May has Arrived! Only one more busy month!

This is what I have the delight of seeing every morning as I walk up the walkway leading to YISS.  I also get to enjoy it as I walk down the hill each evening!  The beauty of Seoul in Spring is awesome!  So many beautiful flowers!

Wednesday was a day off from school for kids because of Korea's Labor Day.  YISS used the day to have our annual YISS Staff Family Picnic!  It was a beautiful first day of May and lots of great fellowship and yummy food was enjoyed by all who attended.

Some of the yummy lunch catered by Outback Steakhouse

for our Staff Picnic!  Soooo good and toooo much! :-)

Some of my colleagues and friends preparing to eat 

the yummy lunch!  I took this picture early but soon

all of the tables outside in the sun as well as those set

up under the tent in the Courtyard were filled with YISS

staff!  It was a really great time!

Above in the picture on the left is our CFO's dog and the little dog in the picture on the right belongs to the Birmingham family.  It was fun to watch this meeting! :-)  Both dogs never really did meet nose-to-nose, but it was fun watching their interactions with each other!

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Before I forget, I want to show you a picture of the two sons of Mrs. Baek, our former Elementary School Secretary.  She and her hubby are enjoying both of their sons, but I miss her presence at YISS - although Mrs. Yoo has jumped right in and is doing a great job!

I love this picture of the two brothers!!  This was taken shortly after Mrs. Baek and her second son came home from the hospital.  The older brother wants to be with his new brother!!

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The past week was filled with teacher observations in the classrooms, MAP testing (which continues for the next two weeks), After School Activities, final rehearsals for the 5th grade Musical, Annie, Jr., on May 10 and 11, Progress reports for Quarter Four, and involvement in Chapels and OASIS assembly on Friday.  In addition, our elementary students continue their excellent work in the elementary Art classes.  I wanted to post just a few of the many wonderful pieces they have created recently.  Mrs. DeHart does a really great job teaching Art to our cherubs.  Enjoy the beautiful pieces below. The photos don't do justice to the pieces.

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One of my highlights each week happens on Tuesday afternoons in Quarter Four.  I get to meet with my "Discipleship Boys" from 3:20 - 4:30 each Tuesday afternoon!  We have such a great time sharing, playing, praying, and studying the Bible each week.  I love the two young men I have the privilege of working with this quarter - Paul and Joshua!  I know they would value your prayers!

Here I am in the YISS Courtyard with Paul and Joshua, my wonderful Discipleship boys!!

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On May 1, one of my favorite restaurants, Suji's, finally reopened after a month and a half of renovations!  I wanted to go on May 1 but was not hungry because of the huge picnic lunch we had at the YISS Staff Picnic.  I did stop on Friday evening and was greeted by one of the former managers, who was so happy to see me.  She took me immediately to her boss, Max Kang, who has been in charge of the development of the renovated facilities.  He gave me a tour and showed me the new Deli and bakery on the main floor.  I enjoyed one of my favorite sandwiches, the Reuben, along with samples of cole slaw, potato salad, and egg salad!  Very delicious!  Max then gave me samples of each of their bagels to take home and enjoy!  Very tasty!

This is what greeted me as I entered Suji's Friday

evening!  Freshly made bagels, and homemade 

cheesecakes and other pies!  Oh, this will not be good!! :-)

Above are some of the breads and bagels on display in the new Deli!

My yummy Reuben sandwich and a sample of egg salad!

This is the main Deli area.  The floor above has seating for sit-down brunches, lunches, and dinners.  They are still renovating the open air top floor and that should be ready for patrons to enjoy during the summer months!

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Friday evening and Saturday morning I had a special treat - a visit from my former SYME student and dear friend, Jin Seok!!  He was coming to Seoul for a friend's wedding and stayed over Friday night at my apartment and then after a long sleep, I took him to Tartine's for a very yummy French Toast brunch!  I always love being able to see and and talk with Jin Seok.  I would appreciate your prayers for him as he is in the middle of some tough courses in his studies in Translation and Interpretation at Handong Global University in Pohang.  Jin Seok continues to grow in his English and in his spiritual walk with the Lord!

Jin Seok and I enjoying a very delicious Brunch at

Tartine's in Itaewon before he had to leave for a wedding.

Our yummy Brunch items!!  French Toast almost as delicious as my mother's and my sisters' - but not quite!!

Outside Holly's Coffee! After Brunch we went there

for coffee and more conversation before Jin Seok had 

to leave.  Here he is in his handsome wedding suit!

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Please enjoy a great month of May!  Once again, thank you for being so faithful with your prayers, encouragement, love, and support!  

Love, Gregg

April is coming to an end; May will be VERY busy!

This last full week of April has been a busy one, and it does not appear that things will be calming down any until June! :-)  April 30 is the last day that teachers can take their personal days so every day in April someone has been out.  Our elementary permanent substitute, Lori Palmer, has been very busy!  Friday we had three people out; one for her personal day and two for sickness.  Such fun!  I think we were on Plan D! :-)  I was supposed to be involved in OASIS assembly in the afternoon, but that was changed as I needed to help out in the three Chapels and then sub in Dr. Harding's 5th grade music classes all afternoon.  I always enjoy going into the classroom to teach but it was a very busy day.  I usually do not sit down when I teach in Chapel or teach in the classroom so my knees were very tired Friday evening! :-)  Thank you for praying for our staff as we finish this school year!  May is going to be very busy!  We will have our first music concerts in our newly remodeled auditorium!!  I can't wait!  The Cafeteria and Library expansions are nearly complete!  The additional classroom wing is on target for completion sometime this summer.  Then the real fun begins - moving in furniture and getting everything set up for August and the beginning of a new school year!

I am going to highlight a few events that were happening this past week at YISS.

First, on Wednesday we had our monthly Fun Day for Elementary.  It was Class Spirit Day.  Each class was to choose a theme and then dress to represent that theme.  The kids did a great job!  There were detectives, Safari hunters and animals, favorite book characters, royalty characters, teachers, etc.  My favorite was Grade 2A who chose to come as a teacher.  They dressed as a teacher and wore name tags with "Mr. Garrop", "Ms. Simmons", etc.  The class drew names of three people to come as Mr. Lazor (Principal), Mrs. Birmingham (Assistant Principal), and Mr. Garman (Assistant Principal).  They were so cute!  I think you will enjoy their pictures.  Everyone loved them.

Here I am with the three who were the hit of the day!  From left to right three students from 2A who portrayed the Elementary Principals: "Mr. Lazor", "Mrs. Birmingham", and "Mr. Garman".  They are so cute!

Above to the left is Ms. Simmons in Grade 2A.  Can you guess what era she would like to have taught in?  To the right are two of my buddies from Grade 5B dressed as Albert Einstein!

Above are some of the cherubs from 1A who were going on a Safari!  Some were animals and some were the Safari travelers!

Above to the right is a group from 1B who were representing royalty!  To the right is my friend, Ben, with his face painted.  An amazing paint job of his face!

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Second, our very active PTO began its Community Art Project!  This is a major undertaking and so exciting! It involves all of the students in the entire school!  The following is a statement from the PTO concerning this project:

"The PTO Music and Art Committee (MAC) is pleased to unveil the winning composition for YISS PTO community art project, "Home Away from Home." Middle and high school students were invited to submit a composition of Seoul landmarks for the project.  Last week, 75 teachers, staff and PTO members voted to select the winning composition drawn by Susanna Yun (Grade 12).  

The MAC team has redrawn the composition on 40 square sheets measuring a total of 3.75 meters tall and 6 meters wide.  From April 22-26, K-12 students, parents, teachers and staff will work together to color the colossal piece using oil pastels.  The finished artwork will then be scanned, printed on 1,000 ceramic tiles and then installed as a permanent display in the main lobby!"

I wish I could show you all of the 10 selections chosen as finalists.  The students did an amazing job!  I am going to show the winning selection and some of the elementary students working on their section of the massive project.  You will see some of the PTO volunteers who have been working MANY hours to work with teachers and classrooms to get times for students from each grade to paint their portion of this amazing work!  I am so excited about it and cannot wait to see the final ceramic tile portrait in our main lobby!

Above is the drawing of Susanna Yun.  Her art work was selected as the winner for this project.  Susanna along with PTO volunteers then added color to her drawing and divided as described in the paragraphs preceding this picture!

Some fifth grade students working on their section of the painting!

Some more fifth graders working on the project!

Here is the overall drawing in sections on the floor of Room 404.  PTO volunteers are adding completed sections from various grades and getting the total project together.

Another view of the work in progress in Room 404!

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I also want to share a few of the creations that our Elementary Art classes have recently finished.  Mrs. DeHart, our Elementary Art teacher does a fabulous job with them!

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One of our very popular After School Activities in Quarter Four is Hip Hop Dance.  One of our fourth grade teachers, Ms. Greaves from Philadelphia, is the instructor.  Ms. Greaves works with the students to prepare a worship Hip Hop dance for our end of year VBS Days.  I stopped by this past week to observe.  The kids are doing an amazing job!  I am especially thrilled that there are a number of boys who love being in this group.  One in particular that excites me is Ben from Grade 5.  Ben has Asperger's Syndrome and I continue to be thrilled with the progress this young man has made since coming to YISS in Grade 3.  When he came, he could not tolerate music, especially loud music.  He told his Mom that he wanted to be in Hip Hop Dance!  As I took a little video and some pictures, I was crying as I watched this young man enjoy himself as he learned the various dance moves!

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May brings many music concerts, MAP Testing in Grades 2-5, completion of After School Activities, many field trips, graduations, the 5th grade musical (Annie, Jr.), final report cards, transitions to our new classrooms, and the list goes on.  It is also the time when we have our annual International Bazaar!  This will be on May 11 from 11 AM - 4:00 PM.  It is a wonderful event showcasing the many cultures that are involved with YISS.  Some yummy food, great games, excellent fellowship, and just some plain old fun!  I wish you could join us on that day!  Thanks for your prayers for this busy month!

You continue to be very special to me!  Thank you so much for your many emails, notes, prayers, encouragement, love, and support!  I trust that you will enjoy a wonderful month of May!

Love, Gregg

PS:  On Saturday night at my church, New Harvest Ministry in Gangnam, I was able to view a screening of the gripping documentary, The Pink Room.

“Nearly 2 million children are exploited in the global sex trade every year.

Few atrocities are as unthinkable as child sex trafficking.  For the nation of Cambodia, the buying and selling of children’s innocence is far too common.  What started as a project uncovering the injustice and oppression took a sharp turn when the concept of sex trafficking became personalized in one girl: Mien.

The Pink Room follows the reality of child sex trafficking in Cambodia through the life of a survivor.  While the world is awakening to this painful reality and plumbing the depth of the problem, The Pink Room tells the true story of hope, following the lives of people who are making a difference and victims who are overcoming.”

You can check out more about the movie at thepinkroommovie.com .  One of the members of our New Harvest Ministry will be going to serve among these children and young teens in Cambodia through Rahab’s House!

Cherry Blossom Time Welcomes the Spring Book Fair + Many More...

I have always enjoyed Spring!  And I love it in Seoul because there are so many Cherry Blossoms!! Here are a couple of pictures of some of the trees that line the driveway leading up to YISS!  I love walking up the hill from Seoul Bus #405 each morning as I come to school to begin each day!

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With the coming of the Cherry Blossoms, we usually can expect the YISS Spring Book Fair, Spring Music Concerts, rehearsals for the Elementary Spring Musical (this year it is Annie, Jr.), athletic events, preparation for our annual International Bazaar, and the list goes on!  It is a great time and a very busy time!

The Spring Book Fair seems to have been a huge success!  The kids love this time to have the opportunity to purchase books at excellent prices + the PTO and the Library benefit from the proceeds!  It was a wonderful three days!  I love being able to spend time during the Book Fair helping the Librarians assist parents and kids select books!  I love being able to meet more of the parents and get to talk with them.  On the first day of the Book Fair we had a special treat for our Kindergarten through Grade 2 cherubs.  Author Darren Farrell returned to sign the 80 books purchased by the children in K through Grade 2!  He spent about two hours signing each book individually with a nice comment and a mini drawing!  Kids were delighted!  Following are some pictures from the Book Fair and the visit from Darren Farrell:

Some PTO volunteers with some parents and children

selecting books at the Book Fair.

This is one of my delightful friends from 2A! Grace always has a nice smile for me and she was enjoying purchasing books at the Book Fair.

Some more cherubs and parents selecting

some books at the Book Fair!

This is my wonderful friend, Hoonie, from Grade 2D!  He is so intelligent and enjoys reading all kinds of books!  I love to hear him give oral presentations and here he is giving me a detailed explanation (with humor) about Legos!

Our MS/HS Librarian, Mr. Johnson, assisting some

middle school boys as they select books!

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Here are a few pictures with Darren Farrell:

Author and illustrator, Darren Farrell, looking at

the letters and drawings the students in 1A had done

for him.  He was so thrilled and touched that they did 

this.  He spent time as he autographed books looking

at each of their drawings and interacting with them.

These cherubs were obviously very happy!

Some more students from 1A with Darren.  The little girl is such a cutie.  Her name is Katie and she is the middle of three sisters.  She was so excited when Darren made comments about her drawing from Doug-Dennis and the Flyaway Fib!

Here is Darren continuing to talk about each of the

children's drawings.  It was a special time!

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On Wednesday the students, who had earned the privilege of being Principal of the Day and Assistant Principals of the Day during the recent Read-A-Thon, spent most of the day shadowing Mr. Lazor, Mrs. Birmingham and me throughout the day.  They had issued a proclamation on Tuesday afternoon that all students and teachers in the elementary school would have a Denim Day on Wednesday!  As the announcement was made from the main elementary office, you could hear the cheers of joy and delight from students all over YISS!  I had a wonderful day with my Assistant Principal, Ms. Rocher, from grade 3A.  She was so excited to find out a little of what I did each day and shadow me for a good part of the day.

Above is my Assistant Principal of the Day, Ms. Nicole

Rocher.  Nicole loved sitting at my desk and being

very official! :-)

This is Mr. Matthew Garrop, Mrs. Birmingham's Assistant Principal of the Day, seated at her desk!  Matthew was so excited about being the Assistant Principal and then around lunch time he got sick and had a fever and had to go home. :-(

From left to right: Mrs. Birmingham, Mr. Lazor,  

Ms. Catherine Tears (Mr. Lazor's Principal of the Day),

GGG, and Ms. Rocher.  The Principals of the Day also

made the elementary children happy but bringing them

an ice cream to enjoy in the afternoon with their extra recess!

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On one of our walks to visit the Book Fair and several classes, Ms. Rocher and I had the delight of seeing Dominic, the son of our CFO, Dr. Boush.  Dr. Boush and his wife, Sarah, had Dominic dressed in a Hanbok preparing him for his one year old birthday - a very big event in Korea!  Dominic looks so cute.  His family has a very big dog and I usually can get Dominic to smile when I bark like a dog!  The picture below shows Dominic with one of the wonderful ladies in the Business Office, Mrs. Won.  All five ladies in the Business Office were fighting over who was going to hold Dominic next!

Dominic is such a cutie - especially in his Hanbok!

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Thursday was a special event in the Middle School.  The history teachers had each of the 6th, 7th and 8th grade students prepare a written and oral presentation on a famous person in the world's history.  They took over the main gymnasium and made it into a live museum.  I was thrilled to observe the students who were in the elementary school when I came to YISS present as students, teachers and parents came to the "museum" and learned about many famous people in our history!  The elementary classes were invited to come and visit the "museum" and it was fun to watch these historical characters adjust their prepared oral presentation for the little ones.  Great job!

I will let you see how many of the above historical characters you can identify.  Some are more famous than others.

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Friday was a Professional Development Day for YISS staff.  Students had the day off and teachers and administrators spent the day earning CEUs by participating in a a great variety of workshops and seminars.  Our Curriculum Director, Ms. Sevey, did a great job of organizing a great day of learning.  It was also a wonderful time for the 100+ staff to get to have some fellowship together! I enjoyed some technology workshops as well as a workshop on a very unique and complicated cultural issue in Korean schools called Wangta.  Type "Wangta in Korea" into a Google search and you will discover what we have to work with at YISS.  There was also a required seminar on Suicide: Signs and Prevention that all of our staff had to take.

Once again, thank you so much for your faithful encouragement, emails, notes, prayers and support.  You are very special to me.  Please enjoy a great week!

Love, Gregg