ladies shared how she was encouraged to use her leadership abilities to take on various roles at the school.  Another young man shared for the first time, as far as I know, publicly about his depression and how he had made some very bad choices about smoking, drinking excessively, and found no meaning in life.  On his recent Week Without Walls' service trip to China, he changed his life and thinking.  He shared through tears how he finally realized the love of Christ even when he had not experienced that love from his father.  

Our student body president, Mokin, gave an outstanding presentation and how he believes that God wants him to return to India, after graduating from university, to serve the Lord in India to make a difference with the children who are orphans or those living in poverty without the knowledge of Jesus Christ.  His family had lived and served in India when he was a young child and he believes that God gave him the desire to return because of a little girl whose job it was to "wipe his behind" when he was an infant.  He said he wants to return to serve the Lord in whatever capacity he can serve Him.  

Here I am with Mokin in my office after his Senior Exit Interview!  He is an amazing young man and I am so excited to see how the Lord is going to use his servant's heart and leadership abilities as he seeks to follow the Lord.

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On Saturday afternoon, I met my longtime friend and brother, Tony Kuhn, to discuss some things concerning school projects and decisions for next year and just have a great time of fellowship together.  After a few hours, we met another friend and colleague at ICS-P, John Richards, to go on the Osan Air Base to enjoy a fantastic Lunner ( sort of like breakfast and brunch, but lunch and dinner) at Chili's!!  This was my first visit to Chili's in South Korea and I have been wanting to go so often!  We had a very special time of conversation, laughter, and delicious food!

Picture of me on my early morning walk

      on Saturday before meeting Tony.

Here we are preparing to enjoy our fantastic meals at Chili's!

            We all enjoyed this yummy appetizer!

This was Tony's selection!

This was my choice!  I had been waiting for the Chili's

Monterey Chicken and Onion Rings for a long time!

John also enjoyed the Monterey Chicken but chose the mashed potatoes.

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OK, I am going to close for now with a few items of praise and prayer:

1 - Some of you have been asking about Cora the Conqueror!  Cora continues to do well and grow.  She comes with her mother to school about once or twice a week and she is even smiling now.  She has these beautiful eyes and everyone just loves her.  Thank you for continuing to pray for Cora that she would continue to have good health.  Here are a few pictures of Cora with her Daddy, Mr. Mooney, our High School Principal.

Cora the Conqueror with her Daddy in some pictures!  Look at those eyes!!

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2 - My former SYME student and dear friend, Jin Seok and his wife, Eun Sun, gave birthday last week to a beautiful baby boy!  They are very excited!  They were married in January 2016 and are so thrilled with their first child!  They have given him the name of Eun Woo.  Jin Seok told me the meaning of Eun Woo is "gentle, warm, and filled with love and consideration."  I love the name.  I hope you will pray for them as they begin their new roles as Mother and Daddy.

   Here I am with Jin Seok and Eun Sun on 

   their wedding day back in January of 2016!

Here is Eun Woo shortly after his birth!

Another picture of Eun Woo right after

his birth!  Everyone is so excited!    

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3 - Last Wednesday we interviewed a candidate for our Grade 3 Teacher position.  Mr. Kuhn and I were very pleased and have offered her the position.  Would you please pray that this lady will be the one God has for us?  Her first name is Janet and she is also interviewing with two other NICS' schools.  She indicated that she would be giving us an answer early this week.

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4 - When our Administrative Assistant, Mrs. Helen, went to the Immigration Office this past week to renew some of our teachers' visas, she was told that the Korean law had changed and our base pay for staff is too low. We need to raise it at least 1,500,000 Won (about $1,500 in USD) in order to be in compliance.  This is a sudden change since Helen was at Immigration about 5 weeks ago for one of our new teachers next year and they never said anything about the base salary.  We had to change all of the contracts and Salary & Benefits' Sheets for all of our staff quickly to meet this.  Please pray for this as it was not included in the budget for next year.  We should be OK if we have an increase in enrollment from the projected number.  It seems like there is one thing right after the other this year that impacts our finances.  Thank you for praying.  

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5 - Pray for our Graduation Ceremony and Dinner on June 3 at 5:00 PM!   It should be a great time of celebration!

Thanks so much for all you continue to do for me.  Thank you for your faithful encouragement, love, care, mail, prayers, and gifts.  I can't believe it is almost June!  I trust that you will enjoy a great week!

Love, Gregg

May is Heating Up!

We are over half way through the month of May! I can't believe it!  And yes, things are heating up and moving at rapid speed!  Outdoor temperatures are heating up as well! The weather is getting warmer and the many events and activities that close out our school year at ICS-P are heating up as well.  Hard to believe that in less than a month, another school year will be in the books!  Your continued prayers and encouragement mean so much.  I will be sharing some items to be thankful for as well as items needing your prayers at the close of this week's post.

I want to show you some pictures that our Business Manager, Mylene Haselman, took the past week or so.  This is what our students and teachers get to experience right from their classroom windows each and every day.  It is so much fun to observe the various steps of rice planting, growing, and harvesting throughout the year.  Very interesting! At YISS, one would never see this beautiful process from classroom windows in Seoul.

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As plans progress for our High School graduation on June 3, the office staff prepared our entry lobby bulletin board with a tribute to our graduating seniors.  On Monday, as students came to school, they were greeted by the following bulletin board.  It was also there for the students who come to ICS-P to take their AP Placement Exams.  ICS-P is a test center for the AP Placement Exams so we are able to offer our school to many students from other schools.  Our testing room is in our new gymnasium and as outside students come to take the exams, they always are excited to see our gym since most of them come from schools that do not have a gym.  As you look at the photos of our graduating seniors below, please pray for them as you can as they leave to pursue their university/college education. You will notice a number of logos of colleges and universities as a framework for the seniors' photos. These are the colleges and universities that these students were accepted to attend.  Obviously, they will not go to all of them. :-)

Our High School Seniors at ICS-P!  They will graduate on Saturday, June 3!

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In addition to celebrating our seniors, our Librarian, Mrs. TiNa Lee, organized a Library Book Sale. Students, teachers, and parents could bring in their used books in good condition for the sale!  Mrs. Lee wasn't sure if a lot of books would be collected or not.  For a small school, we collected over 800 books!  Students could receive a coupon for a free book with every 10 books they brought in for the Sale.  For our first one, and with not too much prior notice, the Library was able to profit over $350 (USD)!  Mrs. Lee was very happy!  She had set up various stations in our basement gym for students to use while others from their class browsed the books for sale.  Prices ranged between $.50 and $2.00 for the books.  The kids loved it and we had a number of parents visit and buy as well as families who do not have children at the school.

Our Librarian, Mrs. Lee, with one of our parents and PTA officers, Mrs. Plaza, getting ready to welcome students to the Library Book Sale.

One of the displays Mrs. Lee set up in the Basement Gym.

Another display area with many books for the students and parents

                           to purchase at very low prices.

And another display area.                            

                                         And one more!

Here are some kindergarten cherubs in one of the learning centers.  They could go here after purchasing their books.

  Some 3rd graders sharing their book

                       purchases.

One of my favorite pictures!  Antonio purchases a book and found this little reading corner on some of the gym mats!  He was enjoying his "new" book!

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On the first day of the Library Book sale, the elementary students and teachers were encouraged to dress up as one of their favorite book characters and carry the book in a mini-parade outside the school as well as inside the school.  Our office staff and I had the privilege of voting for the ones who had the most creative costume for the book they were carrying.  It was a lot of fun!  I am sorry I could not get as many photos as I would have liked, but I had to be prepared for each grade of students coming through so that I could select my choices for the most creative.

These cherubs all selected the same book and character! :-)  Here they are enjoying one of the book stations at the Library Book Sale!

 Our Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Cho, with her cherubs leading the

 parade through the office!  Do you know what character and book

                                       she is portraying? :-)

Another view of Mrs. Cho's cherubs outside my office.

Grade 1 cherubs with their costumes and books along with Ms. Lee,   

Teacher Assistant.  Ms. Hunter, Grade 1 teacher is hiding in this picture.

Here is Ms. Hunter, Grade 1 Teacher.  Can you guess her book? :-)

                  Here are Ms. Dather and her Grade 2 cherubs!

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In the middle of this busy week on Wednesday, I had to travel to Korea International School (KIS), about 55 km north of ICS-P, for our KAIAC (Korean-American Interscholastic Activities Conference) Directors' meeting.  Usually, I take a bus and subway to YISS and travel to these meetings with my friend and colleague, Ray Johnson.  But on Wednesday I needed to drive on my own.  I was told that there is one turn that most everyone misses - at least the first time - when they drive to KIS.  So, because of my father's blood in me, I left at 6:30 AM from my home to travel to KIS, which takes about 1 hour and 10 minutes according to those who had traveled there before, for the meeting that began at 9:30 AM.  My trusty GPS was working so well and I was moving along very nicely on the not-so-crowded highways and only had about 30 minutes to go according to the GPS.  That was at 7:15 AM.  Well, shortly after that, I must have missed a turn although I did not see any place to turn. :-(  The wonderful lady on the GPS kept saying, "Route recalculation!"  After going through about 7 mountain tunnels somewhere in Korea, I pulled off and turned off the car, prayed, and turned the car back on.  The route came up and I was not close to KIS. The GPS began working and I was able to get back on the right roads and I pulled into KIS at 9:15 AM.  Thank you, Daddy, for teaching me to allow EXTRA time in travel, especially when it is my first trip to a place. :-)  We had a nice meeting with many of the Directors from other Korean international schools.  After the meeting, I headed back to Pyeongtaek and going back, the GPS and I had no problem.  I made it back in one hour and 10 minutes and no mountain tunnels!! :-)

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Friday was a very busy day at ICS-P!  The morning began with our Friday Staff Meeting and Devotions in the Library.  I was able to inform the staff that their payslip for Thursday as well as their last pay slip in June will be full pays!  I asked them to be praying that uncollected tuition fees for this past month would all be collected so that we would be able to pay back the 8 other pays that had the 10% reduction in salary.  Thank you for praying for this as well.  I am really praying that God will provide the necessary funds to reimburse all staff the 10% reduction for these 8 pay slips.

I had been invited by our HS Social Studies and History teacher, Mr. Kolbe, to come to his 4th period Psychology class to share about middlescence and my experience with that period of life.  I really had never heard that term used before, but I found out before the class that middlescence is "the middle-aged period of life, especially when considered a difficult time of self-doubt and readjustment."  I asked the class what they thought the ages of middlescence are.  One said, "40 - 50 years of age," another said 40 - 65.  I asked them how old they thought I was. Most were very kind, and when I said I was 68, they did not want to believe it.  Well, I had a delightful time with these high school students sharing about experiences and things I learned and had to adjust to during this middlescence period of my life.  They were so attentive and later many said they really enjoyed what I shared.  One said, "We really like that you are so honest and genuine with us when you share." Please pray for these young high schoolers.  I shared about my faith in Christ and how I was impacted greatly by my parents and siblings and accountability friends.  I am grateful for this experience with these ICS-P students.

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After the Psych class and my elementary lunch recess duty, I was able to sit down and enjoy the very delicious Teacher/Staff Appreciation Luncheon that the school provided for our teachers and staff on Friday.  Mrs. Haselman, Mrs. Okamoto, and our great kitchen staff had prepared a yummy feast. All of the staff were so appreciative of the very delicious feast which included a Salad Bar and Baked Potato Bar and Brownies ala mode for dessert!

Roast Beef & Mushrooms, Chicken Cordon Bleu, Salad, Baked Potato & all the toppings!

                     Salad Bar!

Two of our faithful substitute teachers  

were even able to enjoy the luncheon on

Friday since they were both subbing!   

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Finally, on Friday afternoon, we had our first Elementary Chess Tournament for our elementary students.  Mr. Kolbe has worked with MS and HS students in chess tournaments within our KAIAC group, but we have never had an elementary Chess tournament. There were 21 who signed up for the tournament which was held in the cafeteria during the afternoon.  It was a great afternoon and I was delighted to see these elementary cherubs participating and having fun playing Chess.  They are all excited about continuing to learn Chess next year and participating in additional tournaments. Thanks, Mr. Kolbe for organizing this.

  One of the groups of tables all set up

   and ready for the  ES Chess players.

Here are the ES Chess players getting ready to hear instructions from Mr. Kolbe!

Ready to begin play!           

Here is the young man, William, who was our first ES Chess Tournament Champion along with Mr. Kolbe!

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OK, let me finish with some items for thanksgiving as well as prayer:

1 - We are thankful that PowerSchool (student school management system) is working well since we have been able to get it back up and operating!  

2 - Please pray as we will close the PowerSchool system on June 13 to proceed with the progress of migrating our PowerSchool system to the "clouds" for much-improved security and safety.

3 - We are still in need of a Grade 3 Teacher for 2017-18!  Thanks for continuing to pray for this urgent need!

4 - I am thankful that on Friday we were given two names of teachers in the USA who are interested in checking out this position!  In addition, our Grade 5 Teacher, Mrs. Gross, came excitedly into my office on Friday morning to let me know that a couple had just come to Osan AFB and the wife was an elementary teacher in the USA!  She may be interested in our Grade 3 Teacher position!!

5 - Because of the very tight budget we have, we were given the approval to check on reworking the loan agreement for our gymnasium.  It has been completed and it will reduce our one big payment of $150,000 in August!  This will be so helpful!  It still would be great if we could have the funds available for paying off the entire gym loan.  God knows our need and we are trusting Him to direct the person or persons who would be able to assist with this.

I will stop for now.  Thanks for reading.  Thank you so much for your faithful love, encouragement, care, emails, regular mail, prayers, and support.  I trust you will enjoy a great week!

Love, Gregg

Happy Mother's Day - 2017!

This post will be sent out on Mother's Day, May 14, 2017!  I continue to thank the Lord for the wonderful mother I had the privilege of having.  Both she and my Daddy were so instrumental in my life.  I know I would not be where I am today if it had not been for their great love and teaching. If your mother is still living, please take some time this Mother's Day to thank her for her influence and impact in your life.  My mother is with my Daddy in heaven, but I still miss her and think of the unconditional love she poured out on my siblings and me.  I thought I would begin this post with a photo of my mother and my siblings.  It was a photo taken at Menno Village in Chambersburg before she began suffering from dementia and then Alzheimer's Disease.  I am full of gratitude for all that she taught me.

Here I am with my siblings and Mother at the pond at Menno Village. Left to right behind my mother are Julee, GGG, Jared, and Gae.

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Before writing anything else, I want to thank you for praying for us at ICS-P over the last two months about our student management system, PowerSchool!  This past week we believe we have it back up and operating!  We are so thankful to Mr. Coyner, Mr. Richards, and numerous staff who went way beyond the call of duty to make this happen!  There are going to be a few glitches, but for the most part, we are back up and operational.  It has been a long and hard trip!  Mr. Coyner still has much to do to work on students' transcripts, etc.  In addition to working on PowerSchool, the last week has been filled with Advanced Placement (AP) tests, Student Council events, our Spring Music Concert, Teacher Appreciation happenings, our annual Activities' Banquet, searching for a Grade 3 Teacher, and the list could go on and on.

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As you know, we have been interviewing numerous candidates for our Grade 3 Teacher position for 2017-18.  We have made several offers over the last month and a half for this person.  Each time the offer has been declined. :-(  On Friday morning, we interviewed a very capable candidate via Skype. She currently lives in Pennsylvania and our conversation with her was a delightful one and both Mr. Kuhn and I thought she was a great fit for our ICS-P community.  On Saturday around Noon, I received an email from this young lady saying that she enjoyed the interview and the offer but was disappointed that she would not be able to accept our offer as she didn't think it was the right fit. So, we are still in need of a Grade 3 Teacher for 2017-18.  It is becoming more and more a very urgent matter since it takes some time to secure all the paperwork to obtain the correct visa to teach in South Korea.  So, once again, I am asking you to join us in praying for the teacher God has for us in Grade 3 at ICS-P!  Some of you have put the word out already and I am asking once again for any leads that you can give us for this crucial position.

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During the last two weeks, we have been having Teacher Appreciation Weeks!  We have a superb Member Care committee who have come up with all sorts of ways to encourage, affirm, and thank our teachers and staff for their amazing work.  It began two weeks ago when "Affirmation Stations" were placed on each floor of the building.  At each station was an envelope with slips of paper and pencils.  Students, staff, parents, and administrators were encouraged to write a little note of affirmation to teachers on that floor and place it in the packet envelope for that teacher at that station!  It has been so much fun and everyone has jumped right in and are actually enjoying writing many notes of affirmation and thanks!  In addition, there have been teacher/staff appreciation breakfasts sponsored by the P.T.A., the Office Staff, and Member Care!  The culminating event will be a Teacher/Staff Appreciation Luncheon on May 19th.  It has come at a very good time with all of the extra work teachers are doing in this crazy busy month of May.

This was one of the snacks Member Care distributed to staff one day! :-)

These "Smart Cookies" were a treat another day this past week! :-)

        Then there were these mints!                                                      Reverse side of the bag of mints!

Above is one of the notes left in my "Affirmation Envelope."  I love it!  Can you read it? :-)

The top "OREO" treat was given to me in a presentation by Mr. Kuhn.  The "100 Grand" was left in my "Affirmation Envelope" along with the note!  I love both of them!

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On Friday, we had two special events happening at the school.  The first happened during the last period of the day when the Middle School and High School students gathered in the Basement Gym to listen to the candidates who had been campaigning for one of the offices for the 2017-18 Student Council.  It was a really excellent time.  After each candidate gave her/his speech as to why they wanted to hold the office for which they were running, one of the other candidates would ask them a question.  At the close of the speeches and questions, the students completed their ballots and the election was held.  There was a very close race for President of the Student Council, but Joon Ha Kim edged out Huin Lee.  

Some of the MS.HS students listening

to Huin give his speech for President.

This is Joon Ha giving his pre-election speech.  He later was declared the winner!

Here are the two advisers for Student  

Council along with the current President

of Student Council and candidates.    

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After dismissal at 3:30 on Friday, a great flurry of activity happened as final preparations for the "Activities Banquet" took place.  The group of ladies in the school kitchen, along with the two facilities' men, under the direction of our Business Manager, Mrs. Haselman, transformed the cafeteria into a beautiful banquet setting so that at 5:00 PM the dinner could begin along with the presentation of awards, certificates, etc. to those students, coaches, and advisers who were involved in the following: Forensics and Debate, Model UN, Elementary Chess Club, Volleyball (Boys and Girls), Basketball (Boys and Girls), and Soccer (Boys and Girls).  Mr. Greener, Athletic Director, did a very good job of organizing the celebratory evening!

The Cafeteria set up and ready for the Activities' Banquet.  Mr. Greener is at the podium sorting out all of the awards, letters, and certificates.

   Boys' Soccer Coach Thornton talking

with some of his boys prior to the banquet.

Some of the students gathering at the tables; getting ready to enjoy the banquet!

This is little Samantha Edwards waiting to be fed.  Her Daddy is Mr. Edwards, Assistant Girls' Basketball Coach.

The next pictures are of some of the very delicious food Mrs. Haselman and her great kitchen staff had prepared for the banquet!

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Finally, on Saturday afternoon our final event of the week happened!  Our music teacher, Mrs. Jennifer Kim, had organized our Spring Music Concert.  It was held in our new gymnasium and it was a superb afternoon of music featuring our Middle School Choir, the ICS-P Little Conquerors' Orchestra, and the ICS-P Middle School/High School Orchestra.  When Mrs. Kim was hired last year, her passion was to begin an orchestra at ICS-P.  ICS-P has never had an orchestra.  At Christmas was the debut performance, which was a huge hit, and then on Saturday, we were all so impressed with the growth in the orchestra!  They performed so well and parents are so excited about having an orchestra!  A special surprise was an opening piano solo by one of our high school students, Catherine Hwang.  Catherine is new to our school this year.  Because of her albinism, Catherine has extremely poor eyesight.  Saturday was the first that most of the school heard this delightful young lady play the piano. She blew us away!! Catherine performed Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 20 in G Major, Op. 49, No. 2 to begin our Spring Concert and she did an AMAZING job!!  I was so impressed!  Hopefully, I will be able to share some video clips later of her solo as well as some of the orchestra numbers!  The concert was a beautiful way to spend a Saturday afternoon and finish a very busy week!

 Middle School Girls' Choir preparing to sing The April Rainbow!

Middle School Combined Choir right after singing Kiss the Girl from Disney's The Little Mermaid.

The Little Conquerors' Orchestra preparing to perform Tango Latino.

The ICS-P Orchestra (MS & HS) performed five pieces ending with American Fiddle Melody.

Another picture of the ICS-P Orchestra at Saturday's Spring Concert!

     A view of some of the audience enjoying the Spring Concert!

A view of some of the audience from the other side of the Gym.

Mr. Kuhn and the Student MC, Sydney had just presented Mrs. Kim    

with a beautiful arrangement of fresh flowers for all of her excellent work!

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After the concert, I was taken by my colleagues and friends, John Richards and Tony Kuhn, to my favorite Budae jjigae restaurant for a very yummy Budae jjigae meal!  We had a great time of fellowship and enjoyed some very delicious Korean food with just the right amount of spicy kick to it.  So thankful to John for treating us to this special after-concert meal.  The wives of John and Tony had decided to go to Seoul to go shopping all day so the three of us enjoyed a time together.

Yummy Budae jjigae cooking and prior to the stirring of ingredients!  Oh, so good!!

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I am so grateful to those of you who continue to encourage me, love and care for me, write to me, pray for me, and support me.  Thank you so much!  I really appreciate all you do.  Please continue to pray for additional students for 2017-18 and that we will be able to finish this current year well! Many of us at ICS-P are exhausted and are in need of a refreshment break over the summer.  

Love, Gregg