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AWARDS CEREMONY

The long-awaited, annual Bangkok Christian International School High School Awards Ceremony for the second semester of the school year 2017-2018 took place on August 31, 2018. Upon entering the BCIS Hall, murmurs of excitement and anticipation could be heard all around the room as students took their seats and patiently waited for the opening remarks of the ceremony.

During the awards ceremony, students from different grade levels were rewarded for both their academic achievements and their non-academic achievements.

The first award to be given out every year is the exemplary behavior award. Students from grades 7 to 12 who have demonstrated positive attitude and have set an exemplary behavior for fellow peers are rewarded for the positivity they bring to BCIS. The following awards are mostly academic based in which students have

“ Without continual

growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement and success have no meaning.

“

BY LEJIN SUN

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been awarded for their outstanding and record- breaking AP scores, GPA, SAT scores, and Canadian Math Competition Scores. The students of BCIS have excelled beyond their limits to achieve outstanding results in all academic competitions and examinations throughout the past semester.

The BCIS Awards Ceremony emphasizes and acknowledges the wonderful achievements of its students who have dedicated much of their time in achieving the best possible results globally. Andy, an impressive and talented student who scored all 5’s on his AP exams, encourages other students to “work hard, and it will all be worth it in the end.” As the school year 2018-2019 has just begun, students are highly encouraged to give it their best for this new school year. It was a truly successful awards ceremony, with wonderful music orchestrated by the BCIS Praise team, and wonderful teachers and staffs who have worked so hard throughout the year to encourage the students of BCIS to keep on persevering.

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by Nathanael Visca

On November 9, 2018, the students from grades nine, ten, and eleven experienced a Lock-In in a way that has never been done before in BCIS history. This year, instead of just having two grades participate in the Lock- In; there were a combination of three classes that joined and had fun together. This was unlike any other Lock-In because prior to this, the Lock-In only had two grades that participated in the event. Another major change that was made as well was the the removal of the famous “Alone In The Dark” game. This particular change made some students skeptical, but after attending the Lock- In, everyone believed that each had fun and memorable experience.

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The event began at exactly 4:00 P.M. in the BCIS hall. It began with a short briefing and explanation of rules from Pastor Jaco, BCIS’ Chaplain. After a few words, the students were separated into pre-selected groups, where each had to create a mascot and a team’s name; thus, marked the beginning the Lock-In games. After each group had finished creating their mascots, the best one was picked and was given the most points. The students were then told to go to different stations located around the school, where they had to do different challenges and work as a team to accomplish their goals. Students got wet, messy, and some had to eat nasty food. It was indeed a fun and memorable time.

After each team finished going through the different stations, students began to wind down and some were getting ready to rest and eat. They were not ready yet for what was going to happen to them in the next event. As the students were beginning to wind down, Pastor Jaco called everyone into the basketball court to sit in a big circle. No one knew what was going on. He then told all the seniors to use as many items as they can to mess up the students. The students began on panicking, but also getting excited at the same time. They were sprayed on, tomatoes were given to them, mustard was poured on them, and many more. It was all fun and it

brought a joyous atmosphere around the school.

After all of the messy games were done, students cleaned themselves up and had a wonderful dinner. When they finished dinner, student went back into the BCIS Hall where they had worship led by Mrs. Michelle. It had a wonderful atmosphere, and you could really feel God’s presence throughout the whole evening. Everyone felt the spirit of the Lord and that God was doing something in the student’s hearts during that time. After worship, the students began praying for the school and for each other. It was really powerful seeing a side of the students

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you don’t usually see everyday where they just freely expressed their love for God. After that ended, Mr. Nate, one of the teachers at school and a Pastor’s son, gave a message about our relationship with God—-whether or not we were actually fighting for it or if we just did it because that’s what we were taught to do. “ This message really opened my eyes personally because I realized some of the things I was doing did not really show my love for God and who He really is.” Said the correspondent.

After he finished, the students took a quick break and moved to the sports center next to BCIS main

building. There, the students played basketball, soccer, and capture the flag. The game “Capture the Flag” as a very good replacement for “Alone in the dark” game, for everyone could play it, which involved lots of running.

Overall, this year’s Lock-In while different, was probably one the better Lock-In’s we’ve had in recent years. It introduced new games and activities that added fresh excitement and a different feeling of what we are used to. Certainly, this Lock-In is the first of many Lock- Ins to come up with new ways to help students have fun and connect with God and with their friend to a whole new different level.

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by Napat Wiwatwongthorn

This year’s elementary Christmas production was held on December 4, 2018. The theme of the production was “Christmas in Hawaii”. It was held at the BCIS auditorium at 5:30 P.M. The auditorium was packed with parents.

The play was directed by Mrs. Jo Ann Villarino Trinidad (Music Teacher) and assisted by the elementary teachers.

The cast who performed did an excellent job acting and expressing their character in the play. Stanley Johnson was played by Parin, Jane Johnson by Molly, Steve Johnson by Frank, Missy Johnson by Siam, Keaka Hana by Hill, and Winane Hana by Minnie. As the main characters of the play, their acting skills, ways of expression, and talking had to be excellent and well done.

Mary was played by Yujin, Joseph by Moku, Angel by Poon, Star by Su Jin, Hula girl by Min Hyung, and the grumpy couple by Boss and Monie.

They performed well as part of the true meaning of Christ. It made the audience know about the background of the true meaning of Christmas. Raphael, Win, and Non played as the shepherds. Pepe, Eun Chan, and Taemin played as the wise men. The innkeeper was played by Leena Manow. The sheeps were played by Ava, JP, Porjai, Lennon, Tawin, and Sirada. The cows were played by Robert, Kirin, and Iphone. All these characters played a part in telling the true meaning of Christmas, which they did an amazing job.

The pilots were played by Poon and Non. The Grade 6 class took part as playing as the singers. Leena, Natty,

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Chalisa, Jane, Manow, Non, and WIn were the prop handlers. The ribbon dance was performed by Poon. Win was the stage coordinator. They performed their parts and roles so well that the audience felt like the actors were really on a plane flying to Hawaii.

The program started off with a few songs played by the music band club and some high school students. Mr. David Maksel, our principal, opened the program with welcoming remarks. Following that, the BCIS worship team came to the stage and led some Christmas carols songs.

The play featured four different scenes with several songs. It was about a family and their Christmas vacation. The kids were anticipating the annual

holiday sled race and the church Christmas program. But their father’s boss sent them to Hawaii for the holidays. Everyone’s mood was dipping, especially Stevie, who had dreams of winning the annual sled race. As they met brand new friends, discovered the Hawaiian customs; they then realized the true meaning of Christmas.

The play came to an end with closing remarks from Ms. May Brian, Elementary Department Head. Then, the parents got the chance to go and congratulate their children, and the atmosphere was just merry and joyous. Parents were taking pictures with their children before they went out to have some refreshments prepared by the BCIS staff.

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High School Christmas Production

by Jun Ha Chang

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The High School Christmas Production was held on December 6, 2018 at the BCIS auditorium. This year’s Christmas theme was adapted from the original story of “A Christmas Carol”.

The entire play was directed by Mr. G with other teachers assisting him. Mrs. Liz also contributed in creating the choreography for the dancers in the play.

The cast was as following: Daniel as Bob, Henry as Fred, Jemimah as young Scrooge, Jessie as old Scrooge, Tarit and Attapon as charity men, Becky as Elizabeth, Attapon as turkey boy, Ping as the spirit of the past, Tarit as the spirit of the present, Win as the spirit of the future, Kenji as Jacob Marley, Saengdao as Fanny, and Timmy as Timmy the dead kid.

The program commenced with Mr. G’s introduction to the story of the play. The play quickly

started by portraying a man, Scrooge Ebenezer, to be a selfish and self-centered man. He was shown to reject everything about Christmas including God, love, and charity. As the play progressed, the audience followed Scrooge’s life as the three spirits came to visit him. The first spirit was the spirit of the past. This scene revealed how Scrooge ruined his good life through his past actions. In the following scene, the spirit of the present appeared and showed Scrooge his presents, symbolizing his nephew’s love for him. Later on the spirit of the future appeared and showed Scrooge that his selfish actions could lead to the death of a child. In the final scene of the play, Scrooge is shown to be willingly to be changed because of all he had seen. In the end, Scrooge turned into a kind and loving man.

The play ended with a prayer and all the cast members and staffs were congratulated.

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by Naomi Gale Rivera

Mr. Ark is from the Philippines. He came to Thailand in 2007 to follow his girlfriend at that time, but now she is his wife. They have three children: first, their daughter Anika - who is 8 years old, their 4-year old son Kaedee, and a twomonth old baby named Isaiah.

Before coming to BCIS, Mr. Ark worked at Sacred Heart Convent School for 10 years. In the Philippines, he was a Systems Engineer, working at a cable TV company. Before that, he was Dell Technical Support Engineer in a call center company. In the Philippines, he mostly dealt with purely technical work. And when he first came to Thailand, he applied for a similar line of work at companies like True and Dtac, but they prefered someone who could speak in Thai. His friends encouraged him to apply to a school; thus, he started working as a substitute teacher at first at Sacred Heart Convent School in order to survive in Thailand, working at a weekly contract. Then, the school wanted to hire him to work full-time as a substitute teacher.

After about a month, Mr. Ark was hired as an English teacher at the same school to replace a teacher who had left. After a year, the school discovered that he was an I.T. engineer in the Philippines and thought he could teach math;

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thus, he did teach maths and not only that, he taught religion after they found out how much Mr. Ark loved the Bible. Teaching the Bible at his old school was what he enjoyed the most from his experience there. From then on, he taught basketball, science, and physics. He was also put in charge of the Mathematics and Discipline department of the EP of that school. Once the math department was set up, he worked on the I.T. department.

After that, his contact was not renewed by his first agency, causing him to move back to the Philippines. Mr. Ark applied to various schools in the Philippines as well, but it was really different there. He also applied to schools here in Thailand.

“It’s a blessing that Mr. David called me and considered my application here in BCIS and then, I was scheduled to be interviewed. ...And the rest is history,” said Mr. Ark.

Right now, Mr. Ark’s focus is on his family - spending time with his children and taking care of his 2-month old baby. He is also very much interested in teaching the youth here in Thailand and evangelizing his friends and family. He shared about how he encouraged his sister and his mother to study the Bible and how they are now both Christians.

Mr. Nate

by Jun Ha Chang

Nathanael Foster

Mr. Nate Foster, the new history teacher, was born in Brazil. He was born very near São Paulo in another city called Campinas. He stayed there until the age of four and moved to Thailand.

God wants to use me, I believe, to tell people that life withJesus is the best kind of life that you can ever possibly live.Period.”

Mr. Nate went to school here and received his high school diploma at ICS. Shortly after his graduation, he flew all the way to the United States to attend university. He stayed in Virginia studying at Liberty University for about six years before being called back to Thailand by God. Mr. Nate is currently teaching many different classes including World History and International Relations. He majored in historical documentary films, but he says that his forte is the Bible.

He is very strong in his faith and has an intimate relationship with God like no other. Despite being a history teacher, he truly enjoys talking about God with the students at our school.

Initially, Mr. Nate had plans to teach history in other countries. Out of curiosity, I asked him why he chose to come to Thailand specifically. He replied saying, “the reason is because I believe that God wanted me to come here to tell people that maybe what they think about God is wrong.

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