2012- Semester 1... almost done

Here is a short video from students to wrap up 2012

It is also and opportunity to say goodbye to David Hong who will be leaving us for a Semester.
We wish him all the best and God's blessings until we see him again!

6-8 Coffee House fun

The students showed a lot of courage to be involved in coffee house where they performed in front of their peers.

Well done STUCO for hosting another fun coffee house talent show!

Service week...

To finish out the calendar year we are celebrating and being involved in Service.

Today one group went caroling at a retirement home...

Another group made soup and Kimbap to take to the hungry people at the train station...

It was absolutely such a blessing to be able to work in the TCIS soft tech room to make this food!
The students did an extraordinary job of cooking, working together and of course cleaning up!

Science update

Have a look at the Science page for the latest update on DENSITY!

Thanks again to Mary Kim for updating our blog.

Grade 8 Student of the Month for November

Today we awarded another Student of the Month for Grade 8, this time for November.

Congratulations to David Hong!

Teachers said...

He is extremely principled as he takes responsibility for the work that he needs to get done. He stays focused on the task at hand and does not get caught up in conversations that are not related to what they are learning. He reflects on his tasks to ensure he covers all aspects of the work. He asks questions and is not happy to rest on his previous knowledge. This has been seen many times in Bible where he has worked to become more knowledgeable regarding the Scripture and the narratives we have studied.

He interacts positively with his peers, shows perseverance on difficult tasks and encourages other students.  He definitely collaborates well with a wide variety of students in a variety of his subjects.

In PE he has shown himself to be a positive risk taker in Gymnastics. He displayed Open-mindedness in Health class by listening to others opinions in class and expressing his own considered thoughts through his writing.

He has shown a steady commitment to excellence.  For example, his thoughtful comments and critically superior written work in English class on his Fanmail project show he is truly a Thinker.  He has shown he is Open-Minded by opening himself up to new experiences, a new culture, and new friendships this semester.  His keen observations, careful communication, and the quiet force of his personality make him an asset to any classroom and any relationship. 

He has shown himself to be a risk taker and leader to lead his section with developing skills, maturity and humbleness in Strings. He is sincere and positive in class and is a good example to others.

New Technology post

Thank you to Mary Kim, our resident student blogger for updating the Technology page for Grade 8.

Amnesty International in Chapel

In chapel today we had a special presentation from the Amnesty International club.
Amnesty International is a global organization which aims to raise awareness of social injustices and human rights violations around the world.

The TCIS chapter of Amnesty International has chosen to focus on human trafficking.
Globally 2.6 million people are "trafficked" around the world each year. South and North Korea have high numbers of people who are kidnapped or tricked into a life they don't choose.
Today 8 teachers and students were 'kidnapped' quietly as they entered chapel.
Our job was to look at the clues and try to identify who was kidnapped through the clues.
When the 'kidnapped' persons were finally released, each person was given a "story" about why they were kidnapped to explain to Chapel.

Joshua Kim explaining his story to 6-8 students.

Elizabeth Song explaining her story.

These stories included children who had been stolen into a life of prostitution, slavery, illegal migrant work, human body part trading and mail order brides. Students were challenged to think about how they would survive without their freedom, just as these people have no basic freedom.

Here are the examples that were used:

FEMALE 1
I am from a poor Chinese. I was recruited for marriage in Korea. They told me I would marry a wealthy man, would never have to work, and would have a lot of money. They told me I would live a high quality of life. But when I arrived in Korea, I was forced into PROSTITUTION.

• An estimated 2.5 million people are in forced labour or sexual exploitation at any given time as a result of trafficking. Approximately 1.4 million, 56%, are in Asia and the Pacific

FEMALE 2
The pressure was too much: the tests, the school, my parents, and their expectations, so I ran away. I met a man who said he’d help me, but when I got in his car, he locked the doors, and took me far away to be auctioned like livestock. My new owners began to sell my body. I work in CHILD SEX TOURISM.

• The majority of trafficking victims are between 18 and 24 years of age.

FEMALE 3
I am a Vietnamese girl. I entered a program where Korean men buy brides. My parents were paid for me and I moved to Korea. I cannot understand anything my “husband” says. I have to work hard or else I will be sexually abused. MAIL ORDER BRIDES is human trafficking.

• Bride buying is becoming more common because there are less women than men. In Korea, there are 124 men for every 100 women, when the average is 105 men for every 100 women. It is a common issue that many such marriages end in abuse.

FEMALE 4
I am a migrant worker. I was hired under the Korean governments’ Employment System. But when I came to Korea, my passport was taken away, I wasn’t paid, and I’m not working in the job I was told I would. I can’t leave, and there is no one I can turn to for help.

• 800,000 people are trafficked across borders each year around the world. There are approximately 500,000 low-skilled migrant workers in the Republic Of Korea from elsewhere in Asia.

Female 5
I needed money to pay off college, but I had a huge debt. A man offered me the solution: a job at a massage parlor. He took me out to dinner and immediately loaned me the money. Then I blacked out. I woke up in the US and was forced into prostitution.

• 85% of South Koreans who are in serious debt turn to loan sharks, and the majority of South Korean women trafficked around the world belong to this group. In addition, in 2011, South Koreans accounted for the highest population of sex trafficking victims in the US: 24%.

MALE 1
I was kidnapped off the streets when I was 10. I was given to a drug cartel and forced to work as a drug dealer. They paid me with drugs. I became so addicted that even though I wanted to, I couldn’t leave. I am trapped.

• Approximately 1.2 million children - both boys and girls ages up to 12 - are in a forced labour situation as a result of trafficking

MALE 2
I am from India. I went to an interview for a job that offered 60,000 rupees. When I got there, they would not let me leave. They offered me 12,000 rupees for my kidney, but I refused, so they beat me and kept in me in confinement until I accepted when they threatened to kill me.

• Organ trafficking accounts for around 10 per cent of the nearly 70,000 kidney transplants performed worldwide annually. In South Korea, there are 20,000 patients waiting for organs but only 2,500 transplants

MALE 3
I left Mexico and came to the US. They said they’d give me a job, but they didn’t. They turned me into a slave. They said they’d pay me, but I’m lucky if they give me something to eat. I have to work for 19 hours non-stop and only get 5 hours of sleep. If I try to run, they will kill me. I work in FORCED LABOR.

• Men and women from all over the world, including: Russia, China, North Korea, and other Southeast Asian countries are subjected to forced labor in South Korea.

• Many trafficking victims have at least middle-level education

MALE 4
I am from India, and I came to the United States in answer to a job advertised in the newspapers, but the terms changed without notice as soon as I arrived. My passport was confiscated by my employer, and I was forced to work without wages. I can’t leave, there is no where to go to, and if there were, I can’t speak English.

• Worldwide, 21% of trafficking victims are men and for every 800 people trafficked, only one person was convicted in 2006.

MALE 5
I ran away from home and met a nice couple on the streets. They told me to come with them and that they would give me a job and a place to live. But then they dragged me off and auctioned me. My new owners kept me locked up and forced me to work as a male prostitute just to get food and water.

• 95% of human trafficking victims experience physical or sexual violence during trafficking
• 1 in 4 child prostitutes are male

These examples reminded us to try to think beyond our comfortable life.
These examples showed us that not everyone has a free choice in the way they want to live.

At the end of chapel students were encouraged to sign a petition to ask the American government to intervene in a case of human trafficking.

The Amnesty International members did a fantastic job of making the point to us in a real way.

Student of the Month for October...

Congratulations to Chris Lee, our SOM for Gr8 for October.

This is what teachers wrote about Chris...

As a new student to our school, he has approached his schooling with responsibility, respect, and maturity.

He is an inquirer when he raises a question that make his peers take part in discussion. 

He is a communicator who often help explain words or expressions in Mandarin when nobody is able to respond. 

He showed a strong sense of leadership when he worked with team members during the soccer season. 

He is kind to others and extremely polite and respectful to his teachers. 

He takes care for the quality of his workand his English skills are growing daily because of his principled behavior to his work.

He really tries to understand exactly what is being asked of him and then work hard to do his best.

Math page updated

Have a look at the updates to the Math page today!

Technology and PE page updates

The PE and Technology pages have been updated.
Mary Kim, our 8th Grade blogger, has added some nice pictures of what's been happening in Technology.

Grade 8 Open Gym sessions

Mrs Pearse will sponsor open gym sessions for Grade 8 students starting from the next Day 6.

Students should not eat, chew gum or drink in the gymnasium and should meet outside the PE office.

Spirit Week

Sorry about my tardiness in publishing these pictures from Spirit Week.
I thought they were too precious not to upload.
These were taken on "Fashion Disaster Day"... can't you tell :)

Science page...updated!

Please have a look at the Science page which Mrs Gobius has updated.

Student of the Month award

Today we celebrated our Student of the Month Award.
Teachers vote and nominate students based on the ESLR's of the school.
For the month of September we had many nominations and 2 students were chosen for Grade 8.

Eugene Hong. 

He shows himself to be exceptionally caring and thoughtful towards others by always making sure everyone at his table group has all their materials. 

He shows perseverance with difficult activities. He is responsible for the assigned work and asks questions when he doesn't understand something.

He is patient and understanding when explaining complex ideas or tasks to his peers. He is always willing to help troubleshoot tech problems and encourages others to act responsibly by cleaning up after class. 

He listens to others thoughts and can act on feedback he is given.

He participates in classroom discussions, and his work is thorough and shows depth in his critical thinking skills.

His written work on the Beatles showed he is knowledgeable. He is principled and positive in class.

He applies learned vocabularies in conversation practice and is not afraid of making mistakes in front of peers.

Calvin Hong.

The polite way he addresses both his friends, peers and teachers is impressive.

He is a risk-taker in language class where he steps out of his comfort zone to participate in a mixed class. He has volunteered many times to give answers and share aloud. He is not afraid of making mistakes and recognizes them as an opportunity to learn.

He shows he is caring of others by making it his responsibility to ensure that others are comfortable with any task that we are doing, and he collaborates well with others. 

He shows a principled attitude by not giving other students the answers, but in helping them to understand where they need to look to find the correct answers.

He is willing to make the right choice, rather than just the popular choice and is earning a great deal of respect due to these choices.

He is a diligent student who tries to do his best in all activities. 

He has a positive attitude and is willing to take on a leadership role in group work.

Congratulations to both Calvin and Eugene for making such a positive start to the school year.

New student blogger

We have a new student guest blogger- Mary Kim.
Mary has written an update for the Language B page this week, so go ahead and click on the Language B tab to check it out.
Mary is eligible for a Level 2 service activity because she volunteered to be part of the blog team. 
Great job Mary!

Language A page updated 10/4

Ms Johnson has been busy working with her students on creating their own blogs.
Have a look at the latest on the Language A page.

Science page updated...

Mrs Gobius has updated her Science page with the latest and greatest from Grade 8 Science. Click on the Science page for more information...

Girls Soccer Intramurals

Here are some pictures taken by Mrs Gobius from the Girls Soccer Intramurals.

This is a short video of Sharon Cho with the 'Black Mustard' team after the Jamboree.
Dancing after the soccer jamboree at GSIS from Marg Gobius on Vimeo.

Language A and Humanities pages have been updated 9/25/2012

Please have a look at the updates by Ms Jonhnson and Mrs Rader on the Humanities and Language A pages.

SEW= Spiritual Emphasis Week

Today we kick-started out SEW time in the Secondary School.
It is 3 days where we focus solely on God's word and lay down our class lessons and homework schedules.
Our theme this year is "Together" through COMMUNITY, COMMUNICATION AND COMPASSION.

Here is the Bible verse we focussed on today in our devotions focussing on COMMUNITY.

Romans 12:4-8
4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

Each of us has special gifts and talents which we should use to build up our COMMUNITY together.
Students were asked about their gifts and how they plan to use them to build the COMMUNITY of TCIS.

Chapel time in the Activity Centre

Here are some pictures of the first chapel to take place in the Activity Centre.
As you can see the bleachers are very comfortable and can seat a LOT of students.

Here our Grade 8 students are listening to the message from Mr. Craig Gordon, our Student Life Minister at TCIS.

Week 1

Here are some pictures from a whole secondary school assembly and some Grade 8 students in the showcase gym.