New School Year Begins! Aug. 3-12, 2015 Newsletter #1
Another school year has begun! It is good to see the returning students and how they have grown! And it’s good to have 1 new student and 2 that have returned who were away for a year and a half. So, welcome Anayr and Ha Rey and Dong Hyuk!
We will have 3 students in Elementary when it starts next week, and we currently have 8 in grades 7-9, and 24 in grades 10-12, for a total of 35 students this term (2 more will come for 2nd semester). We have 21 staff members here now, with another that will come 2nd semester.
We had an assembly on the first day of school to welcome everyone back. Miss Warwick reminded us of what Noah, last year’s Salutatorian, spoke about in his speech: respecting teachers, being diligent, etc. We are thankful for Mr. Lannon who is our Director, besides managing Maintenance and teaching Urdu, and Miss Warwick who is still handling the High School Principal job along with teaching. Simon Bhatti is the Finance Manager and Mr. Sharoon Javed is the Admin Assistant. Mr. Simon still handles the National Staff and security. New this year, are Nate and Merrin Raiter who teach English / Art, Home Ec and Music. Isaiah and Diana Loong will look after the Elementary and Junior High boys’ boarding. Hans and Ulrike Brandt are caring for Senior High boys. Stephanie Lannon is the combined Junior and Senior High girls’ house parent. We are very grateful that our 3 Gap year students from Germany arrived for the start of the year! They are already taking a lot of responsibility in boarding and teaching German. They are: Annika Martin, Daniel Pantle and Dominik Schüttler.
Our National Staff accomplished many tasks on our campuses over the break: most had to do with security upgrades. Thank you!
Here are this year’s members of the Student Council: Benjamin – President; YeaRim - Vice President; Subin Gr 11; Rohan Gr 10; and Ricky Gr 7/8/9.
This group represents the student body and meets weekly to discuss ideas and recommendations about school and boarding life. They also help organize spiritual emphasis weekends and the National Staff dinner.
The Activities Committee also meets weekly to plan weekend activities and campouts. The following students represent the student body: JuYoung, JoonHee, Micha, Jodie, Ha Rey, and Rohit for Senior High; and JiReh and HyoSuk represent Junior High.
During Chapel we met the new Staff! Annika and Dominik showed pictures of their families and churches in Germany. (We will have to hear from Daniel another time, since he was sick.) The Loongs showed pictures of Singapore at this special 50th anniversary of their country’s independence! The Raiters showed pictures of Australia and tested us on our knowledge of their country.
Youth Group started Friday evening with a special time of worship. They meet each week and students lead and challenge others with discussions and worship.
On Saturday night to welcome everyone back, Uncle Hans organized games on a Native American theme. Students competed to see how good of an ‘Indian’ they could be in challenges such as “horseback” races, climbing, throwing, and being stealthy.
The new Grade 12, Class of 2016, have been hard at work painting their lounge. It’s always sad to see the previous designs go, but exciting to see new colors and designs transform the room yet again!
In our Sunday services, we enjoy having many students and staff playing instruments and leading our worship time. Several students will also serve on the ‘Tech Team’ which takes care of the sound and power points for services. We are really enjoying the upgrading of the sound and light system and new sound booth that was done last year.
This last Sunday, we heard from Mr. Paul Lehmann about the glory of God and why we shouldn’t look to anything else for strength.
We always welcome speakers from the community to give sermons at our church services or share at a Friday Chapel. If you or someone you know could help us in this way, we would be very grateful! Just contact me.
We will miss last year’s staff and students: The Albert Sadiq family, the Armistead, Becht, and Lim families, Miss Black, the Healeys, Miss Piper, Mr. Miller, the Gaps: Sammy and Lea, and the graduates: Noah, Havilah, EunJohng, Tori, Helen, Grace, Stephen.
Mr. Albert and his family have safely arrived in Chicago, USA to start a new life there! They had good flights and are enjoying lots of family parties! Please continue to pray as Shawn’s school will start soon and that they’ll find a house to rent nearby.
We are looking for an Urdu teacher for this year, and would appreciate having a new director start at some point this year to take over from Harry. We’ll also need someone to oversee Maintenance. And be sure to share with alumni and churches, our other staff needs for next year that are listed on our website!
We’ve enjoyed celebrating the marriages of former students over the summer! Daniel Lannon (Class of 2009) and Judith, Hanna Condie (Class of 2010) and Sterling Matthews, and Jessie Baer and Peter Joung (Class of 2011)
We’d love to hear from former staff and students anytime. So send me any news or greetings that I can pass on in these newsletters!
Praise and Prayer Requests:
Praise for all the safe travel over the break and returning to school!
Praise for our great staff and a good start to a new year!
Pray for our recent graduates, Noah, Havilah, EunJohng, Tori, Helen, Grace, Stephen, who are working or will be attending universities soon. And pray for our former staff as they re-locate.
Continue to pray for healing for Jared Armistead and Nancy Stewart as they continue cancer treatment.
