The Banner, 2024 Spring Issue

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The Service Issue Seoul Foreign School Magazine, Spring 2024

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Embracing the Mission: Exploring Service Learning and Global Citizenship at Seoul Foreign School How SFS cultivates global citizens.

From Compassion to Action The student-led service revolution at SFS. The Middle School Takes the Service Center Stage How students redefine service in the Middle School.

Beyond a Reading Hammock: Service in the Elementary School Library When a library is more than just books.

SFS Spotlights: Serving Through Storytelling When students take charge.

Serving Others, Serving Ourselves: Lessons from the Heart From the perspective of John Kett.

Open Arms: A Journey of Volunteerism, Community, and Empowerment The beautiful connection between Open Arms and SFS.

The Middle Years Play, Seussification of Romeo and Juliet.

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From the Head of School and Board Chair

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School Happenings Academics, Arts and Sports

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Communities

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Alumni

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Classnotes

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Lately at SFS

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Advancement

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From the Head of School Dear SFS Community, Welcome to another inspiring edition of The Banner.

THE BANNER Seoul Foreign School Magazine, Spring 2024

This issue holds a special place in my heart as it highlights a fundamental aspect of our identity at SFS — service. Service is more than a commitment; it's a way of life, and is central to SFS being a Christian school for everyone. It embodies our dedication to making a positive impact, not only within our community but also in the world at large. It's about recognizing the needs of others and actively striving to meet them, fostering empathy, compassion, and understanding along the way. Service enriches not only those we serve but also ourselves, shaping us into more empathetic, responsible, and connected individuals. It's the cornerstone of our values here at SFS and the driving force behind everything we do.

Team Published by: Seoul Foreign School Communications & Marketing Department Editor-in-chief: Cyrielle Bazin Design and Photography: Juhie Suh A special thank you to everyone who contributed to this issue

And it is a privilege to take this journey with every one of our students.

Our commitment to service should thrive within and without the confines of our campus.

Seoul Foreign School can set the precedent for educational institutions everywhere. We aspire to make SFS a beacon of service, of positive change. While the challenge is great and the path will not be easy, our dedication will be unwavering.

This issue of The Banner celebrates the myriad ways our students, faculty, and staff have dedicated themselves to serving others. From local outreach programs to acts of charity and aid initiatives, the stories you will find here are both inspiring and a testament to the power of our collective efforts.

Thank you for your enthusiasm, your commitment, and your passion.

Unless otherwise noted, articles may be reprinted without permission - as long as they are not edited or revised - with appropriate credit given to “The Banner, the magazine for Seoul Foreign School.” *All efforts have been made to check details and consistency. Please contact communications@ seoulforeign.org with any questions.

Cover: British School Year 1 and High School Grade 10 students serving each other by collaborating for their projects.

God bless, Colm Flanagan Head of School

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Address Seoul Foreign School 39 Yeonhui-ro 22-gil Yeonhui-dong Seodaemun-gu Seoul, South Korea, 03723 www.seoulforeign.org

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From the Board Chair Dear SFS Community, In some parts of the world today, children wake up to war and famine. Children don’t start wars, but they are often the greatest victims of wars. And wars originate from difference, whether of opinion, of religion, of wealth, or of resources. For our children, in the relative safety and privilege of Seoul Foreign School, the antidote to war and conflict is empathy.

And service is a key means by which children learn empathy.

Empathy involves both the mind and the heart: first we need to understand the other, and next we need to feel an emotional connection. When we see photographs of faminestricken children peering out at us, we seek first to understand their circumstances. Next, if we feel an emotional connection, we may be moved to help. Sometimes this action can take an acutely local form to support a global cause, such as baking and selling cookies at a sports concessions stand in the UAC to support the children of Gaza.

Service is also one of the ways in which an international school can engage with its community, and I find SFS’s service to its neighbors to be one of its great strengths. SFS student service clubs like Nanumi or Compassion or Youth for UNICEF, to name just a few, allow students to interact with the local community. It is when our children touch the hands of a homeless person in front of Seoul Station, or run fundraisers to support a North Korean defector child make their way to the South, that they learn empathy.

By thinking and by feeling—by understanding the plight of others, and being moved enough to take action—service teaches SFS students to focus on similarities rather than differences. Children who engage in service, hopefully, grow up to be adults who seek peace, not war.

Hyungji Park ‘85 Chair of the Board of Governors

In art class, Kindergarten students expressed themselves with diffeent lines, shapes and colors as they listened to music inspired by Russian painter, Wassily Kandinsky.

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EMBRACING THE MISSION: EXPLORING SERVICE LEARNING AND GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP AT SEOUL FOREIGN SCHOOL

By Aaron Moniz

Co-Founder and Director of Inspire Citizens Seoul Foreign School - Global Citizenship Advisor Pedagogy and Innovation @ The Gate

'Operation Christmas Child' - Leonardo (Year 1)

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henever I am considering partnering with a school, one key factor that I look into is the guiding statements of a school. The mission, vision, attitudes/values, and strategic plan ultimately reflect what kind of graduates we hope to gift the world, and sets the stage for how educators and families collaborate to uphold this vision. “DEDICATED TO THE SERVICE OF OTHERS'' immediately caught my eye and found a way into my heart. In this article, I hope to convey what it means to be a school that lives up to a mission of service to others.

Understanding the Educational Impact Service Learning is a widely recognized pedagogical approach to teaching defined as “an experiential learning pedagogy that moves students beyond the classroom to become active participants in their learning and develop civic knowledge and skills” (Suffolk University, 2024). Inspire Citizens likes to paraphrase the definition as using skills and learning outcomes to engage with communities to take action and collaborate on local and/or global issues. The International Baccalaureate (IB) defines service slightly differently depending on the program, but they all center around the idea of “development and application of knowledge and skills towards meeting an identified and authentic community need.” They use a service learning cycle where students engage in a cycle of investigation, preparation, action, reflection, and demonstration. This then frames the service component in the CAS program in the 8

Diploma Programme, how Service as Action (MYPSA) is conducted in the MYP, and informs the type of actions that happen within the PYP. Such a continuum exists to promote deep and meaningful engagement with issues of global significance throughout a students learning journey, leading to more effective studentinitiated service in the Diploma Programme (DP) and ultimately continued engagement after high school. While this is happening, students in the different programs are asked to reflect on and demonstrate their growth towards identified learning outcomes. Within the context of Seoul Foreign School, engaging in service achieves all of the above outcomes. Moreover, reflecting throughout is also a means of living the Christlike Attitudes.

Seoul Foreign School, as an IB Continuum School with a British section, decided to approach service slightly differently in each part of the school. All sections, however, ultimately aspire to use the Inspire Citizens’ Empathy to Impact approach to enhance existing program requirements. This approach helps us identify needs that we care about, and ways that we can take meaningful and sustained action. After ideating about the ‘Why and What Now’, we embed these ideas to develop units in the different sections of the school. Different Clubs, Councils, and Christian Ministries programming also take this model of service into consideration when planning opportunities for meaningful community engagement.

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'It's important to look after the environment' - Ema (Year 1)

The quote often gets thrown around, “if SFS were to move locations, would our presence be missed in the community?” and it is a goal for Seoul Foreign School to be a collaborative presence in our local community, while also delivering the academics representative of a top-tier international school.

Cultivating Global Citizens Many universities around the world seek to accept students that not only have a record of strong academic performance, but also students who have shown perseverance through meaningful impact and have developed the empathy and perspective-taking required to be internationally minded. They seek students who can engage with issues of global significance, and who possess the ethical decision-making skills that allow students to go into the world as meaningful and impactful contributors to our rapidly changing global society and ever-changing workforce.

Above and beyond the impact on academics and college acceptance, service is a part of the SFS community's identity.

The quote often gets thrown around, “if SFS were to move locations, would our presence be missed in the community?” and it is a goal for Seoul Foreign School to be a collaborative presence in our local community, while also delivering the academics representative of a top-tier international school.

Collaborative Service efforts with SFS’s community partners like Nanumi, Angel’s Haven, Seodaemun-Gu and Eunpyeong-gu municipal offices, Eastern Social Welfare society, the Eugene Bell Foundation, and many more led by our Service Coordinators and Community Liaison Jean Kim, have created many opportunities for students to engage in this kind of thinking and develop as the empathetic change agents that will hopefully help us to build a more harmonious present and future. Why Service?

Because the world needs more servant leaders and this is one of the most powerful ways to share the future that we all desire.

The best way to measure the effectiveness of any school program is to look at the data and analyze the student outcomes. SFS has been conducting schoolwide audits to review the types of service that exist across the school, has begun to review the vertical alignment of themes of service and global issues integration, begun to look more critically at the depth of community partnerships, and has elicited feedback from educators and student groups to see how this work was impacting them. At this moment in time SFS has at least one experience per grade level and, in some sections multiple experiences, where students engage in some kind of authentic service, action, or community engagement experience, and we only aspire to improve from here. With continued program reviews, continued educator support, and continued reflection on student reflections and evidence, we hope to further live this dedication to the service of others.

The Way Forward Although great work is underway, and a lot of the pedagogical frameworks and systems have been developed, creating cultures of mutually beneficial service, and reciprocal relationships over a long-term basis is now the next step and focus area for many international schools. Being aware of the potential harmful aspects of service and approaching service in a way that does not perpetuate stereotypes of people in need, does not further perpetuate power imbalance and inequity, and fosters critical reflection and critical service is the work that we

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as a global education community must engage in if we are to be truly dedicated to service learning. Working with student, educator, and parent communities to understand, navigate, and reinforce more impactful and reflective service learning is a goal as we move forward with this work and continue to strengthen our programs and community partnerships post-pandemic.

As we continue to live the guiding statements as a school community I would encourage us to consider the following: • How can we continue to encourage one another to serve and build community partnerships, while creating a culture of celebration around service and impact?

• How might we encourage our students to use their talents, skills, and issues that they care about to take action and enact meaningful long-term change?

we can link our talents, skills, and resources to local and global needs, then we elevate our learning, our jobs, and our community engagement to that of a vocation and a purpose. Together we can live our purpose and elevate learning through being dedicated to the service of others, and we can do it together.

We look forward to continuing to develop global citizens at SFS and stay tuned for more ways to learn more and get involved.

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References: https://www.suffolk.edu/student-life/student-involvement/communitypublic-service/service-learning/what-is-service-learning https://ibnahs.weebly.com/uploads/7/8/4/8/7848133/service_learning. pdf

• How can we encourage students to challenge issues of inequality, critically reflect on the state of our communities and our role in being a partner for impact, while not perpetuating a ‘have and have not’ mindset?

• How do we take this great progress that we have made as a community, and continue to engage deeply with our community to have an even deeper impact?

In closing, ask yourself, or speak with your family members at the dinner table, “How could we strengthen our efforts in being Dedicated to the Service of others?” As a community, if

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'We are picking up some rubbish from around school.' - May (Year 1)

“How could we strengthen our efforts in being “Dedicated to the Service of others?” As a community, if we can link our talents, skills, and resources to local and global needs, then we elevate our learning, our jobs, and our community engagement to that of a vocation and a purpose. Together we can live our purpose and elevate learning through being dedicated to the service of others, and we can do it together.”

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FROM COMPASSION TO ACTION: THE STUDENT-LED SERVICE MOVEMENT AT SFS

Ahana Sharma (Year 1)

Irina Kim (Grade 11)

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Irina describes working with two refugee schools – "Heavenly Dream School" and the "Wish School" in close partnership with Mrs. Jean Kim and Mr. Timothy Bazin, to procure books and other supplies to support literacy in these schools. “We hope that our actions will unite our community in helping to improve the lives of other children in our community”.

lthough dedicating an issue of the Banner to Service was an evidence, when the time came to capture the

Sungwoo Liu (Year 9)

essence of the spirit of service at

SFS, we were faced with a frightful dilemma: how do we do justice to the countless acts of kindness and selflessness that define our school community?

As we started talking to different stakeholders and paying close attention to the posters around campus or the tables set out in the corridors during recess, it became clear: a quiet but powerful movement is underway. It’s not one dictated by rules or

For me, Nanumi is more than just a place to serve food to the underprivileged, but it is a place that helped me to develop as a student, and as a person. Nanumi allowed me to meet many new people, and it is very affecting how every one of them have their own life stories. This thought really triggered me into sincerely understanding the lives of the underprivileged and considering every one of them as an individual, rather than a collective group of people I am serving.

obligations, but by the genuine desire of our students to make a difference in the lives of others. There was only one solution to our dilemma: rather than attempting to summarize the boundless compassion of our students, we chose to step back and let

In Nanumi, I work with the thought of ‘If I fail to fulfill my job, I will cause a huge detriment to the Nanumi workers and the underprivileged’ and try my best to complete my job as best as I can, and not give up. I believe the mindset of not giving up and being devoted to work not only helps people improve academic performance, but helps people in life in general. There will be times when hard work shines, and I believe my experience in Nanumi will benefit myself in the future.

their voices speak for themselves. After all, they are the ones who breathe life into our school’s mission statement, which urges us to inspire learning, pursue excellence, and above all, serve others. The following pages serve as a glimpse into the many service

Olivia (Grade 10) and Lily (Grade 12) Wasmund

initiatives that our students lead— Listing them all would require a much, much bigger magazine.

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Nanumi is a place situated near the Seoul Station, that serves the underprivileged by providing them with warm food and shelter. The British School students visit Nanumi twice every month, to help the staff serve the underprivileged. My first Nanumi session took place in the spring of 2023, back when I was in year 8. I remember I washed the dishes, and it was no different from 3 hours of harsh labor. I almost passed out at the end. I’ll be honest, I regretted going to Nanumi at first. However, I participated regardless. I know this is such a textbook answer, but I really wanted to participate in Nanumi sessions because it made me feel like I had an impact on society. How wonderful is it? I, as a 14 year old student, am volunteering to serve the underprivileged! This is an experience even most adults don’t have!

Olivia and Lily's family upbringing left them feeling “empowered — and compelled — to help others”. This empathy for others and desire to take action in the face of global issues led to a student-initiated service project aimed at supporting individuals “escaping Afghanistan after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in August of 2021. We raised money for Lutheran

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Immigration and Refugee Service to help those Afghans relocating in America. In 2023, there were two disastrous earthquakes: one in Turkey and Syria in February and another in September in Morocco, and we donated both times to Médecins Sans Frontières, also known as Doctors Without Borders, to help meet medical humanitarian needs”. Olivia and Lily ascertain that “Helping ease the pain of the world — even in small ways — is important. We live in a society, and we are responsible for one another. And as Christians we believe we are called by Christ to care for our brothers and sisters, especially the vulnerable.“.

Sohee Allen (Year 8) I’ve often wondered how just a Year 8 student could possibly impact lives and change futures.

In early February, a group of SFBS students traveled to Penang, Malaysia for the FOBISIA Leadership Conference.

Along with students all over Asia, we participated in a live “Race4Good”, took part in interactive workshops, engaged with discussions, and, in the process, adopted important leadership

skills. Although there were many wonderful speakers, two inspiring individuals stood out to me as embodying the theme of the conference: “Impacting Lives, Changing Futures.”

The first speaker was 21-year-old Melati Wijsen, who started her first service project at 13. Melati and her sister started a committee called ‘Bye Bye Plastic Bags,’ which works toward eliminating single-use plastic bags in her hometown in Indonesia. The committee also tries to raise awareness by educating people about the harmful impact of plastic bags on the environment, while proposing ways for the community to contribute. ‘Bye Bye Plastic Bags’ now has 50 locations across the globe! Melati was inspiring to me especially because she was my age when she first started, making her accomplishments look like possibilities to me right now in Year 8. Melati showed me that youth should not be a barrier to making a difference.

The second speaker was humanitarian Linda Cruse. She spoke about her work at refugee camps and war zones, as well as escaping from a rebel army, surviving hypothermia, and even stitching up her own face. Linda inspired us all with her

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courage and perseverance. Most recently, she made important contributions to addressing climate change and shortage of food in Antarctica. To support Linda’s cause, the conference attendees worked in groups to find various solutions to support people in Antarctica. Within hours, the groups came up with presentations and videos that proposed solutions for this community, and in the process, we also built close bonds with each other. Building new friendships with these students from across Asia was a rewarding and enlightening experience for me.

Several groups won awards, including mine, and we learned a lot about this small community in the process. After presenting our awards, Linda said she would propose our solutions to her committee in charge of helping people in Antarctica. It made me feel proud that some of our ideas might actually make a difference there.

“Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” These words from Linda changed the way I look at community service. We should focus on providing tools, resources, and education for people in need so they can build their own future and thrive, instead 16

of just handing out money and only what they require in the moment. In doing so, we can truly change lives. At the FOBISIA Leadership Conference, we not only learnt information, but also got to actually practice our skills in communication and leadership, as well as experiencing empathy. For the SFBS team, this trip was not just a learning trip. Instead, it was a whole experience of service.

Celine Chang (Grade 8) Celine Chang, now the leader of the MS Club “LoveCycle” reminisces about her experience in Grade 5 PYP Exhibition where she felt inspired to partner with local orphanages and community centers to identify their needs and collaborate with the SFS community to meet these needs. Years later, and many community efforts later, Celine reports that her experiences onsite at learning from her community partners has impacted her life through dedicating herself to the long-term and reciprocal service of others, “Through the frequent visits to orphanages and children’s community centers, we slowly grew closer with the children and felt more connected with them. Spending time

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together with the children in orphanages and community centers made us believe that simple actions of kindness can create a ripple effect that reaches beyond the SFS community. In the future, I hope people acknowledge that our community actions can lead to a cycle of receiving and giving, a 'love cycle'.”

Pearl Mavura (Year 9) Growing up I’ve always been taught to help others in need.

It has become kind of second nature to me. A reflex reaction to any cry for help. Because of this, I greatly enjoyed British School Service Leaders (BSSL) and I think I’ve made quite an impact.

I’ve now had 3 years of BSSL and I think I’ve had a positive impact on the lives of those around me.

I am the leader of The British School Newspaper group, the first in the British school. We take pictures, record data, interview people, and divide articles between us. We aim to spread news about things that happen around SFS, share ideas, inform people about certain things and provide knowledge. We want the newspaper to be a tool of service to others so that it could benefit our readers.

We are currently working on our second issue of the newspaper. Our first issue was published virtually, but we hope to be able to distribute it physically soon. We covered sports, field trips, and concerts in Key Stage 3 as well as school-wide news. We were most excited about writing the Agony Aunt segment which is a column used to advise students on the questions that they submit to us. We sent out a form asking the students what they needed advice on and we used our shared experiences to formulate the best answer. Our last piece of advice was directed at the students going on the FOBISIA U13 trip. It was advice on how to ask out the person you’re interested in to the Gala! I’m sure that even if we didn’t help, we provided lots of laughs.

I come across a few challenges when developing and publishing the newspaper. The biggest challenge was time

management. It took a lot of our time to Interview people, find pictures, and compose every article in the newspaper. We hoped we’d be able to produce one newspaper every month, but since there are only 5 of us it has been difficult. Another challenge is trying to spark the interest of our readers. The first time we sent out the newspaper most students didn’t know where to find it or that it was even published. This made it difficult to collect feedback from our peers. We’re working on ways to make the newspaper more engaging to our students so it fulfills their needs. We hope to publish it physically so it can be handed out to students of Key Stage 3.

In the future, I’m hoping we will have acted as a reliable source of news delivering information on time and that we help inspire many students to one day carry on the newspaper group.

I’m looking forward to seeing what I do for service next year in High School.

Jaeun Oh (Year 9) I’ve been in SFBS for about 4 years so far and there has never been a time where there wasn’t an opportunity to give to others through the work of service learning. One thing that I really love about our school is that no matter how small of a service you are providing, it was always accepted and done with the help of the people around us. I’ve done several projects that I would consider ‘service learning’ but one thing that I’m most proud of is what I’ve done for our school.

As a student in the British School, We have something called BSSL (British School Service Learning) and it is something that Spring 2024 | Feature

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we do every year. We get into groups that have similar interests then plan a service project for our school or for our greater community. As an individual, all of my projects have been focused on what we could do for our own community within SFBS. I was able to successfully plan after-school activities for younger students and even host events and competitions such as a student cook-off in the school kitchen. BSSL has been a really big factor of what I’ve done as service learning and has inspired me to do other projects on my own.

I was able to work with a group called Open Arms which was an organisation to let orphans from Mr. John Chae’s Orphanage come to SFS to enjoy various different activities. My teacher was looking for a student who knew they could speak Korean and rock climb well to teach the younger children how to boulder and have fun. I successfully led the students around by giving them safety instructions but also letting them be children and have fun. It’s safe to say that I was able to make several friends through the experience.

One of our final units was ‘Entrepreneurship’ and I knew this was the perfect opportunity to try out some new ideas. I went to a couple of my friends and asked them if they wanted to make a Youtube channel that would highlight SFS and show what service learning can look like. That is the story of how we created ‘DaMaskateers’. Even though we may not have many subscribers or views, I was able to collaborate with my friends and staff members to just goof around, get funny reactions and make memories with the people around me. Most importantly, the channel made me feel like I was giving back to the community I was a part of.

'Giving and Collecting Clothes for People' - Yasmina (Year 1)

Service learning has been the most impactful thing over my journey through the middle years at SFBS. It opened up so many creative ideas for what I could do in High School and maybe even college. I’m so glad that I was able to be a part of it.

Alex Jung and Kaden Kim (Grade 10) Alex and Kaden, sophomores in the High School, turned a design project toward service when they noticed a need in the middle school. According to Alex: “Our project is an AI chat bot, and it was initially designed to answer service questions for middle school students at SFS. So if they had any questions, like for example what are some of the available service projects at SFS right now, or who are some teachers to contact. We realized that in the Middle School there’s not much coordination or organization for the display of service events, so we decided to centralize everything in a chat bot system.” Kaden points out the challenge of making their idea a reality: “We had to do external 18

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Dancers against Cancer As K-pop has solidified itself as a trend, dance has become a significant means for teenagers to express their passion and reveal their culture. Evidence of this can be seen in the frequent sight of students filming dance challenge videos within school premises.This club aims to showcase volunteer activities and spirit through such dances. After a hiatus due to the pandemic, performances were finally held this year, and the students excelled. On February 13, 2024, DAC collaborated with a total of 6 external schools (KIS, YISS, SIS, Chadwick) to stage a performance, raising a total of 1,464,000 won in revenue. The entirety of this profit was donated to the Korean Association for Children with Leukemia and Cancer (https://soaam.or.kr/).

Nahee Hong (Grade 10) remembers: “This was my first year as an executive for DAC, working under the senior executives and with rising dancers from all around the country - it inspired me in unspeakable ways. I hope to continue working with DAC to create even more opportunities for dancers in my High School years.”

Ryuha Kim (Grade 12) “The conversations and gifts we brought may not have been big and dramatic, but they meant the world to the seniors.

We learned that impactful changes don't always require grand gestures; even small actions can make a significant difference.”

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Hanna Lee (Year 1)

research about how to create the chat bot itself, without any other factors.” “We selected a chat bot even though we’re not so good at coding,” adds Alex, “because we thought one reason why service might not be as engaging is because everything is on posters, and a lot of kids aren’t really engaged by that sort of thing. And we thought ChatGPT and those kinds of systems are on the rise. They’re easy to interact with. So even though it was challenging, we researched and did a lot of testing.” And to conclude: “What we accomplished isn’t ground breaking or completely changing SFS, but what we hope other people can take from this is that service doesn’t always mean that you completely change the world, like Malala. It can start from small changes in the local community. I think service matters most when it’s most proximate to you. We picked a topic we cared about. Even if it’s not a grand thing, you can make small changes for the places and the people that you care about.”

Solis is a club that has a mission to serve the local community through the integration of art and science, generating results through projects such as the Candle Making Project and the Bottle Cap Project. These initiatives demonstrate creativity and a spirit of collaboration as students design and produce solutions with their own hands to address real-world problems. This year, students directly crafted soap and assembled small gift boxes containing hand-written letters as part of their efforts. They visited the Seodaemun-gu Senior Welfare Center to deliver 50 gift boxes and spent time engaging in conversations with elderly individuals living alone in their homes. 19 12

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The Middle School Design classes baking for the Love Cycle service learning.

THE MIDDLE SCHOOL TAKES

THE SERVICE CENTER STAGE

By Timothy Bazin

DP Economics Teacher and MYP SA Coordinator

While the SFBS and SFHS sections have historically received the most attention for service actions, I hope that the 2023 - 2024 school year will be remembered as the year that Middle Years Programme (MYP) Grades 6 through 8 took the Service Center Stage.

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he dedication of Seoul Foreign School students to the service of others makes our campus a special place for everyone.

While the SFBS and SFHS sections have historically received the most attention for service actions, I hope that the 2023 - 2024 school year will be remembered as the year that Middle Years Programme (MYP) Grades 6 through 8 took the Service Center Stage. The Middle School’s leap forward in serving others is a result of a focus on global thinking through local action.

It’s about sharing our academic and creative excellence with the broader community. These student-led, parent supported, and faculty mentored efforts are strengthening the culture of empathy, leadership, and global citizenship at the heart of an already outstanding MYP education.

Our partnership with the Seodaemun-gu Office, and Mrs. Hong in particular, has provided a solid foundation, enabling MS students to build bridges into the broader community. Mrs. Hong introduced us to the Hong Eun Community Center, where middle school students deliver specialized lessons in arts, music, and English as a second language to children from low-income households. Importantly, these initiatives build trust between Seoul Foreign School, the Seodaemun-gu Office, and community partners. At first, many community partners thought that middle school students would be too immature and unreliable to serve, but this perspective has rapidly retreated. Seoul Foreign Middle School students like Hatsune Oh, Josie Song, and Celine Chang are just three of those at the tip of the spear for this initiative.

Our middle school students have also changed how we think about charity. Moving away from a fundraising tradition, they have baked friendship cookies and created bespoke ornaments and gifts for local orphanages, brightening the lives of others.

Design & Technology Instructor Mr. Damaso provided clubs, like Love Cycle, an important outlet for service learning. In the Fall, middle school students and foreign language teachers led a book drive to collect Mandarin, Korean, and English-language books for the Wish School, which works with the children of resettled North Korean mothers. Even high school students were, at one point, taking direction from middle school leader Hannah Kwon. And with the support of the Christian Ministries Office, Grade 8’s Warren Oh and Grade 6’s Tovee Choi each launched their own projects to refurbish shoes and soccer balls for

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children in the Philippines and Senegal, respectively, promoting physical activity and cultural exchange.

Middle school artists and musicians are also making a difference with cultural initiatives like performing Korean Trot music for the elderly, mural painting, and filmmaking. The selection of Korean Trot was the byproduct of research, and it was a first for our music program. Music is an important medium for connecting Generation Z with an older generation that fondly remembers artists like Jang Yoon-Jeong and Na Hun-a. In HongJe-dong's "Ant Village," our middle school arts students interviewed residents and painted murals, directly beautifying the community space, and leaving the literal mark of SFS painters on the forgotten community. Inspired by the Chiang Mai Humanities Field Trip, our Grade 8 students used film as a medium for advocacy on animal and environmental protection.

This project not only increased awareness but also empowered our students to be articulate advocates.

To help more broadly disseminate the capacity of middle school students for service leadership, Seoul Foreign Middle School and Inspire Citizens launched a significant new initiative in April called the Inspire Leadership program.

The asynchronous program is designed to develop student leaders who can manage service projects focusing on inclusion and belonging. Eight members of the April cohort will earn certificates in May and another eight members of the May cohort will earn theirs in June. This program promotes student ideas, and encourages students to lead by example and inspire their peers to engage in meaningful community service at the middle school and beyond.

It is important to acknowledge that no matter how we achieved this year, we are only now just scratching the surface of what can be. Looking ahead, we are committed to expanding our service initiatives into athletics and subjects like Science and Language & Literature. Our goal is to cultivate not only academically capable students but also compassionate young leaders prepared to address global challenges. As we continue to evolve, our middle school will further develop its capacity for education as a powerful tool for social change. From small seeds do tall trees grow! 19 12

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BEYOND A READING HAMMOCK: SERVICE IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LIBRARY

By Mara Hakim ES Teacher-Librarian

A Grade 6 student sharing her own book with a younger student in the Elementary School Library.

(Opposite) The Living Library hosted by our Elementary School Library. Instead of reading pages, our Elementary School students engaged in meaningful conversations with our ‘living books’ about their unique backgrounds, careers, hobbies, and passions. These included an Olympian, immigrants, a tsunami survivor, a professional pianist, and more. This fosters understanding, empathy, and appreciation for different cultures and viewpoints. .

Today’s libraries are dynamic connection centers that embrace technology, promote learning and inclusivity, and actively contribute to the cultural and educational enrichment of their diverse communities.

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ibraries have evolved into community hubs, offering a wide range of services beyond book lending. In essence, they have become multifaceted institutions that go beyond the traditional concept of book repositories. Today’s libraries are dynamic connection centers that embrace technology, promote learning and inclusivity, and actively contribute to the cultural and educational enrichment of their diverse communities.

When thinking of service, the Elementary School library comes to mind and how its development over the years has expanded its service to a versatile one. Today, the library encourages high school students to volunteer in their school community and more specifically in the library as part of their Creativity, Activity, Service time, by adopting a shelf that they can care for, keep organized, as well as spend time learning how libraries generally function and the services they provide.

The Elementary School library boasts a group of dedicated volunteers who spread their passion for reading weekly. These enthusiastic reading buddies ignite a love of literature in younger students. The library also fosters student writing by providing an opportunity for all students whether working on personal projects, units of inquiry or simply the love of writing to showcase their finished works to their peers. Donated copies are then added to the library shelves, both inspiring others and promoting those young authors.

Libraries also collaborate with schools, individuals and local organizations to provide comprehensive educational and cultural resources. The Elementary School library has invited different authors from both the local and international community to

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share their love for books, personal experiences and knowledge.

The Elementary School library has also partnered with the Elementary School Parent Association to organize book fairs, to serve and support literacy across the community. All this team approach strengthens the role of libraries as community learning centers that continuously provide service and keeps them connected with the school, the wider community and the world.

The educational service that libraries nowadays provide is extensive as well as priceless. Book collections, print materials and digital resources are constantly evolving and are all available in libraries and through library portals. Libraries also provide research support in navigating and finding relevant information as well as access to Academic Journals, technology access and training to use the multitude of resources made available.

In essence, libraries are dynamic educational hubs that cater to the diverse learning needs of our community. The Elementary School library works on supporting students in their research as well as teaching them how to navigate the different learning resource platforms be it collections, Lightbox, e-books or websites provided in Destiny Discover; the school’s online gateway to all the great content provided on the library website.

By actively engaging with the community, collaborating with organizations, and providing resources that address diverse issues, the Elementary School Library contributes to the wellbeing and social fabric of the school community. To sum it up, service fosters a sense of belonging and unity and the library's role is to actively promote positive social change that goes well beyond a reading hammock. 19 12

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Spring 2024 | Feature

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SFS SPOTLIGHTS: SERVING THROUGH STORYTELLING By the Spotlights Team

Alex Jung, Justin Kim, Justin Koo, Royce In, Jaesuh Shin, Jayden Lee, and Andrew Rhee

Our vision for Spotlights is a successful student initiative that sheds light on unique stories for everyone to enjoy. We look to expand our outreach to different languages and target audiences within Seoul Foreign School, ultimately creating an initiative that champions everyone’s interests and passions.

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ach and every one of us has a story to tell—to spread ideas and joy through writing is more than a skill, but a blessing.

For us, a group of high school sophomores working our way through the peak of the IB MYP curriculum, telling stories carries a meaning of unity and hope. This is why we created Spotlights, a service initiative aiming to inspire curiosity, ambition, and education in the early years and beyond through the power of storytelling. With the help of our advisor, elementary school librarian Ms. Mara Hakim, we were able to launch Spotlights as Seoul Foreign School’s first student-led writing service initiative to successfully publish and donate picture books for our elementary school library.

Spotlights is an amalgamation of each of our members’ unique abilities and minds, bound tightly by our joint love and passion for academia, alongside a common mission of inspiring others through meaningful storytelling. We were deeply influenced by the various children’s book series we grew up reading, and wanted to share these memorable reading experiences with children of the next generation. The group was heavily impacted by our success in the MYP Personal Project, during which several team members had written and published books—this allowed us to come together with knowledge of the process beforehand. With a team of skilled programmers, we were also able to launch our official website for the project, which includes exclusive features such as an interactive quiz and a digital archive of all our published books.

The process that goes into writing each book is an intricate, fully collaborative effort. Our brainstorming at the beginning

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of each cycle takes the form of a discussion, where the team exchanges ideas regarding our expertise in different subjects— Alex in sociology and psychology, Royce in history and politics, and more. Each member has their own role and everyone works together to contribute to the publication of each book.

Our writers, Justin Koo and Jaesuh, help with the foundation of our work, while our editors, Royce and Alex, along with our illustrator, Justin Kim, add the finishing touches. Coupled with the help of our website creators, Jayden and Andrew, every project is created with hours of dedication and enthusiasm. Our first book, titled “Gail S. Halvorsen: Berlin’s Candy Bomber” is a historical picture book detailing the deeds of an American military pilot who airlifted chocolate to starving children in Berlin following the conclusion of World War II. We haven’t stopped working ever since, and our initiative has only just begun: our second book, titled “Ada Lovelace: The Enchantress of Numbers”, will also soon be available in the elementary school library.

Our vision for Spotlights is a successful student initiative that sheds light on unique stories for everyone to enjoy. We look to expand our outreach to different languages and target audiences within Seoul Foreign School, ultimately creating an initiative that champions everyone’s interests and passions. We want to thank Ms. Hakim for her advice and support, and are looking forward to many more months of service through storytelling for the young minds of our community. 19 12

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British School Social Leadership group.

SERVING OTHERS, SERVING OURSELVES: LESSONS FROM THE HEART

By John Kett

British School Assistant Principal

It makes me think about how, in God’s economy, the lost are found, the last are first, and that those that are willing to give up their lives, will ultimately find it.

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. - 1 John 3:18, ESV

children’s acts of service have had on shaping their young lives in positive ways, as well as blessing the lives of others.

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I have been inspired by our school’s mission this year and notice how the beginning of our statement (centered in Christ) and the end (dedicated to the service of others) frame the other elements in the same way that book ends hold the contents of a shelf together. As a lover of literature I found this analogy pleasing to discover and it has led me to reflect deeply on the incredible impact that service can have on the giver as well as the receiver. It makes me think about how, in God’s economy, the lost are found, the last are first, and that those that are willing to give up their lives, will ultimately find it. Scholar and theologian Walter Brueggemann captures it well when he says: “When you give your life away, you get it back enhanced.”

t the time you are likely reading this, the view out of your window will be a far cry from the Seoul snowfall that surprised us in late February. As I write this, the British School playground is covered in a soft, deep layer, crisp and white, and on the slope leading up to the school, a crowd of adults, Key Stage 3 students and Grade 3 and Grade 4 girls from a local orphanage are crowded together sharing warm chocolate chip cookies before they leave for home.

The cookies were baked during one of their activities at the school this evening but took longer in the oven than expected and so the girls are taking dessert with them to enjoy at home.

One of the girls comes over to me with an impish grin and opens a box filled with cookies. She offers me one of her treasures.

My heart is full. Who has been of service to who this evening? I wonder.

One of the things I have learned since joining SFS is that being of service to others is to be of service to myself as well. I know this is true, not only for myself but for the British School students too. The children have told me of how British School Social Leadership experiences have enriched their lives, and our parents have written to encourage us with the impact their

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It is truly a privilege to be part of children’s educational experience where they are able to discover these truths for themselves, through serving others. For me, being involved in the British School Social Leaders programme has shaped me as an educator, a leader and a person, and the concept and act of service is most certainly a key part of my own philosophy of what education is about and for. The capacity of service to enhance our own lives and those of others is something truly special and I have never experienced it in the same incredible way as I have at SFS. 19 12

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British School Key Stage 3 students baking with children visiting from a local orphanage.

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OPEN ARMS: A JOURNEY OF VOLUNTEERISM, COMMUNITY, AND EMPOWERMENT

By Katy Freeman

British School Foundation Teacher

Together, we hope to show the children a global world and create a community where they are accepted and valued so they can grow up into adults who contribute positively to Korea.

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pen Arms started with three volunteers (Ashley Song, Dee Dee Wasmund and Barbara Bai) teaching English to a group of 10 toddlers in March 2017. We realised that each child needed individual love and attention and it became our goal to have one teacher per child. We developed our sessions into a personalised English curriculum which also includes music and fun hands-on activities inspiring creativity and free choice. Our original group of toddlers has progressed so we expanded our program to include an Early Years Program for children aged 4-8 years and now Early Teens (9-13 years?) under the direction of Katy Freeman. Our vision is to continue with them until they graduate. If we can keep their joy for learning and trust in us, we can indeed make a difference in their lives. Together, we hope to show the children a global world and create a community where they are accepted and valued so they can grow up into adults who contribute positively to Korea.

Our vision at Open Arms; We believe open minds encourage every child to embrace who they are, define their own future, and possibly change the world.

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Barbara Bai (SFS Alumna, former Foundation Member and SFS Parent)

Katy Freeman (SFS Teacher)

I have received far more in return from the children who inspire and humble me with their strength and resilience. I have also learned that no one, on their own, can achieve a dream alone. OA is a community of caring and devoted volunteers with the sole purpose of giving hope to children and creating a brighter future. It is a privilege and joy to watch OA and the children grow together.

Volunteering with Open Arms is such an important part of my life here in Seoul. To be part of these children's lives I see as an honour and a privilege.

The children and the welfare centre staff as well as the amazing volunteers have taught me so much about the life and culture of Korea. To be able to share my experiences as a teacher and also as an individual enables me to live through my personal values of living life through giving, listening and sharing.

Dee Dee Wasmund (SFS Parent)

Maya Lycette (SFS Alumna ‘22)

Since its founding in 2017, Open Arms has brought me so much joy.

Coordinating with dedicated volunteers — many of whom are SFS moms! — is truly inspiring. Open Arms provides an opportunity to serve our local community by fostering relationships of encouragement with children growing up in welfare homes. Spending time with the children is the heart of it all, filled with laughter, pats on the back, and words of affirmation. Additionally, serving with Open Arms has allowed me to cultivate friendships with other volunteers, which is an added bonus!

I joined Open Arms as a volunteer shortly after graduating from SFS. I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go or what I wanted to do but the weekly volunteer sessions not only gave me an opportunity to socialize with others, but I also gained new experiences teaching children, and learning about the lives of orphans in Korea. Volunteering has been a worthwhile and enjoyable experience, getting to meet new people and play with the children. It has helped me find my interests and provided me with work experience and a sense of community.

Seeing the children every week, you begin to learn about their characters

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and watch them grow as they experience the world. It has been an honour to be a small part of the children’s lives and I am forever thankful to the homes and the children for letting us in; to Open Arms for all the education and opportunities it has presented me, and to our volunteers for their commitment and dedication to the children.

Joanna Hillgreen (SFS Parent) Teaching English at the Open Arms toddler program has given me a lot of joy. I've been following the toddlers for over a year and have seen them develop and flourish during that time. It's fantastic to be a part of that journey. Our focus has been to give the children English, but also to give them fun experiences and a loving knee to sit on. We sing, dance, play, do crafts and talk about colours, numbers, animals, holidays and seasons. The children love when we come and I feel that I have made a difference for these kids. Being a part of Open Arms has brought more meaning to my life in Korea. These children are so smart, funny, kind and so eager to learn. I am happy to have met them as they also are a part of my learning journey. I wish for them to keep flourishing and explore the world.

Chloe Han (SFS Teacher) Whenever I visit the OA children, I feel appreciated by the children who are always welcoming us. It brings me back to my childhood when I interact with them. For me, OA allows me to be more responsible with being in service of others and gaining positive energy from the interaction with kids. Also, I love seeing them grow and develop in the program. Especially, as a native Korean speaker and being a member in the SFS community, when they see how I communicate with other foreigners, they get curious about how I can speak English. It's a simple question but for them, I think it's a possibility of what

their life could be like. Even though I look like one of them, they see their potential life as an international citizen through me. They see that if I can do it they can do it too. I hope I am helping them to see anything they want to do is possible and I am helping to broaden their horizons as they grow up.

Erika Lee (SFS Parent) I learned about Open Arms from Ms Katy Freedman during a casual chat not long after we moved to Korea. I was immediately interested because the program teaches English through play to Korean children. I know from personal experience what a seismic shift knowing English can make in one’s life because my beautifully rich and interesting life would not have happened without it. Knowing English opened up opportunities for me that I would not have had access to otherwise. I felt I had to get involved in some way to give these kids the chance that I was given a long time ago. I have since learned that Open Arms is unique because they make a long-term commitment to the group they start working with in their early years and they stay with them until the kids graduate from high school. I have also learned from the director of one of the welfare homes OA is working with that English is “merely” a byproduct of the interaction. The director emphasizes that the relationship these children build with the volunteers is a real treasure.

The children can build trust that these adults show up for them, they can meet people from all different backgrounds and cultures and can interact confidently.

I was so focused on the practicality of knowing English that I didn’t fully appreciate the human aspect of this volunteer program. I am fortunate that my skill set is useful for the back office as well and I can contribute to the smooth running of the organization.

Spring 2024 | Feature

Malin Ekstrom (SFS Parent) The genuine giggles, the smiles and the children with open arms that run towards you when you enter the room with the toddlers/early years, there's not much that can beat that feeling. Having the opportunity to work with Open Arms and the toddlers/early years has been a truly enriching experience for me. Each day with the kids brings heartwarming experiences. Building trust and relationships with the children, providing care and education, together with a lot of play and tons of hugs, is so rewarding.

Witnessing the resilience and strength of the children in the face of adversity is truly inspiring. My role in their lives might just be a drop in the ocean but just providing these kids with some type of support, guidance and love will perhaps help them navigate their journey to a brighter future with confidence, happiness and most importantly a sense of hope.

Thank you Open Arms and the amazing children for providing me with a purposeful and enriching environment where I can contribute to the most important thing in our society, the children of the future!

Colleen Hoskin (SFS Parent) Volunteering with Open Arms has been a wonderful way to work with children in some of the local orphanages in Seoul. I loved the chance to play and teach some English words to kids ranging in age from toddlers up to 10-year-olds.

It has also been a nice way to meet and connect with other volunteers from Seoul Foreign School and the broader community.

Anna Zygner (SFS Teacher) Shortly after joining SFBS, Katy Freeman introduced me to Open Arms.

Volunteering during the challenging times of COVID-19 initially seemed 39

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impossible. However, with determination and creativity, we managed to overcome the obstacles. In Open Arms, I’ve met many passionate, like-minded individuals, who are eager to make a difference, connect with the community and have a meaningful impact. I always look forward to “my” Saturdays in Myeongjin, because I know the children are waiting to play, learn a little English and experience new things.

Marta Kocyk (SFS Teacher) Volunteers at Dream Tree interact with children with kindness, compassion, love and joy of being together.

Our children see our unwavering commitment to them, not just in teaching language but in fostering a relationship built on smiles, gentle gestures, and signs of appreciation— despite my limited proficiency in Korean.

I try to carefully and intentionally plan my activities with the girls and always be ready with the materials. I discovered that when they engage in hands-on activities, their bodies calm down, and they are able to self-regulate and respond better to our instruction. The main idea is to have fun together and when you hear a quiet “I love you teacher” from one of the girls, you know it all went well!

Brian Webb (ES Assistant Principal) At no point in my life have I ever struggled to have shelter, food, clothing, affection or love. After my teenage years, I developed a better understanding of others’ hardships both in my community and around the world, as well as how incredibly fortunate I have been to have had my needs met by others so I could survive as well as thrive. I then sought ways I could positively impact others who are less fortunate than myself.

The importance of serving others stayed with me throughout the different aspects of my professional life- from journalism to teaching and then as

a school administrator. And once I became an assistant principal, I felt it was incumbent on me to model what I was asking of our community.

From my experience working in the field of human development (i.e. education), an obvious truth is that providing children with the physical and emotional resources to survive in childhood will help them thrive as adults.

But what is sometimes less obvious is fully understanding the impact we are making. As noted by the tireless and inspirational adults who breathe life into Open Arms so that children feel seen, heard and empowered to reach their potential, the positive impact of the few

Silvia Kim (Former SFS Board Chair/ Parent)

My younger brother-in-law is a Korean orphan. My father and mother-in-law were stationed at Yongsan Army base, Seoul in the late 1980s. In their spare time, they volunteered for a local orphanage and fell in love with a little shy 14-year-old boy and decided to bring him into the family. Mark has always had a soft spot in my heart. His wonderful demeanour, his tenacity and his love for the family, despite all the adversities he faced in his early life, have inspired me to give back to the little ones through Open Arms. I hope that with our volunteering we can help kids grow their self-esteem and possibly find a family that can love them as much as we love our Mark.

Elena Pinkston (SFS Teacher)

hours per month we give to each child is immeasurable. As L.R. Knost, children’s rights advocate, once said, “Every day, in 100 small ways, our children ask, ‘Do you hear me? Do you see me? Do I matter?’ Their behaviour often reflects our response.”

Sunny Jeon (SFS Teacher) OA volunteering provides an opportunity to grow as an individual for both the volunteers and the children in the orphanage. Heart-to-heart connection with children is so valuable above all as they will remember moments of laughter, confidence, and love.

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Working with Open Arms has been one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life, intertwining my roles as a teacher, a mother, and a volunteer for a beautiful cause. My time spent with the children from Dream Tree holds a special place in my heart; it's something I eagerly anticipate each week. Witnessing the growth of these girls, both emotionally and intellectually, as they enjoy our company and begin to trust us more and more is truly heartwarming. It's a privilege to be a part of their journey.

This experience reaffirms my belief in the transformative power of love, compassion, and dedication in shaping young lives.

Sally McEachen (Former Board Member/SFS Parent)

Volunteering for Open Arms over the past 4 years has been a wonderful experience!

Over time I was able to put my talents to good use both with the children and behind the scenes. I saw the children grow and blossom through the faithful efforts of my fellow volunteers to keep showing up for them with boundless energy and creative ideas. So I made some unforgettable memories and dear friends at the same time. 19 12 41

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IB Foundations Workshop:

The “Korea Project” at SFS By the Academics Office

The "Korea Project" workshops at SFS.

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n March 21-23, 2024 the International Baccalaureate Global Conference (#IBGC2024) was hosted in Daegu, Republic of Korea and attended by more than 1,300 educators from 38 countries. Also in attendance was the Director General of the IB, Olli-Pekka Heinonen, and the Governors of Education of Seoul, Incheon, Jeonbuk, and Chungcheongnam Do. During the opening session, the IB announced their formalized partnership with these Offices of Education with a memorandum of cooperation (MOC) to bring more IB programmes to public and private schools in South Korea (IBO 2024). These four Offices of Education join Daegu and Jeju who partnered with the IB in 2019, and Gyeonggi Do and Jeollanam Do who partnered with the IB in 2023 (IBO 2019).

IB Foundations Workshops True to the Seoul Foreign School mission of inspiring a passion for learning and dedication to the service of others, Seoul Foreign School began working with the International Baccalaureate during the 2022-2023 school year to host the 'IB Foundations Workshop’ for 76 educators from multiple public schools across Gyeonggi Do and Busan. The pilot was designed to immerse participants in the principles and practices of the International Baccalaureate, with a focus on Conceptual Understanding (May 2023), Authentic Assessment (Nov 2023), and Inquiry (Jan 2024).

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During each of these 7 day IB Foundations Workshops, educators from Gyeonggi Do and Jeollanam Do engaged in 4 days of professional development led by IB Workshop Leaders, including our staff. Days 1-4 of each week explored the core tenets of an IB education, followed by 3 days of classroom observations and mentoring with Seoul Foreign School faculty, gaining a practical perspective on how IB principles can be integrated into teaching practices. These conversations with experienced SFS IB educators and SFS PYP, MYP, DP coordinators fostered a supportive learning environment where participants could exchange ideas and gain insights.

Many of the educators from Gyeonggi do and Busan left the workshops with a deeper understanding of IB education, inspiration, and tools necessary to implement these practices in their own classrooms.

"My experience at Seoul Foreign School (SFS) during the training program was a precious opportunity for me to step into that system as a student... I deeply appreciate SFS for respecting and diligently assisting us as learners." Elisa - Wirye Middle School "All I did was cautiously apply one or two things learned at Seoul Foreign School. I was amazed to see the change in my students' eyes." Jiwon - Ansan Sangrok Elementary School "The most valuable lesson I learned was from the attitude of

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the teachers... The teachers were always deeply caring about the students' growth." Bokyoung - Siheung Seohae Middle School "Thanks to my experience at SFS, I witnessed the potential of Korean public school students to experience a high-quality IB curriculum." Jiyeong - Namhan High School

Sophia Johnson, Penny Lamb, Julie Ly, Mark Edwards, John Scuirba, Chris Horan, Michael Lucchesi, Piotr Kocyk, Michelle Albano, Jason Arnot, Heena Chung, Lauren Elliott, Neil Henderson, Minsung Kim, Meenal Mishra, Jacqui Coogan, Crystal Kim, Leila Webb, Jami Yeo, Celine Jin, Hannah Kim, Geoff Ward, Dave Han.

Looking Forward As we reflect on the success of the IB Foundations workshop and the new partnerships between the IB and the Offices of Education in Seoul, Incheon, Jeonbuk, and Chungcheongnam Do, we are deeply grateful for all of the faculty and staff at Seoul Foreign School who participated in the pilot of the three IB Foundations Workshops. We look forward to a shared commitment between the IB, the Offices of Education, and Seoul Foreign School towards collaboration and professional development to the ongoing development of concept based, inquiry driven, global-minded education in South Korea.

Works Referenced: • IBO. "IB Signs Memoranda of Cooperation in South Korea to Introduce IB Programmes in Jeju and Daegu Public Schools." International Baccalaureate, Aug. 2019, www.ibo.org/news/news-about-the-ib/ ib-signs-memoranda-of-cooperation-in-south-korea-to-introduce-ibprogrammes-in-jeju-and-daegu-public-schools/.

• IBO. "First South Korean Public Schools Join the IB." International Baccalaureate, Mar. 2022, www.ibo.org/news/news-about-ibschools/first-south-korean-public-schools-join-the-ib/.

• IB APAC. “IB Foundations Workshop.” LinkedIn, Jun. 2023, kr.linkedin. com/pulse/ib-foundations-workshop-ib-apac.

SFS Faculty and Staff Participants Special thanks to the Principals for sharing, facilities, resources, and especially for sharing the time and talents of your faculty and staff: Lindsay Bender, Hannah Rader, Lychelle Bruski, Jungmeen Lee, Hyesoon Shin, Nathan Smith, Myung Sung, Nico Visahan, Claire Francis, Danielle Jarvis Lucchesi,

• IBO. “The IB strengthens partnership with Republic of Korea at Global Conference in Daegu.” International Baccalaureate, Marl. 2024, https://www.ibo.org/news/news-about-the-ib/the-ib-strengthenspartnership-with-republic-of-korea-at-global-conference-in-daegu/ • ChatGPT. "IB Project Korea hosted at Seoul Foreign" ChatGPT, version 4.0, OpenAI, Mar. 2024, chat.openai.com/

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Empowering Future Global Citizens:

Seoul Foreign School's Inaugural IDU Week

By Chris Horan

MYP Coordinator, 6-10 MYP Korea Network Chair

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n our interconnected world, the challenges we face are not confined to single disciplines or perspectives. Recognizing this, SFS is proud to announce our first-ever MYP IDU (Interdisciplinary Unit) Week, taking place from May 2024, 2024. This week represents the culmination of months of planning and cross-sectional collaboration, showcasing SFS’s commitment to holistic education, service-learning, and the preparation of our students to be proactive contributors to a sustainable future.

At the heart of IDU Week is the integration of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with our Middle Years Programme (MYP) curriculum, providing over 570 students with unique learning experiences that transcend traditional subject boundaries. By focusing on global challenges such as good health, zero hunger, sustainable communities, and climate action, IDU Week aims to foster a deep understanding of the world's most pressing issues and inspire our young learners to think critically about their roles in addressing them.

Interdisciplinary Experiences IDU Week offers a whole host of experiences designed to engage students across all grade levels in meaningful exploration and problem-solving. MYP 1 students will delve into the importance of good health and well-being through a variety of activities, from exploring global cuisines to understanding the significance of physical wellness. Meanwhile, MYP 2 and 3 students confront issues like hunger, sustainable cities, and responsible consumption, using their creativity and critical thinking skills to propose innovative solutions.

MYP 4 and 5 students tackle some of the most complex SDGs, such as affordable and clean energy, poverty reduction, and climate action. Through these experiences, students are challenged to apply interdisciplinary knowledge to real-world scenarios, 44

demonstrating the power of education in igniting change.

The Spirit of Service and Community Engagement IDU Week is not just an academic endeavor; it also represents our school's dedication to the service of others. By aligning MYP learning outcomes with the UN SDGs, students gain insights into how they can contribute to global solutions, reinforcing the idea that education and action go hand in hand. IDU Week also offers a platform for the entire school community, to support our MYP students' journey towards becoming informed, compassionate global citizens.

Looking Ahead: Fostering a Love of Learning and Global Citizenship As we get ready for this exciting week, we are reminded of the transformative potential of interdisciplinary learning and the role of service in education. It's an opportunity for our students to develop not only academically but also as individuals committed to making a positive impact in the world.

Through teamwork, creative problem-solving, and engagement with real-world challenges, IDU Week prepares our students for the complexities of the global landscape. It's a celebration of curiosity, innovation, and the shared responsibility we all have in fostering a sustainable, equitable future.

As Seoul Foreign School looks forward to this innovative week, we invite our entire community to support and engage with our students and teachers as they take on this challenge.

Together, we can inspire a generation that values knowledge, embraces service, and is ready to lead in an interconnected world.

Join us in shaping a brighter future, one interdisciplinary experience at a time.

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In 6th Grade science, while learning about the critically endangered African Penguin, students built insulate burrows using limited materials in the classroom, to protect the penguin from radiation (coming from a heat lamp) - simulating the burrows that real penguins use to build their nests in the wild. They finally tested their burrows by putting an ice cube penguin in their burrow and testing it under the heat lamp for 20 minutes and the majority of the ice penguins survived!

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'We went to the dinosaur museum with Grade 10. I went down a dinosaur!' - Joon (Year 1)

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In Service of Each Other:

A British School Year 1 and Grade 10 Collaboration

By Becky Kett

British School Year 1 Teacher

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n May 2023, Brigitte Parr, Head of Design, approached me with a fascinating proposal: a collaboration between my Year 1 class and the Grade 10 'Children’s Design' class.

The idea intrigued me, especially considering my interest in intergenerational activities. Together, we crafted a design brief centred around fostering artistic expression within the theme of 'Time Traveller'. The Grade 10 students would assist the Year 1 children in transforming their drawings of dinosaurs or extinct animals into tangible products.

Throughout the semester, we encountered various challenges, notably managing the expectations of young clients and meeting project deadlines. Despite these hurdles, genuine friendships flourished, and even the most reserved children began to display newfound confidence. We deliberately fostered language diversity by pairing children with similar language backgrounds, encouraging communication in Spanish, German, Chinese, Korean, and English.

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One notable pair, Olivia Ha (Grade 10) and Leonardo CuelloFederighi (Year 1), shared their thoughts:

What have you enjoyed the most about the project?

Leonardo: I have a Grade 10 friend now. Olivia plays with me, and whenever I see her, she says hello. I also have a new dinosaur. I love my dinosaur.

Olivia: To impact the wider SFS community. The enthusiasm of the younger children made me want to produce the best possible product.

What has surprised you the most?

Leonardo: That the big kids knew some things about dinosaurs!

Olivia: The ability of the 10th-grade students to mingle and interact with the Year 1 students, despite the large age gap. Having the subject of dinosaurs to talk about meant we had a shared interest.

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What have you learned from the project?

Leonardo: I learned that sometimes it takes a long time to design and make something. They have to think about it a lot.

Olivia: The opportunity to learn beyond the classroom. Having a real-life client meant problem-solving through unexpected circumstances. The collaboration also impacted my ‘Personal Project’ as I decided to write and illustrate a children's book for Year 1-aged children which I then read to them.

We celebrated our collaboration at Christmas, exchanging heartfelt presents and cementing our sense of community. What initially began as a semester-long project has now evolved into a year-long partnership. Looking ahead, the Grade 10 students are planning a healthy cooking activity to support our Year 1 'Super Humans' unit. Through serving each other, we've not only completed a successful project but also forged lasting bonds of community and friendship that will endure long after the project's conclusion.

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Through serving each other, we've not only completed a successful project but also forged lasting bonds of community and friendship that will endure long after the project's conclusion.

Spring 2024 | Academics

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Acad emics

Rachelle Ryness:

Driving STEM Learning in the Elementary School

By Brigitte Parr

School Wide Head of Design

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achelle Ryness joined the Elementary School as the STEM Coordinator this year. With her warm, friendly demeanor and compassionate nature, Rachelle has quickly become an integral part of our school community. She approaches her role with a genuine kindness and a can-do attitude, always seeking diverse and engaging methods to deliver STEM education to our students. Seamlessly settling into school life, Rachelle has ingratiated herself within the faculty, bringing with her a wealth of enthusiasm and dedication to enhancing our students' STEM learning experiences.

At the outset of the school year, Rachelle wasted no time diving into the world of coding with our 4th and 5th graders.

Using Apple Swift Playgrounds on their iPads, students embarked on a journey into the fundamentals of programming.

Through hands-on activities, they explored coding concepts and problem-solving skills, laying the groundwork for future techsavvy endeavors.

For our fifth graders, as part of a collaborative K-Pop unit with the other specialist teachers, Rachelle has helped the students navigate the technology behind music production.

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Students will finish the multi-disciplinary unit by discovering their creative potential while working together on vibrant music videos for the songs they wrote in music.

Meanwhile, fourth graders embarked on a culinary adventure, where they explored mathematical concepts through cooking. From measuring ingredients to following recipes, students sharpened their math skills while enjoying the tasty fruits of their labor. As we finish out the year, the fourth graders are learning about acoustics and how the science of sound impacts theater design. The fourth graders will finish the year by building their own miniature theaters.

In the realm of science and engineering, Rachelle challenged our third graders to delve into the fascinating world of bridges.

Through hands-on projects, they learned about bridge design and construction, culminating in the creation of their own miniature structures. This was followed by the creation of homemade granola and yogurt parfaits, which integrated nutrition and measuring skills into their scientific exploration.

They are now working on designing and building Rube Goldberg machines.

The BANNER | Academics

From Our Students: For our second graders, Rachelle curated a series of interactive activities exploring materials and states of matter. From building marble mazes to experimenting with different substances, students engaged in hands-on learning that brought science to life. The highlight of their journey was making their own ice cream, turning scientific concepts into delicious treats. They will finish out the year by looking at foods from around the world, then building their own topographic maps.

Rachelle Ryness is fueling students' passion for learning and innovation through her dedication to STEM education. With her practical approach and enthusiasm, she's helping students develop the skills and confidence they need to succeed in today's changing world. We're thankful for Rachelle's commitment to promoting curiosity, critical thinking, and collaboration in our school community, setting the stage for our children's future success.

"I like that after we learn something we get to build it. In the future, I hope to use what I’ve learned in STEM to make a new invention." Hannah Yoon 4J "I like STEM because it is fun and I always figure out something I didn’t know before. I am looking forward to cooking in STEM. I hope I get to do more experiments in STEM." Dana Kim 2W

"I like STEM because we make things and we cook things and we get to try stuff like granola. I think I want to learn more about how to build things like the Statue of Liberty." Hosoo Lee 3T "One thing I like about STEM is that you have a bit of freedom to do what you want in creative and curious ways, with fair boundaries. Another thing I like about STEM is that it lives up to its name (acronym - Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) because we get to do all those subjects and connects to a cool career option for when you're older. Plus it is just really fun to learn about coding, robots, music, and I hope cooking." Jonathan Church 5M

Spring 2024 | Academics

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The BANNER | Sports

Finding Strength in Setbacks

Sports

By Irene Shin Class of 2024

SFS's Girls Varsity Football Team has a tradition of team members reading aloud a prepared devotional to the entire squad before key matches of the season. The intent is to use these personal speeches to connect as a team through genuine stories of football experience and to inspire one another through moments of shared vulnerability and support.

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i guys! Today I want to touch upon the idea of failure, and how to learn from it.

I’m by no means anyone who has substantially more life experience than you guys to give you a life-changing lesson, but I have experienced failure on and off the soccer pitch multiple times.

And I’m sure you guys have too.

I still vividly recall three years ago when we had our KAIAC final against YISS, the team we are playing today.

Back then, we beat them 3:0 on their senior night, so we went in with a pretty relaxed mindset. What we ended up with was a shocking 3:1 loss, instead of an eagerly anticipated victory.

It hurt, more so than I could ever imagine. Being hurt even is an understatement; I was devastated. I still remember that mental breakdown in the car, regretting every single decision I had made in that game. So many questions lingered inside my mind: why didn’t I even try to save the ball when the opponent had a corner? Why didn’t come out to close the angle when the opponent had a wide open shot from the right side?

Why didn’t I make an effort to save the penalty when the opponent had gotten one? After all, I guess it was too much pressure for my fragile freshman self to handle.

Interestingly enough, I find this game one of the most rewarding experiences of

my 4-year soccer career in high school.

Sure, it’s still traumatizing to think about to this day, but this game is what helped me arrive at my present day self. And of course, as you already may have noticed, this was a prime example of “failure” on my part.

Well, if I said this was one of the most rewarding experiences, how did I overcome such hardship at first? Many people still ask me this question to this day. And I answer: I didn’t. I couldn’t overcome it.

Instead, I learned from it. At that time, I tried to forget all the regretful questions I had raised previously and was reflecting on what I did well and what I needed to improve on by writing journal entries on my phone. Yes, in my phone sits a very long journal with a diary entry for every single practice and game I had until now from my freshman year. That habit of writing journal entries immensely helped me improve over the long term, laying the groundwork for the next game by shifting my focus towards what I need to improve and focus on, rather than reminding myself of my “failures.”

Everyone experiences failures at least once at some point in their lives. But I won’t say failure is necessarily a bad thing. In fact, I’d say it may probably be worse to not have experienced failure than to have experienced failure multiple Spring 2024 | Sports

times and breaking down in each unique moment. Because if there was no kind of “failure” in your life, there would be no opportunity for you to grow.

I try to think of reflection as the bridge between the road to success starting from failure. Now, take a moment to reflect on a quite hectic week we’ve had. There may have been moments in which you felt you performed very well, or moments in which you felt you could’ve done better.

Whatever it is that you may have felt, embrace those moments. Accept your failures and try to take the next step of learning and growing from them.

I say this because I’ve seen many of my teammates undergo post-game depression for a lot of reasons, whether it be because we lost or because that particular game was not their best one.

Time may heal wounds in our souls --yes, that is a possibility. But I’d say taking the time to reflect on whatever game or practice you had in which you played badly is more beneficial than letting time take over and making you wait.

Thus, the moral of the story is that you don’t need to try so hard to overcome your struggles. Instead, embrace your hardships and learn from them, because as the popular saying by Amit Ray goes, “Life throws challenges and every challenge comes with rainbows and lights to conquer it.”

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Arts

Meet Ms. Louise Fernandez New Schoolwide Drama Director

By Paul Rader

Director of Activities

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rama Productions at SFS started in 1919 when the High School put on a production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Since that time there have been 247 student productions that have graced the stages of SFS. Assuming an average cast size of approximately 30 students, that is well over 7,000 students that have been able to experience theatre in a profound and meaningful way!

Every production requires a massive team effort, however, no one is more important to the success of the production than the Director, who is tasked with choosing the production, communicating the vision for the the show, casting the actors, directing the rehearsals, and creating the learning experience for every student. SFS has been blessed throughout the years to have Directors that made the drama productions at SFS incredibly special experiences for our community.

Joining this legacy from Brent International School Subic Bay, is our new Schoolwide Drama Director Ms.

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Louise Fernandez! Ms. Fernandez worked at Brent International from 2006 until 2022 where she pioneered the drama program for the middle and upper schools directing productions for over 15 years. She also taught a variety of subjects including DP Theatre, TOK, Drama, as well as serving as the Visual and Performing Arts Head of Department and IB DP CAS Coordinator. She has also done Musical Theatre Summer Workshops for students aged 5-10 with the Trumpets Playshop.

As a student, Ms. Fernandez also attended Brent International School Baguio Manila where her mother was a teacher. Her mother was her inspiration to become an educator and director, as she taught Ms. Fernandez a deep love of reading and performing. Her parents also allowed her to fully follow her artistic endeavors growing up, joining dance groups, acting in performances, and attending workshops. When it came time to choose a major in university, her parents advocated for her to pursue the Theatre Arts, and she subsequently The BANNER | Arts

passed the auditions for the Certificate of Theatre Arts in the University of the Philippines where she trained under the renowned artist Antonio Mabesa, as well as other theatre directors. She closely observed their processes in rehearsals and learned the discipline of directing and the creative power of storytelling.

The challenges of university life crystallized her love for theatre, affirming her calling.

Outside of school, Ms. Fernandez enjoys community endeavors like animal rescue, workshops for underprivileged youth, and fitness, such as yoga and hiking with her partner Matthew, and her dog Gwiyomi.

As all SFS teachers know, the first year here is a whirlwind, which is particularly true coming into a role like the Schoolwide Drama Director, which takes on a huge amount of work and impact at the school. Ms. Fernandez has worked tirelessly this year to bring the SFS drama productions to life and deserves commendation! Thank you Ms. Fernandez!

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4 2 0 2 f o ss a l The C

Comm The Next Big Thing: unities

Interviews and Photos

by Ho Yoo (G12) and Peri Freeman (G11) from PoV

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riginally from Germany and France, Philip spent the last three years at SFS. Although he is still looking at options for his next adventure (European university timelines typically run later than US ones), Philip is hoping to become an engineer to change the world, one innovation at a time. His favorite memories at SFS are linked to his contributions to the running crew for the theater, as well as helping organize a concert for the Taiwan Disaster Relief Fund - always behind the scenes!

“ Photo by Peri Freeman.

Garvin Kim Next Adventure:

Harvard College

My hope is to become an engineer, not just for my own income, but also in order to change the world. One innovation at a time.

”

eet Garvin, who’s heading to Harvard College to study applied Math and Economics. While not big on service outings, she's been a vital part of Co-ab and clubs council during her time at SFS. Garvin has helped to shape the club community at SFS with her legacy being enhancing club policies and smoothing over operations. Now, she's eager to delve into linguistics, an interest not widely offered at SFS as well as explore a new country outside of South Korea.

“

I think the opportunity to make the club's community at SFS better was something that maybe I think of as my legacy here.

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Photo by Ho Yoo.

M

”

The BANNER | Communities

Philip Henkelmann Next Adventure:

Still undecided!

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eyna is preparing to go to the University of Virginia this fall! As an SFS Ambassador, Leyna finds joy in welcoming new students, paying it forward after her own warm welcome. Planning orientations and witnessing new students grow throughout the year is something she feels is extremely rewarding. Leyna's service also extends to swimming, where she organized a charity swim at SFS, teaching others as a part of her CAS project. In the future, she is looking forward to finding service groups that combine her love for swimming as well as teaching water safety.

ㅇDrew Matthew Antonio Imperial College London

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Photo by Ho Yoo.

Next Adventure:

“

I was greeted by my ambassador and so now that I can return that favor as ambassador to new students has been really fulfilling for me.

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The sense of camaraderie, to me, quelled any sense of impending doom during the IB final exams.

”

Photo by Peri Freeman.

D

rew Matthew Antonio is gearing up for his next adventure at Imperial College London.

Despite a short stint, Drew treasures the friendships made at SFS, especially during the intense IB final exams. Inspired by his time in Kenya, Drew found fulfillment in service through clubs like ESWS, bringing joy to children outside of school. Looking ahead to Imperial, Drew plans to continue his passion for service, aiming to organize charity sports events. Graduating with newfound confidence, Drew is excited to pursue CAS projects without the burden of reflections.

Leyna Biggs Next Adventure:

University of Virginia Spring 2024 | Communities

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E

Next Adventure:

Furman University

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Photo by Peri Freeman.

Ana Hernandez

than spent most of his life at SFS, having moved from the US in second grade. If you’ve ever interacted with the student community, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve met Ethan at some point.

Ethan’s big focus has been on mental health and wellbeing, helping his classmates handle the stress of a high schooler life. From the Stress Zero club, where he worked to alleviate student stress and mental health with campaigns and workshops, to the fur-tastic Therapy Dog event where therapy dogs were brought to the high school for a well-deserved cuddle session, Ethan has done it all. And it’s only the beginning.

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The way that [the younger students] look up to the varsity athletes and the way that they're so curious about what the team is like and what we do is really memorable.

”

Photo by Ho Yoo.

na is heading to Furman University in South Carolina to pursue international business. As a varsity athlete in volleyball, basketball, and soccer at SFS, and holding leadership roles in Oak Tree Club and Spoco, her time in high school has been eventful to say the least. Coaching younger students has shown Ana the impact varsity athletes have on our school's younger community. In Oak Tree, she has witnessed firsthand how the club's service efforts benefit orphans, making a real difference in their lives. Looking ahead, Ana is excited for new experiences in university, returning to her hometown outside the US and exploring her school's intramural sports.

Since I really enjoy learning, I want to spread this joy for learning to other people through all kinds of educational experiences. So spreading my passion and spreading my interest in these means could be an interesting way of serving others.

”

Ethan Cho Next Adventure:

Duke University

The BANNER | Communities

Comm unities

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fter 3 years at SFS, Ugnius will be graduating and heading to Maastricht University to study Business and Engineering. His most memorable service experience at SFS has been becoming a Lifeguard and working toward getting his official Lifeguard certificate. What started as a Discovery Week activity turned into a passion, and Ugnius describes it as an amazing experience, working with the kids, making sure that they're safe, helping out other lifeguards and pool staff.

Autumn Gilmore Photo by Ho Yoo.

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It's been an amazing experience, working with the kids making sure that they're safe, helping out other lifeguards and pool staff.

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SFS creates a good environment for students to give back to the community because there are countless opportunities for students to take part in and give back.

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Photo by Ho Yoo.

ver her six year tenure at SFS, Autumn has been involved in many service ventures. She was part of multiple clubs such as Psalms, Choir, Yearbook, SFS Ambassadors, and her favorite - 30 Hour Famine, an event that she always found herself to have enjoyed the most and find meaning and purpose. She was also involved in many service initiatives. One example was making Nespresso earrings out of Nespresso capsules that she collected from the SFS community, then give them back to their owners to spread awareness about sustainability and overconsumption.

Ugnius Samuila Next Adventure:

Maastricht University

Spring 2024 | Communities

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Comm unities

Celebrating

of Dongdaewon

By Jo Bigwood Grade 6 Teacher/Dongdaewon Fundraising Coordinator

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t definitely takes a village to raise money for Dongdaewon (our TB clinic in North Korea). Even looking back 25 years ago to when it all began, the Board at SFS were keen to bring communities together. Here is a small excerpt … ‘...an opportunity for the school to provide a focus for student service projects through the ongoing, annual funding of an obviously beneficial, highly visible project such as the TB sanitarium has the advantage of bringing the community together in support of a common service objective.’

For the past 25 years the students from all four sections at SFS, together with the staff and parent community of Seoul Foreign School have supported the Dongdaewon Tuberculosis Care Center in North Korea, (now called Pyongchon MDRTB Center) in partnership with the Eugene Bell Foundation.

Throughout the 25 years we, as a school community, have helped save many lives through the medicine purchased for the tuberculosis patients at the Dongdaewon clinic, along with helping supply farm and medical equipment, vehicles, food supplements and medicine.

With such a highly contagious disease as tuberculosis, TB patients suffering in North Korea are isolated in hospitals or lonely care centers throughout the country. Because of the commitment of the students, staff and parent community of Seoul Foreign School, we have been able to help over 1,000 people, but TB has a ripple effect. Untreated infected patients often pass their disease onto their families. Although we have

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directly treated 1000 patients, indirectly, we have treated many more because we have been able to stop the ongoing cycle of TB in each patient's family, and have provided them with hope and a future. Our Dongdaewon period usually ran over a 4 week period, launched at our school-wide Hearts to Serve Assembly.

Our targeted amount was approx $50,000 US dollars, which purchased medicine for about 10 patients, for 18 months. Seoul Foreign’s contributions reflect our compassion, service and care for others. As a community we have fundraised in so many different ways from sectional fairs, swim meets, bouldering, buying t-shirts, and cards, faculty pantos, selling Zaishu stools, cooking, sewing, photograph classes, Shammograms for St Patrick’s Day, barn dance, art auctions, hair shaving, bake sales, silent auctions, coins for a cause, or loose loot for lungs, to name a few.

“The sick and suffering people in North Korea live just hours away from us, but the distance between us spans a divide that is almost immeasurable in so many ways, both economically and spiritually. Through our work, we are helping to bridge that divide.

It is definitely a privilege and an honor to help those less fortunate.”

- Mary Lyso, founder of Dongdaewon at SFS

It has been quite a journey these past 25 years of fundraising for Dongdaewon. I have been blessed to be a part of this incredible partnership with Eugene Bell. I think about how as a community we have all worked together to raise funds for tuberculosis patients, and we have also created a community up north, at Dongdaewon. It definitely takes a village to save a life!

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25 years of supporting Dongdaewon left an indelible mark on many. Former SFS faculty wanted to share with the rest of the community their memories of Dongdaewon over the years. We are grateful for all the memories.

There were 4 of us traveling with the Eugene Bell Foundation on my first trip to North Korea in the fall of 2000, led by Dr. Stephen Linton. Although a small group, I could sense that these new friends were of one heart as they shared the desire to work together to deliver tuberculosis (TB) medicine and medical supplies to remote TB care centers and hospitals in North Korea. There is so much to contemplate as I now not only rewind the events leading up to this trip, but also reflect on the 15 additional journeys I made to the North, culminating in the spring of 2008.

In the fall of 1999, Seoul Foreign School (SFS), through the Eugene Bell Foundation (EB), became aware of an exciting service opportunity for our school to provide a focus for a student service project through an ongoing, annual funding of a Tuberculosis Care Center (TBCC) outside of Wonsan, North Korea. As a Christian school, SFS seeks to promote Christian values, at the core of which is service to others who are less fortunate. Working to supply Wonsan TBCC with medicine and medical supplies brought our SFS and community together in support of an amazing common service project - which saved lives. For 25 years this partnership between Seoul Foreign and the Eugene Bell Foundation provided incredibly meaningful service opportunities for our SFS students.

After 2 years of working together with EB to support our Wonsan TBCC, the North Korean government decided to move SFS to Dongdaewon TBCC, just north of Pyongyang. It was a hard move for both SFS and EB, as we were beginning to make memorable connections with the medical team as well as the patients at Wonson. However, we were grateful to be able to continue to support Dongdaewon, making meaningful bonds with our new TB care center.

Early on as a volunteer, I was asked to be the official photographer for EB when visiting TBCCs in North Korea.

Although I did not understand the language, as conversations took place getting to know our patients as well as the doctors and nurses, my view through the lens and the pictures I took helped me to experience some of the joy, love, anger, frustration, happiness and sadness in the voices surrounding me. And through the lens of my camera I could see and feel up close the pain and the haunting hopelessness of despair in many of our TB patients.

What was so wonderful though, was the fact that ‘our kids’ really took ownership of these patients, first at Wonsan TBCC and then at Dongdaewon TBCC. These people of North Korea were real people who hurt and cried, who laughed and sang. They were people with families and friends, children to care for, and work to be done. They were also TB patients, both young and old, who needed warmth and love, kindness and care – just like our students do. Our school - our kids, have realized that they could personally have a direct impact on the lives of these patients. Over the past 25 years, all the work and time contributed by our students and

Spring 2024 | Communities

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SFS community was not simply an effort to earn the necessary money to resupply Dongdaewon with essential medical equipment and TB medicine, but I believe, was truly a gift from our hearts!!

Dongdaewon became not just a place on the map, but a place in our hearts. And for that, I will be forever grateful. Thank you…

-Mary Lyso, founder of Dongdaewon at SFS

Almost 20 years ago, I was so blessed to teach a class of sixth grade students who took a 45 minute Advisory class and brainstormed various ways to raise awareness and funds for those in North Korea who were battling TB. As a group of 22, they thought t-shirts would be a great idea and then they decided a slogan was needed. Thinking about the many caring hearts at SFS, the service-minded focus, wanting connections across man-made borders, trying to do something- as a whole school- no divisions, no sections- coming together to try to make things better for others--“Unity in Action” emerged. That slogan has always been so much more than just a slogan on a t-shirt. It’s hope. It’s a promise. It’s a commitment that has been fulfilled over & over again for so many years by every single individual who has contributed in any way to the whole effort to help.

While Dongdaewon as a campaign is coming to a close at SFS this year, my prayer is that we, as individuals who are connected through SFS, keep hoping, and promising, committing to, and doing better for everyone whenever and wherever we can. Unity in Action takes all of us- always. Congratulations on 25 wonderful years of service, SFS! -Colleen Ireland

North Korea is our closest neighbour. From the moment I heard about the work at Dongdaewon as a new teacher at SFS in 2001, I wanted to serve. Initially this took the form of participating in the panto but over the years, it turned into baking, pamphlets, cooking schools, shammograms, school fairs, coins for a cause, students shaving teacher heads, The Green Scene, photography school, auctions, blogs, movies, hundreds and hundreds of student made paper cranes for patients - you name it - we did it! Additionally I was privileged to be the SFS rep for Dongdaewon in 2009 and then went again as the photographer for Eugene Bell whilst on sabbatical in 2011. This coming together of communities on both sides of the DMZ has been an incredible thing to be part of. SFS’s acts of service transformed into much needed medicine that impacted not just one life, but that of entire families. We had a lot of fun along the way. Thank you SFS for 25 years of hope, giving, connection and love. You have changed lives. -Sarah Carpenter

My wife, Laura, and I had been retired for 7 years when we came out of retirement to join the faculty at SFS in 2014. In 60

retirement our main focus had been on ministry and when we went to SFS it was with ministry in mind as much or more than a job opportunity. We quickly found ministry opportunities at places like our local church and a local orphanage, but it was with Dongdaewon that we felt most convicted to serve.

Laura helped with treasurer duties and I helped with various promotion projects including photographing student fundraisers and making some of the videos used to introduce the ministry to the school. I was trained by Eugene Bell to be the photographer at the 2017 trip to North Korea. Circumstances led to me having to travel home alone on our North Korea trip and the school was uncomfortable with that being so close to the death of American Otto Fredrick Warmbier after his detainment in North Korea.

So I ended up not being able to make that trip. Although I didn’t serve on a Dongdaewon trip, I was extremely grateful for the opportunity to serve in other ways with what I deemed as one of the greatest humanitarian ministries I’ve ever encountered.

-Mark Worden

My friends and co-workers inspired me to be a part of the Dongdaewon fund raising committee my first year of teaching at SFS. In many ways they encouraged me to take a leap of faith, to step out of my comfort zone, and I am forever grateful! There are so many wonderful memories of our fundraising activities at SFS that were so much fun. It was heartwarming to see all the students eagerly participating in raising money for the Dongdaewon patients. The memories of my actual trip to North Korea will forever be a part of me. The mental pictures I have of the patients and their smiles and tears full of gratitude have become a part of my heart. I was truly honored to be able to participate in the Eugene Bell Foundation service to TB patients in North Korea.

-Leslie Horne

I was a new international teacher, who had just moved to South Korea. That year, in 2010, the Dongdaewon fundraiser was in need of an organizer. As crazy as it was, I decided to take it on never having experienced Dongdaewon fundraising, with lots of prayer and discernment. I simply felt God called me to it. During my time that year as the chair, I was completely inspired and amazed how SFS came together to raise money for people they had never seen or would never know. It was pure empathy and a calling to take care of our neighbors to the North that led SFS to do what it did.

My trip to North Korea is something I will never forget. I recognized faces from the photos taken previously that I had studied, I saw how the money raised impacted the patients, and my eyes were open to medical care outside of the life I knew. The

The BANNER | Communities

Comm unities

(Left) Ashley Loomis Fitzhenry, (top right) Leslie Horne, and (top bottom) Sarah Carpenter.

trip impacted me in so many ways that still probably can’t be vocalized. From there, I was inspired to help lead other trips at SFS doing medical humanitarian work. Ultimately, realizing my love of serving others in the name of Christ, I joined ministry and am currently a pastor in a Lutheran congregation in the US. I am so grateful for the time that SFS has walked alongside Eugene Bell and the Dongdaewon clinic. Blessings to a new calling!

-Kristen Massa

When I first moved to Seoul in 2010, I found myself intrigued by our aloof and enigmatic northern neighbor. My curiosity led me to a bit of light reading which turned into awfully heavy reading which, in turn, became an unavoidable urgency to do something.

The more I learned about the plight of the North Korean people, the more compelled I felt to somehow be a part of a positive change. I was and am deeply appreciative of the opportunity provided by SFS to have been involved with supporting the Dongdaewon clinic through the Eugene Bell foundation.

My time up North was marked by peaks and valleys. I laugh when I think of pulling off the side of the road to fill potholes with rocks so we could drive through to the next clinic. My heart is

warmed when I remember the emotional graduation ceremony and the beautiful melody sung by one woman who had finished her treatment and was finally going home to be with her family. Tears still flood my eyes when I picture the skeletal frames of those who hadn’t responded to treatment or had made the impossible choice to share medication with a loved one. I smile to think of meals and long bus rides shared with people whose commitment and love for the North Korean people dwarfed my own and who continue to endeavor to make an impact despite the difficulties presented when working in a closed country.

I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to have served on the Dongdaewon committee and am profoundly thankful for everyone who has contributed in myriad ways over the past 25 years. Thank you to everyone for being a part of the change.

-Ashley Loomis Fitzhenry

For an overview of 25 years of Dongdaewon at SFS, watch this video.

Spring 2024 | Communities

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Comm unities

Cultivating Community:

The Parent Association

By Sumin Park

Office Administrative Assistant

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t Seoul Foreign School (SFS), service isn't just a duty—it's a way of life. From the bustling halls of the Elementary School to the vibrant classrooms of the High School, service permeates every aspect of the community, shaping not only the educational experience but also the very fabric of school life.

One such group is the Parent Association (PA), a group of parent volunteers who serve across all sections of the school.

Let's meet the women who are at the helm of this culture of service, selflessly devoting their time, energy, and talents to enriching the lives of students and faculty alike. Through their tireless efforts, they bring to life a myriad of events, initiatives, and activities that uplift spirits, foster connections, and create lasting memories.

Emily McNamara

The Parent Association organizes a mix of annual traditions and newer initiatives to enrich the school experience. Events like the Book Fair, Korea Day, Jamboree Concessions, Teacher Appreciation Luncheon, Grade Five Promotion, and International Fair are recurring fixtures on our calendar. These events have become cherished traditions that students, parents, and staff look forward to each year.

Kristine Han

Co-chair of the Elementary School Parent Association

Chair of the Middle School Parent Association

Bringing a wealth of experience from her previous involvement in the parent community at her children's school in Shanghai, Emily joined SFS as the Co-chair of the Elementary School Parent Association (ES PA) this year. Her tenure in Shanghai has instilled in her a deep appreciation for the importance of parental engagement in fostering a vibrant school community.

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For Emily, service is not just a duty but rather engaging in community activities up close. She mentioned that parents are willing to participate in even small tasks for their children's school and encouraged them to feel free to call, text, or email with any questions. Even without specific contact, the school always needs assistance.

Kristine epitomizes the spirit of service as she reflects on her journey with the PA. For Kristine, service is not just a duty but a calling—a calling to bring joy and celebration to the SFS community. Whether it's organizing themed events or coordinating appreciation lunches, Kristine and her team go above and beyond to create memorable experiences for students and faculty alike.

The BANNER | Communities

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(From left to right) Kristine Han, Grace Cruz, Heather Aumann and Lily Lee.

One of Kristine's fondest memories is organizing a Halloween event that brought the Middle School community together in a festive celebration of creativity and fun. Kristine's path with the Parent Association at SFS started slow but steady, mirroring her family's experiences at the school. When they arrived in Seoul during the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, Kristine's interactions with the school community mainly happened online. But her first in-person event, the HSPA Faculty Lunch, gave her a taste of the friendly atmosphere that makes SFS special. With a strong desire to build connections, Kristine's journey with MSPA took shape naturally. She wanted to play a part in making her children's school life better. Starting as a room parent with ESPA, she gradually moved up to become MSPA Chair. This shows how much parents can impact the school community when they get involved.

The MSPA's commitment lies in creating a vibrant school calendar filled with diverse activities. Beyond celebrations, MSPA serves as a hub for community service, channeling parents' goodwill into tangible acts of kindness. Kristine emphasizes the importance of collaboration and shared purpose in nurturing a thriving school ecosystem, reinforcing the heart of MSPA's mission.

Grace Cruz Chair of the Elementary School Parent Association

Grace's journey with the Parent Association began with a simple desire to be involved in her children's education. From her initial role as a general member to her current leadership position, Grace's commitment to service has remained unwavering. "For me, it's personal," she shares. "I want to be involved as much as possible before my kids no longer want to spend time with me." This personal connection fuels Grace's drive to make a difference, propelling her forward in her mission to enhance the school experience for all.

At the core of Grace's vision lies a deep understanding of the diverse perspectives within the parent community. Through attentive listening and open communication, Grace ensures that every voice is heard and every concern addressed. "Our role is to listen to these concerns and bring them to the attention of school leadership," she explains. By acting as a bridge between parents and administration, Grace fosters collaboration and unity, strengthening the bonds that tie the school community together.

Grace's passion for service enriches the elementary school experience, evident in initiatives like charity drives and festive events. Her commitment extends beyond planning, aiming to

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Through their tireless efforts, they bring to life a myriad of events, initiatives, and activities that uplift spirits, foster connections, and create lasting memories.

create a nurturing environment where every child can thrive.

Noteworthy is the GA appreciation program, recognizing the contributions of the General Affairs team, and fostering gratitude and unity within the school community.

Heather Aumann Chair of the British School Parent Association

Heather's journey with the Parent Association began with a desire to contribute to her children's educational experience.

Upon joining the school community in 2020, she wasted no time in reaching out to the previous PA chair, expressing her eagerness to get involved. Initially serving as the transitions chair, Heather seamlessly transitioned into her current role as chair, embracing the opportunity to lead with enthusiasm and dedication. "It's been my privilege to serve as chair for the past two years," she shares, reflecting on her journey with the PA.

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Lily Lee Chair of the High School Parent Association

In High School, Lily Lee, Chair of the Parent Association (PA), her journey with the PA began four years ago when her family relocated to SFS. Initially drawn to the PA during her child's middle school years, Lily's involvement deepened as she witnessed the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the initial hurdles of virtual interactions, Lily's commitment to fostering a vibrant school community only grew stronger with time.

Reflecting on her involvement in parent associations even before her days at SFS, Lily shared her intrinsic motivation to immerse herself in her children's educational journey. For her, the PA serves as a gateway to understanding and enriching the environment where her children spend their formative years.

A commitment to collaboration and inclusivity is at the heart of Heather's leadership. Recognizing the diverse perspectives within the parent community, she emphasizes the importance of listening and communication in ensuring that every voice is heard. "Our PA board consists of eight parents representing six different countries, making it a very diverse group," she explains.

"We strive to create a welcoming and inclusive environment where all parents feel valued and empowered to contribute."

She shares a heartwarming tale of Sunny and Celine's baking adventures. "This year, as well as two years ago, they took on the incredible task of baking 600 individual pumpkin pies from scratch for a Thanksgiving treat," she begins. "Yes, you heard that right! They did it all at Sunny's house with the help of other 10th-grade parent volunteers. They even steamed the pumpkin themselves, starting from complete scratch. It was truly a remarkable effort."

Heather infuses creativity into her projects, aiming to make a positive impact through community-driven initiatives. One standout moment that Heather fondly recalls is the "British School Pride" campaign, where the PA distributed shirts adorned with the school emblem to every member of the school community. The palpable sense of excitement and pride that emanated from students, teachers, and parents alike served as a testament to the power of unity and belonging within the school.

As the school year ends, Seoul Foreign School (SFS) celebrates our volunteers' remarkable contributions. From the Parent Association to the classroom, their dedication enriches our community. To all of the Parent Association members, we extend our heartfelt gratitude for your exemplary leadership and unwavering commitment to service. Your passion, dedication, and vision have touched the lives of countless students, leaving behind a legacy of love and generosity that will resonate within the halls of SFS for generations to come.

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2023-2024 SFS Parent Association HS PA Board members

ES PA Board members

Chair · Lily Lee, Mihyun Park

Chair · Grace Cruz

Vice-chair · Jiyeon Shin

Co-chair · Emily McNamara

Secretary · Julie Won

Secretary · Elaine Lee

Treasurer · Angel Kam

Co-secretary · Jungeun Choi

Transitions Representatives · Brenda Schoun, Jinhee Kim,

Treasurer · Angel Kam

Youngji Ko

Co-treasurer · Anett Herrmann

Events · Kristina Samuiliene, Mansi Bhartia

Room parent coordinator · Allison Hofman

9th Grade Representatives · Michelle Kim, Dahyae Baek, Jiyoon

Event Coordinators · Christian Chin, Kelly Defrancq

Park

General Members

10th Grade Representatives · Sunny Park, Celine Mouton

Clarissa Atoguia, Thaís Calligares, Aither Sim, Michelle Chung

11th Grade Representatives · Maria Kang, Colleen Allan 12th Grade Representatives · Ingrid Agravante, Evelyn Lee,

Iolanda Podio

MS PA Board members Chair · Kristine Han

BS PA Board members

Vice-chair · Helen Mah

Chair · Heather Aumann

Secretary · Judy Hwang

Secretary · Marissa Flynn

Treasurer · Mikyung Lee

Treasurer · Palwasha Khan

Transitions Coordinator · Moonyoung Kim

Transitions Coordinator · Carolyn Trejo

Concessions Co-coordinators · Seohui Kim, Jieun Kim 6th Grade Co-representatives · Vivian Lee, Yong Chong, Sam Oh 7th Grade Co-representatives · Ellie Lee, Janet Lee 8th Grade Co-representatives · Bukyung Park, Jane Kim

KS1 Representative · Lisa Yom KS2 Representative · Jewel McMurray KS3 Co-representative · Arem Breen KS3 Co-representative · Vineeta Katiyar

The Parent Association always welcomes new members. Please get in touch with your sectional PA to see how you can get involved: Elementary School: espa@seoulforeign.org

Middle School: mspa@seoulforeign.org

British School: bspa@seoulforeign.org

High School: hspa@seoulforeign.org

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One author visit, two points of view -

Neal Shusterman Behind the Eyes of Neal Shusterman

By Emery Son & Lia Carcavallo

Grade 7 Students

D

o books like Scythe and Challenger Deep ring a bell? These are popular books from Neal Shusterman, a popular young adult author.

Always wanting to come to Korea, Neal Shusterman jumped at the invitation to visit SFS to speak about himself and his journey to where he is now. In an interview, he described his life in and out of his writing, and it turns out that he has multiple hobbies that he enjoys besides writing.

Shusterman enjoys normal hobbies such as traveling, swimming, and creating stained glass. In particular, he says that traveling to many different countries and places has given him different perspectives on the world, people that live there, and the kind of culture they have, which helps him create books with many different thoughts and ideas.

Shusterman’s books are varied with genre, themes, and personalities, and although he is known for stories with darker themes, he says, “All my stories end with hope. And that’s very important. It’s not about the dark place; it’s about getting out of the dark place.”

A tip to every aspiring writer, he says, is to “read, revise, keep writing, and persevere.” Because the power of words inspires others.

Winning the National Book Award for Young People's Literature for his book Challenger Deep, Neal Shusterman feels honored to be recognized for a book that is special to him.

Learning all of these new perspectives through writing and his favorite hobbies, and being recognized for his books, Neal Shusterman was grateful to be given these opportunities to be able to share his journey with his readers and admirers.

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The Journey of Neal Shusterman

By Jina Song Grade 9 Student

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riting isn’t something that comes naturally to many people, especially when it consists of creating completely new worlds, weaving complex webs of characters, and forging intricate plot twists into the pages. But as the beloved author of The Arc of a Scythe series, Challenger Deep, and Unwind— just to name a few of his eighty-six works—Neal Shusterman leaves readers electrified from page to page.

Award-winning author Neal Shusterman shared that his writing journey took off on a rough start as he recalls “I was in third grade and it was a Halloween Story . . . and my teacher failed me.” mentioned, it was a story of how the ground opened up and swallowed his English teacher. Now, as the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner, Shusterman has surely come a long way and marked his name as a respected writer of the publishing world.

Shusterman was just a high schooler attending school in Mexico City when he first picked up his pen as a writer.

Discovering a passion for both film and writing, he ambitiously dreamed of

“becoming the next Steven Spielberg or Stephen King.” To this end, Shusterman pursued a psychology and theater degree at The University of Southern California.

“Everything you learned and have an interest in goes into who you are as a person and ultimately who you are as a writer,” he stated. “Psychology is the science of the mind and behavior and theater is the art of mind and behavior...

All of my stories are very psychological and dramatic, so it all works out together.”

When Shusterman comes up with ideas for his novels, he always thinks “a lot about stuff and questions.” His pure imagination is where his ideas blossom, which make up the creative storylines for his novels or at times movie scripts.

Throughout his career, Young Adult fiction has been the central stage for Shusterman’s books. He believes the books we read as teenagers are the ones that we remember forever, creating lasting impacts throughout our entire lives. He hopes his books inspire teenagers to look at the world less objectively and to pose questions “that are worth asking and thinking about.”

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While his books are occasionally criticized for being too dark, he emphasizes that the heaviness of his topics is what brings life and contrast to his characters who persevere through tough circumstances. But there is a light at the end of his twisted tales as he states, “All of my stories end with hope.”

For a sneak peek into his upcoming novel, Shusterman hinted that it will be “a romance set in a juvenile detention center.” As a proud tide changer in the trend of books, his goal for this book is to “break the barrier that boys don’t read romance.”

Aside from being a full-time writer, Shusterman enjoys swimming and indulging in his creativity by creating stained glass works. He is constantly on the move as he also is passionate about traveling. He commented that one of the best things about being an author is that “my office goes with me wherever I go . . . [it’s] in my head.” Just like he finds himself fascinated by the various landscapes he encounters in his travels, he hopes his writing opens and builds readers' perspectives of their own and “in a small way, makes the world a better place.”

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Healing Through Verse with

By Jia Dunsby '24

I

’ve always loved poetry. As a toddler, I obsessed over rhymes.

I waddled around the house reciting Dr. Seuss’s catchy verses, which my parents had used to teach me how to read. As I grew to enjoy the poems of Shel Silverstein, then Carol Anne Duffy, and so on, I came to realize the vast creative freedom inherent in this literary form. By the time I reached my teenage years, I started to write my own poetry, publishing and editing in literary magazines simultaneously.

Through this outreach, we pooled together a community of compassionate individuals residing at the bridge between healthcare and creative writing. We partnered with hospitals like St. Anthony Family Medicine and the University of Rochester Medical Center, alongside tens of other institutions. Slowly but surely, we evolved into an organization of 30+ international volunteers, with contributions from over 200 poets spanning the globe.

In the summer of 2022, I attended the Kenyon Young Writers Workshop, a rigorous two-week program designed for young creative writers to hone their skills in poetry, playwriting, or fiction. At Kenyon, I experienced the profound impact of poetry during a performance class. In this seminar, writers read aloud their poems in front of all workshop participants. As the session concluded, nearly every person in the room was left in tears, myself included. After leaving the workshop, I knew I wanted to take my love for poetry to the next level.

Poems for Patients serves in many ways. Mainly, we collect original poems to distribute physically and digitally to suffering hospital patients. For instance, On Thanksgiving Day, we collaborated with Mount Sinai Morningside to place poems on hundreds of meal trays and distribute anthologies to patients residing in the Adult and Child Psych Departments. We’ve also led beginner poetry workshops for patients and hospital staff.

We even attached poems to blister packets sold daily at Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy in Surrey, Canada. The list goes on, but my goal has always remained constant: to touch hearts and minds through poetry.

Later that summer, I worked with a couple of friends from Kenyon to create Poems for Patients. By establishing this organization, we aimed to provide solace to hospitalized patients through sharing poetry. On a mission to alleviate the emotional burden of hospitalization and illness, we started by contacting anyone who would listen: doctors, administrators, volunteer coordinators, friends of family and family of friends.

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Transforming poems into a vehicle of compassion has deepened my appreciation for both people and poetry. As I look forward to beginning my first year at Yale university, I hope to bring Poems for Patients to my campus or participate in similar service initiatives within the greater community. For as long as I can, I’ll never stop advocating for the healing power of poetry.

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'Giving presents at Christmas to the Salvation Army!' - Hasung (Year 1)

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Christian Ministries:

A Service Hub

By Paul Kim

Christian Ministries Leader - Secondary & Christian Education

M

atthew 20:28 says ‘Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,’ referring to Jesus and his heart of compassion for the world. Inspired by this verse, Christian Ministries at Seoul Foreign School brings various service opportunities to SFS students to experience faith in action, connecting to the last part of the school's Mission Statement: ‘dedicated to the service of others.’ Many of these opportunities take place during the protected after-school hours on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday between 3 - 5 pm for any SFS students of interest.

As we reflect on this 2023-24 school year, five students shared their experiences. Autumn Gilmore is a graduating senior, class of 2024, who has been part of the 30 Hour Famine program from World Vision since her middle school years to raise awareness about world hunger. Sydney Collie, an SFHS sophomore, led the way in running the Operation Christmas Child Shoebox initiative in the SFHS. Hatsune Oh(Wang) and Pearl Mavura are two of the IMPACT Student Leaders (ISL) who have prepared and led a quarterly outreach event called IMPACT throughout their time in Middle Years. Tovee Choi recently spoke at an IMPACT event, inviting peers to donate gently used football/soccer balls and

raise awareness to support children in Ranérou, Senegal.

“I saw pictures from Senegal Ranerou and how they had no soccer balls, and shared 6 balls with 500+ children,” says Tovee Choi, the mastermind behind the Ranerou sports equipment drive. “This inspired me to donate soccer balls and other gear to them and I started Project Teranga. I first introduced this project through Impact #4 and started a soccer ball drive collecting 20 total soccer balls!

Also, we were able to raise 403,000won for this cause. Mr. Kim also helped me start a fundraiser at Impact #4.” Tovee’s success didn’t come easily. “The first and foremost thing would be that this project requires work, and work takes time. This affects my schedule and other things such as homework, tests, and sports. I

have to put in a lot of time and effort but if it is for the glory of God, it is my privilege. I want people to respect what they have. We are very privileged, and thinking about the people in Senegal Ranerou, I wish people would appreciate and think more about others than themselves.”

Several students take part in the middle years program IMPACT, including Hatsune Oh. “My first service was the Christmas carnival in my 6thgrade year (2021-2022), and back then I was a new student and didn’t have as many friends as I do now, and my introverted self was one of the biggest things to be anxious about. And then I saw the opportunity, and I wanted to give it a try. After helping and serving once, I felt joyful and proud of executing an event so much, making me go for it again and again, letting me sign up Spring 2024 | Communities

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for the following two years of middle school. And yes, I did make new friends and relationships.” Hatsune didn’t just learn how to build new relationships, but about how to use her time and energy more effectively. “Back then, I wasn’t the best student with time and organization.

I got so excited about the job and the opportunities that I was procrastinating so much on my schoolwork. But I was able to get better year by year with more experience. Also, I tend to get frustrated easily, and I was always in need of leadership since I started to get frustrated so much with my peers as well. Through the examples of Mr. Paul, our supervisor, I was able to learn different ways to lead others in encouraging ways and get through challenges with a positive mindset and influence. I always had stage fright and hated everything when I had 70

to step out of my comfort zone. But with the experiences of emceeing, sharing ideas, and interacting with an outgoing group of leaders, I was able to step up to another level. And the program and the people involved was what changed me so much. This group was a big inspiration for me. We, the IMPACT Student Leaders, have a motto: ‘Be inspired to Impact’ to make an impact from where we are. The amazement that I experienced throughout my involvement in IMPACT inspired me to create the Art Club, where I can spread these meaningful skills more.”

Pearl Mavura is another student who has worked hard for IMPACT. “When I was in Year 7, KS3 students were asked to volunteer to run a stand so they could

raise money for Ukraine. I was thrilled when I was asked to become an IMPACT Student Leader. A challenge I faced being in IMPACT was balancing it with my school and personal life. I also became busier with schoolwork so much that I’d submit the design for IMPACT posters way later than usual. Many SWEPs take place on Tuesday which meant that I either had to drop the SWEP or drop IMPACT. But the biggest challenge of all was raising appeal and awareness about IMPACT. I think that through IMPACT I have grown as a leader and my empathy has also grown. Before IMPACT I wasn’t much of a public speaker. I’m still struggling with this today but I’ve had more opportunities through IMPACT to work on this than anywhere else and I’m grateful I got into it. It was the first time I’ve been given a leadership role and it was the reason that other opportunities came. It helped me to be seen and I’m glad I got into it. It has also helped me build my empathy for others and understand that I could do something to make a difference in someone’s life and it makes me happy.”

“Through 30 Hour Famine I have been able to experience and give service,” says Autumn Gilmore. “I brought awareness of world hunger through leadership in leading country groups, organizing group games, and facilitating discussions. Another aspect of service I partook in was in the meetings and events leading up to the event. In the

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#raiseyourownfund bazaars, my partners and I have been able to consistently raise money to donate to the 30HF cause in hopes that our small act of service can help those in need. The selling of recycled Nespresso earrings was one fundraiser that I started in middle school and then carried into my first year in high school. This fundraiser was very successful and one that I’m very proud to have done as I was not only able to has on addressing world hunger, but also because of the impact the program has had on me. 30HF has taught me to value the relationships I create with other students, recognize the strength in a community’s combined service, and to not take anything for granted. In doing so, I have also been able to take moments to share and experience gratitude for my life, for the people in it, and for the plans that God has laid out.”

raise funds for the world hunger cause, but also spread awareness of recycling and sustainability.” Autumn is graduating this year, and has time to reflect on what her service career means to her. “Every year I have always looked forward to the announcement of the 30HF program because of the direct impact the program

Sydney Collie has turned the holiday spirit into a passion. “I've been involved with Samaritan's Purse and Operation Christmas Child (OCC) from very early on. From an early age, Samaritan's Purse SP has been close to my heart. Mr. Kim reached out to me to be the student leader helping integrate the Samaritan's Purse program into the High School. I was very eager and excited to do this as it gave me a chance to bring something that has been such an influential part of my life to SFHS. The only struggle introducing OCC to SFHS happened when we were about to launch the project at a student assembly.

Due to external conflicts and sudden illness, I was not going to be present at the launch.

However, due to excellent communication on our team, my friends were able to take my place and share the opportunity with the students.

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front of the high school filled me with determination and hope for this project's success. Surrounded by a team of such kind and brave individuals the program was bound to be a success.” Sydney especially remembers bringing the program to life for SFS students. “One of the most special things organized were two outings after school to the processing center. We took the students to a warehouse where we learned from Samaritan's Purse staff how to inspect the boxes making sure each one was safe and full. It was the largest warehouse processing center I have volunteered at and truly one of the most festive.

They had people playing music and the community was welcoming as well as joyous. That is my favorite part of helping with OCC, the coming together of people to celebrate the gift God has given us and helping share it with others.”

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Hearts to Serve Assemblies

By Jean Kim

Community Service Coordinator, Christian Ministries

O

ne of the special ways Seoul Foreign school has kept the heart for service alive on campus is through the annual Hearts to Serve assemblies. Each year, service work by students and faculty are highlighted at the event which takes place three times on a set day in February at the Lyso mainstage which is now the Edie J. Moon Theatre.

This year, three assemblies for KS 1&2/ES, MS/KS3 and HS were held on February 20th.

The program opened with a performance of the Hearts to Serve theme song by combined choirs from BS Y6 and ES service choir led by Mrs. Grace Hahm and Mrs. Esther Jun as well as the HS praise team led by Christian Ministries leader, Mr. Paul Kim. From Pre-K students' support for Jacob’s Home, a children’s shelter, MS and BS school’s support for the many local community organizations in Seodaemun Gu and beyond, HS clubs and individual CAS service projects to faculty and staff supporting local organizations in Korea, the list went on and on as everyone listened to the stories and testimonies of service at SFS. Fifteen HS seniors were recognized for their service work and leadership for SFS service clubs. This year, Unicef and Compassion HS club members shared about their work with the international organizations and HS senior Lily Wasmund shared her amazing service journey of supporting refugees from Afghanistan, Syria and Morocco through special fundraisers.

The 15 seniors as well as Lily received a Hearts to Serve Service

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Achievement certificate for the dedicated service work during their time at SFS. Four faculty members and one administrator who are HS Individual and Societies, Mr. Calvin Kamphuis, MS principal, Mr. Justin Smith, BS Foundation, Mrs. Katy Freeman, ES Gr. 2, Ms. Melissa Keith and ES Music, Mrs. Esther Jun received the Hearts to Serve heart plaque for their years of service for local organizations and SFS service activities.

ES 5th grade Mrs. Crystal Kim, MS Learning Support, Mrs. Megan Walker, MS Mathematics, Mrs. Sarah Martin received recognition for their many years of service for Dongdaewon.

The service years combined ranged from 5-16 years!

As DongdaeWon ends its time at SFS, MS Individual and Societies, Ms. Jo Bigwood, who led and made a significant impact in developing the culture of service at SFS through DDW for more than 16 years, made a tribute video that was shared at the event to show appreciation for SFS’ support for Dongdaewon through the years. DDW was started by Mary Lyso, past HOS Harlan Lyso’s wife. She had a heart for the TB patients in North Korea and that is how it all began 25 years ago.

When you think about it, it really just takes “one heart to serve” to make a difference!

How blessed we are to be in a place where service and service learning are nurtured and encouraged as a way of life as a Christ centered community.

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Seeking Service Opportunities Around the World: interview with the Freeman family

By the Strategic Communications Department

T

he holiday season promises Crusaders a chance to rest, unwind, and reset. Yet, for the Freemans, last Christmas gave the gift of giving to a family with a special connection to animals. The quartet found themselves in Malaysia, where a dog sanctuary lay in wait beneath warm sun and serene tropical air.

Katy Freeman, who teaches reception (pre-school) at the British School, Andy, the British School principal, and Peri and Lily, grades 12 and 10 respectively, share how they transcended the notion of holiday comfort and lent a helping paw to man’s best friend.

Andy: We’ve often talked about going on a service holiday. So, we started looking for places and we settled on Malaysia… And there was one gentleman, Jeff, who looked after rescue dogs, and he sparked the idea of a Christmas in Langkawi.

Lily: I really enjoy animals, and I’ve wanted to be a vet from quite a young age. So, in Malaysia, I wanted to do something in service to others and also work with animals. We did some research, and found this place in Lankawi where we could help dogs.

Peri: It was just one man - and he looked after 172 dogs. At the sanctuary, we helped clean up: a lot of poop scooping and disinfecting. The sanctuary had seven different sections, each for different breeds of dogs. And, we prepared their food, which

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involved sticking our hands into a bucket melange of rice, water, and corned beef. We also washed the dogs on one of the days, and that was really gratifying.

Katy: He’s Malaysian, but he spent a lot of time in the USA. He was a businessman there, and then Jeff came back to Lankawi with his mum. He always loved dogs, and was passionate about caring for them. Jeff said that he even studied animal behavior back in the USA. We totally fell in love with him. He can talk for hours about these dogs. He knows every dog by name as well as by bark.

Lily: And even the type of bark... He could tell if the bark evoked anger, or if the pupper just wanted attention.

Katy: That man was amazing, and we learned so much from him. His approach to the dogs, and his way of understanding them. I was expecting it to be, well, think of a dog shelter: I expected it to be smelly. But Jeff runs the place like a kindergarten.

Peri: He did say that it was less of a shelter, and more of a sanctuary because a lot of the dogs were injured, or sick. So it was very open, and a place where dogs can just be dogs.

Katy: In the mornings, we’d do all the hard work. And then, in the afternoons, we could just sit and chill with the dogs. They

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to be very careful. Even when we signed up with this man, we played it by ear, because we thought maybe we’ll get there and… well you never know. The reviews we read online were the basis for much of what we knew.

Andy: Something that made it feel more legitimate was that he wasn’t asking for money. He was saying, “I just need volunteers.”

He’s got an option on the web page to make donations. But when we visited, he never asked us for money - not once. He was just so grateful to have four pairs of additional hands.

Katy: I think our view of service comes from our culture as a family, from our parents, and what we did with our lives before we were at SFS. As a family, service is really important to us.

Andy: It’s living a set of values that you believe in, isn’t it?

We value the opportunity to take responsibility in some way.

Anyway, we alternated supporting the rescue center and doing travely, touristy stuff. Christmas day was one of the days we elected to visit the center. So, we didn’t give each other presents as such. Our present was to serve with our new friend and help look after the dogs.

loved it! They were a mix: you had rottweilers, huskies, runtylooking dogs, all there together. He really knew which dogs mix with which dogs.

Lily: There was a quiet group. And there was a quarantine group for dogs who had just arrived. There was also “The Twilight Zone,” which was a space for all of the more wild dogs. And then you had some dogs that were constantly in the big area where groups would rotate normally. Those four dogs were the ones who got along with all the other dogs.

Katy: So, there was one big common area, and Jeff would rotate which groups were there. That’s when we would quickly go in and clean. Then they’d come back in. He would just call them and they would come and go. We couldn’t do that - it’s like school. They need to know you, and I think we all learned so much from him. The life lessons weren’t limited to dogs.

Lily: He’s done this for sixteen years. He wakes up at 4 AM every morning, and goes to bed really late because it’s a really big commitment. It was inspirational to see how much someone can dedicate their whole self to something they’re interested in.

Katy: When you do your research looking for a service holiday, it’s quite hard to find something authentic. Because it’s a bit of a business now and you might have to pay some money. There’s been a lot of bad publicity about elephant service trips. You have

Katy: That was amazing, our Christmas Day! It was so hot and sweaty when we walked there. We all whined, “Why are we not going to a nice hotel?” You think like that for a few minutes, and then, the moment you get there, it’s different. And also, we’re really privileged as a family to go on these holidays and do amazing things. It will be a day that we will always remember, rather than just another one where we sit round the pool getting fat. We did that the next day (laughs)! So we went on Christmas Day, and he said, “You guys, I’m taking you out for Christmas dinner.” He said that he’d not celebrated Christmas since his mum had passed. We ended up going out to dinner with him.

He’s the kind of guy who thinks, “You’ve given up your time, let me get you back.” And it was really nice. So even though we were giving, we also got something in return. That’s how it works, isn’t it?

Andy: I think there’s a growing culture of service at SFS. We had COVID-19, but now there’s more service going on. And, it’s not just about raising money, either. It’s about what we do as people with other people that matters.

Lily: I think the High School is still working on that transition, because of COVID-19. We have a big club culture, and clubs couldn’t do much except raise money during the pandemic. With the restrictions, we couldn’t go to these places and interact with people. There are a few clubs that have begun to focus on actions of service, and giving their time back to others.

Katy: And finding projects to work with locally, and making them sustainable. That’s much harder.

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Andy: With student leadership projects, we talk about the sustainability of them. Once you’ve moved on, how will you leave behind something that endures?

Katy: A lot of people reach out to me saying, “How can I help?” It’s hard, but it’s about building relationships. For Jeff, sustainability means making it his life’s work.

Lily: He’s tried to recruit volunteers, but nobody can handle that number of dogs the way that Jeff can.

Katy: Ha! We’re gonna go back out and run it for him, aren’t we?

Lily: We are! I think that giving to other people is rewarding. It’s worth interacting with different charities or different people who need help because, when you feel fulfilled, it’s really rewarding to give back to others. So, I think, after all these holidays we’ve been on where we had a nice time, I really felt ready to give back. It was rewarding to come back from that holiday feeling, “Oh, that was really fulfilling for me.”

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Peri: It’s also important that you’re doing something that you enjoy because then you want to sustain it. You almost get a feeling of self-accomplishment. It’s such a satisfying thing to do because you know that you’re giving back, but it’s also fun for you. It felt really nice to give back to the man who’s given up everything for these dogs. And it was also something that was enjoyable. We’ve had dogs before, and we want another dog.

Katy: Taking risks and trying something new is always a joyful experience even though we were operating in the unknown. It could have been awful. We could have lasted two hours. We’re risk-takers with our holidays, but once you’ve done something authentic, it feels really good.

Andy: I see service as an opportunity to support mental health.

Last year was tough for many reasons. You can spend so much time thinking about yourself, and how much of a struggle something might be. When you go and give service, you stop thinking of yourself. So for me, I think, what we did - I felt so much happier over those four days.

The BANNER | Communities

A Trip to Nanumi

By Sumin Ahn

British School Year 9 Student

Spring 2024 | Communities

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On the Bookshelf

We asked our faculty to share one book that they are passionate about.

Most of these books are available at the library, so take your pick!

AhYoung Chi

John Kett

토닥토닥 괜찮아

Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts

University Admissions Counselor

British School Assistant Principal

by 김 아델라

by Josie Shapiro

Spirituality, Memoir

This book has been on my table for many months, and although I pick it up once in a while, I can't say that I am actively reading it. First, it's written entirely in Korean, and my Korean language skills (or the lack thereof) will not let me go very far. Second, and perhaps more importantly, the author is my mother- born just after the Korean War, went to work without finishing junior high school to support her family, lost her husband to TB, raised 2 girls on her own, moved to the US after remarriage, then continued to raise her kids largely on her own. To read about her life and the hardships, suffering, and pain she endured has not been easy.

It forces me to reflect more deeply than I've ever had to before, and sometimes, I run away by putting the book down. It will remain on my table for a long time, but I will finish it. I have to. It's my mom's story. And without my mom's story, I wouldn't be where I am today. #grateful #blessed #sacrifice

Contemporary Fiction

I saw this book on a bookshelf when traveling around New Zealand at Christmas. It's written by a Kiwi author and as someone who loves running, I've been hooked! The central character is a girl called Mickey Bloom who has her fair share of challenges but she is also a runner. This book beautifully describes the joy and pain of running and life. It has inspired me to sign up for a long-distance run in November - the Seoul Marathon!

Bec Stockdale

PYP/IPC Early Years PHE Teacher and Coach

The Covenant of Water

by Abraham Verghese Contemporary Fiction

Angela Seewald

Middle School/British School Teacher Librarian

The Broken Earth Trilogy

by N. K. Jemisin

The novel tells the story of an Indian Malayali family living in southwest India, in the Kerala state, with the narrative spanning three generations, from 1900 to the 1970s.

Fantasy/Fiction

This trilogy is a science fiction / fantasy blend. The first book, The Fifth Season, was awarded the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2016. I've read nothing quite like it. The setting is a vast continent called The Stillness, which periodically undergoes massive apocalyptic 'seasons', events which last for generations. Orogenes are humans with the ability to draw energy from the earth, and can protect or destroy.

This skill sets them apart to be both feared and desired.

If you are looking for something completely different, (that doesn't involve dragons), and you secretly wished you had become a geologist, this trilogy is for you!

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The BANNER | Communities

Cyrielle Bazin

Director of Strategic Communications

The Guest List

by Lucy Foley Mystery

I picked up that book at the last ES Book Fair and it didn’t disappoint. The story takes place at the wedding of Jules Keegan and Will Slater, which is being held on a remote island off the coast of Ireland. It’s a fun Whodunit story, perfect for a beach vacation!

Comm unities

Lauren Elliott - High School Teacher Librarian

Our missing hearts by Celeste Ng Dystopian Fiction

Carolyn Visahan - Year 7 Maths & English Teacher

Scythe by Neal Shusterman Young adult / Dystopian Sci-fi

Young Bird lives in fear and knows not to stand out. His mother, a famous Chinese-American poet, abandoned him when he was nine. He thinks he will never see her again until a mysterious note arrives, leading him on a quest to find her.

A little late to the Shusterman party, I've finally delved into the dark and decidedly harrowing world of human "gleanings". Not a regular philosopher, I've encountered some complex ethical dilemmas, around mortality and humanity in general. It makes for a deeply uncomfortable reading, but what's a good book if not thought provoking? I finished a couple of Shusterman's other books in eager anticipation of his visit to SFS in February, and have been delighted to see so many of my students devouring the entire Scythe series.

Chris Horan - MYP Coordinator

Damian Prest - Elementary School Principal

DEI, leadership, workplace

Sci-Fi

In a not so distant future America, people's lives are now ruled by a government trying to preserve "American Culture". Libraries are forced to remove books that are unpatriotic, children are removed from the families of dissidents, especially those of Asian descent, and laws are enacted to restore peace and prosperity.

DEI Deconstructed by Lily Zheng

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

I am passionate about issues surrounding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, but I wasn't sure how I should or could get involved. Lily's book was recommended by the International Schools Services (www.iss.edu) as a tool for anyone looking to make a difference as a DEI practitioner, ally, or leader. Upon this recommendation, I thought it was a good place for me to start.

Highly rated sci-fi book - Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.

Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.

I found the book engaging, well-written, helpful, informative, and as advertised, a wonderful tool for increasing my own capacity for effective engagement with DEI issues. I recommend it to anyone who has any interest in getting involved, or in learning more about issues surrounding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Mara Hakim

Elementary School Teacher Librarian

Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives by Siddharth Kara Nonfiction/History

The story dives into the dark side of cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It exposes the human rights abuses and environmental damage caused by this industry that fuels our modern technology.

I enjoyed it as Kara travels to the heart of the Congolese cobalt mines, documenting firsthand the experiences of the people impacted and reveals the harsh reality of the mines.

Dave Gagnier

High School English Language & Literature

Ali and Nino

by Kurban Said Romance I force my students to do enough reading of my choice, so it's refreshing when a student turns the tables, recommends a good read, and reminds me that I'm out of excuses to not commit to their recommendation. So, a big thank you to Ali Nariman who introduced me to Ali and Nino back at our former school and then pointed out that the SFS high school library has a copy. Now I've read what many consider to be Azerbaijan's national novel, yet who actually wrote it remains a historical mystery. So next up on my bookshelf is The Orientalist: Solving the Mystery of a Strange and Dangerous Life,

by Tom Riess which explores the question of Ali And Nino's authorship. One student recommendation that keeps on going.

Spring 2024 | Communities

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Alu mni

Alumni Story

John Chae '02

By The Strategic Communications Department

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ohn Chae grew up in Korea and attended SFS until graduating high school in 2002. He attended college in the United States before returning to Korea. Today, John runs the orphanage his father started in the 60s, and maintains a close relationship with SFS. We asked John to reflect on how service became an important focal point for his life.

TB: How was your time at SFS? JC: I only have positive memories of my time at SFS. It’s really helped me with my self esteem, and I'm really big on the values of the school. It's not something that I was aware of, exactly what the values were, when I was a student. But it's permeated with how everyone treated each other. I went to a lot of different public schools before I came to SFS in fourth grade. A lot of my self esteem was based on how people understood my parents work and my family background.

And there were times when running an orphanage was thought of kind of negatively. One thing that people always misunderstood, or a follow up question I would get is, was I an orphan myself. So I lived a lot of my life feeling that shame of being thought of as an orphan.

TB: Why was that shameful?

JC: At that time, it was shameful to me. Because in Korean society, being an orphan is looked down upon, even today. So even when orphans graduate today, it's hard for them to find successful careers. So many things are based on network, who you know, and a lot of it's hidden. But your family class still matters in life today. And so to be associated with orphans, was something that even our kids today try to hide. And as some of our kids come back from school, they'll take a roundabout route back to the orphanage because they don't want their friends to see them and decipher that they live

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in an orphanage. When I was young, that was a part of my psyche, too, that I didn't want to be mistaken for an orphan.

But when I came to SFS, the way they looked at my parents and what my parents did, was so different. It was something that a lot of people respected. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was the son of the best parents anybody could have. And I think a lot of that has to do with the values of the school.

And when my teachers found out, the first thing they asked me was, 'Oh, can we do service projects with the orphanage?'

They wanted to get involved. So a lot of my good memories are based around the fact that the school was so supportive of what my family did, that it became something that I was proud of.

TB: Reflecting on those values, how do you think the school shaped them?

JC: If I compare SFS to other schools at that time in my life, serving was not something that was emphasized in other schools, serving others that are less fortunate, or caring for the community. That was de-emphasised. It's interesting because SFS is also an academically ambitious school. The students and the parents that come here expect that it will lead to good academics. And sometimes, the level of the families that send [their kids] to SFS, because it's expensive, they're higher up in society. But the way the school functions, it's not arrogant.

That really stood out to me. Just the emphasis on service. You would think, at such an ambitious school, that that wouldn't be a point of emphasis. But in the British School they're doing this huge thing. They're inviting me to speak, and students are preparing projects to help orphans. That's unheard of in a lot of schools that have an equal academic reputation as SFS. So those types of values, building character, a lot of that stood out to me.

The BANNER | Alumni

TB: Do you have any memory of a service project you did while you were here?

JC: Once people found out that my parents ran an orphanage, we did a lot of service projects for our orphanage. The student council would just have a school dance, or a fundraiser for something. But once the teachers found out that my parents ran an orphanage, we started going on an annual basis to my orphanage. We'd clean, do laundry there, or do a lot of weeding. And we would do these service projects. That made me very, very proud. The first one in particular when we took students there. When our time was up, the whole council wanted to stay longer. And I remember as a kid thinking like, 'wow, why do they want to stay longer?' Because it was something that was a part of my daily life. But everyone had so much fun, and they wanted it to last longer. If you look at my middle school yearbooks, the page that's dedicated to the Student Senate, that whole page is filled with pictures of us serving at our orphanage.

TB: So you vowed never to take over the orphanage, and yet here you are. When and how did that happen?

JC: The first part of that is really my SFS experience, becoming proud of that work. And then the next part of that is that I went to UC Berkeley in California for college. My first major was economics. I was trying to go the business route, and actually ended up doing an MBA as well. I worked at a publishing company for a couple years. And what I realized was that the work really didn't fulfill me, so it got dry really quick. The concept of making money by working for a company that's trying to make money wasn't doing it for me.

And I realized that pretty early. It wasn't even a year, I think, when I realized I needed a purpose. And I think there are businesses out there that do have a purpose. But what I was involved in wasn't giving me a sense of fulfillment. And the way I escaped it was, I ended up going to seminary. I always had faith, but the reason I went to seminary was I felt like I wanted to do, as a job, something that would really give me that sense of fulfillment. And I wanted it to be doing good or investing in people rather than products. And so I spent a lot of time in the States as a youth pastor or as an English pastor. But at some point, my parents asked me if I wanted to come back to Korea and take over. It was a big challenge, because I'm an American, language-wise, network-wise, and understanding how social welfare works. I had learned none of that before I got here. It was a big stretch, but I wanted to give it a shot. I came in the summer of 2018, so it's been a little over five years. And God really helped me because I never thought I could actually lead the thing, but now I'm leading. So far, no

big major issues.

TB: How many children do you have in the orphanage?

How does the system work?

JC: At any given time we have between 40 to 60 kids. Right now we have 44 kids. That's actually an all time low for us. A lot of that is due to the birth rate being very low in Korea. The country's wealthier now. So there's a lot fewer disadvantaged kids. Some of our kids who are children of teenage moms, for example, who have a lot of shame in their family for having a child and so they abandon their child. Those kids get registered through the government, and the district sends us these kids. We have a lot of kids who have abusive parents, and we could get kids whose parents are maybe in prison, or alcoholics or drug addicts. We have kids of North Korean defectors. Some kids have parents who are going through extreme financial hardship. Some parents might have mental issues. Whatever circumstance that puts these kids in a position where they can't grow up at home, we'll take them in, and it's all done kind of through the government. They'll distribute kids to us.

TB: So the orphanage is government subsidized?

JC: About 70% of all our basic expenses come from the government. Part of it is that, and then part of it is we fundraise on our own. 30% of our support comes from fundraising, especially if it's something that we want to pursue that's religious, or beyond the basic needs that the government provides. We're a Christian orphanage. So our mission is really important to us. And it's not just to raise the kids in a home, but it's to raise them in a Christian home.

And another big thing is a lot of graduates of orphanages struggle in society once they get out. Like I said, family backgrounds are an important thing. But financially, they just don't have something to rely on. So a big thing that we do is seed accounts, where we'll have sponsors that save up money in their own personal accounts. And then once they graduate, we'll give it to them so they'll have a big lump sum of money.

They could get sick, something might happen, or they might need help with housing, whatever. That's another thing that we do to try to make sure that the kids' futures are insured. But even then, kids have a hard time.

TB: What happens when they grow out of the system?

JC: So, a lot of them struggle. What's been interesting is that

Spring 2024 | Alumni

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lately, the government has been good about designating a lot of money, especially towards that 18 to 23 age group, because that's right during that transition. So the government is very good about that. They can get free housing, possibly free tuition. They'll get a stipend, a monthly stipend to help them live. There are actually a lot of benefits.

TB: So the Korean government is aware, and it’s doing something.

JC: I think the next step is to find a system that's actually good for the kids, where there's accountability. Not just, here's all this money, but give it to them in a way that kind of educates them. Not just free tuition to go to school, but how to live. It's that weird gap where we don't have any official supervision over them. And then the kids are 18, and suddenly, for the first time in their lives, they have all this money. So a big thing for us now is before they leave our home, we want to train them. We have this one room that’s basically like an apartment within our orphanage campus.

And we want to be able to help 18 year olds, once they get close to the age of leaving the home, to be like, "Okay, why don't you guys go live there and practice living on your own?

Cook for yourselves, take care of yourselves." They get that practice so that when they go out, they're not just completely lost. So we're trying to do different things to address that issue. That's just a tough transition time. There's not enough fundraising for it because supporters love to see pictures of a little baby. It's easy to give money, to care for them and pray for them. No one's looking at a picture of a 20 year old and saying I want to help this guy.

TB: Switching gears, did you stay in touch with your SFS peers?

JC: Some of my best friends are still my SFS friends, and the most humbling aspect of it is that a lot of my SFS friends support our work. I send out newsletters to people, like my supporters, and recently I put out a newsletter that said I started a magnet collection at the orphanage. Basically, wherever I go, I'll buy a souvenir magnet. And I realized the kids were loving them, because they will come and look at them, and they're like, "oh, where's this from?" And I thought it was good for their psyche, because it's showing them how big the world is, and giving them a curiosity to travel and explore. And so I wrote in my letter, if you guys have any magnets from wherever you are, wherever you visit, if you send them to me, I'll put them up, and it'll be great for the kids. And when I write these letters, I don't know if anybody reads them. I get letters from other missionaries,

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and sometimes I just delete them, because I'm busy. But the outpouring of support that came from it, and a lot of it from my SFS friends, people I wasn't even that close to read my letter and sent me magnets from Europe, and all over the United States. And so my magnet collection that I had five or six of, I have a whole wall full of magnets now. And a lot of them are from my SFS friends. I think that all goes back to their values, the way they were educated. They grew up understanding that helping those that are helpless, like orphans, is something that they want to be a part of. And so it's not particularly that they like John Chae, or we were best friends. It's more like, "Oh, here's a guy that I knew that does something for this group of helpless folks. And so I'm going to help in any way I can." I almost feel bad. I wish I was better when I was a student. I wish I was more generous and better to them when I was in school TB: Clearly you must have done something right.

JC: Or it’s the work. I guess they think it's good. I wasn't the meanest, but I wasn't the nicest. And they've been so gracious to me. So yeah, I will always have love and gratitude towards the SFS community. I can't donate much to the school, because I don't have that much money. But anytime anyone asks me something, anytime the British school asks me to come and speak, I'll definitely make time to do that, because I just want to give back to all of them.

TB: And that's what we emphasize, that there are many ways to give back. And we don't mean financially; just what you're doing is giving back to the community. And it's so valuable, that kind of transmission of values from former students to current students and the cycle goes on. And that's what makes the SFS community so wonderful.

JC: It is wonderful. It's funny, because I'm applying for my son, my oldest son. He's actually coming in for his interview tomorrow, to get into first grade. We think he might not get in because his English is not very good. So I don't know if he's at the level where he'll be accepted into the school, but I hope so. Because the school has had such an impact on my life, that when I moved here, I only imagined sending my own kids to SFS to get what I got. It's always been my dream.

Obviously, there are more factors than just financially. School is expensive here, all that stuff, but I always felt like if there's a way, I would love for my kid to grow up here with this community, with this set of values.

Thanks a lot to John for taking the time to talk to us.

The BANNER | Alumni

Alu mni

New York City Reunion, February, 2024.

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his year, Seoul Foreign School (SFS) has celebrated the power of connections with a series of alumni reunions, uniting former students from around the globe in a spirit of camaraderie and shared memories. The reunions serve as reminders of the enduring bonds forged within the halls of SFS and the profound impact the school has had on its alumni.

In the United States, two standout gatherings exemplified the reach and influence of the SFS alumni network. The New York reunion, held on February 10 at the Yale Club, drew a remarkable turnout of over 100 attendees. Meanwhile, on February 17, Los Angeles played host to another memorable event, with approximately 30 alumni coming together to reconnect and reminisce.

Alumni Reunions:

SFS on The Road!

By Cyrielle Bazin

Director of Strategic Communications

These grand affairs, however, are just the tip of the iceberg. SFS boasts a plethora of smaller-scale reunions, many of which are organized and powered by alumni themselves. One such recent gathering took place at the residence of Larry Park, class of '93, underscoring the grassroots nature of these reunions and the deep sense of community they foster.

SFS is also gearing up for a reunion in Seoul on June 5th, promising to be a momentous occasion for alumni both near and far. Beyond mere nostalgia, these reunions serve a dual purpose: they not only provide a platform for alumni to relive cherished memories of their time at SFS but also facilitate the cultivation of a robust global network.

LA Reunion, February, 2024.

The importance of the SFS alumni network cannot be overstated.

It serves as a valuable resource for professional development, career advancement, and personal enrichment. By fostering connections across continents, these reunions enable alumni to tap into a vast reservoir of expertise, mentorship, and opportunities.

For anyone eager to participate in or host a reunion in their area, simply reach out to us at alumni@seoulforeign.org to express your interest and learn more about how you can become an active participant in this thriving community. Together, we continue to celebrate the legacy of Seoul Foreign School and the enduring bonds that unite its alumni across the globe.

Larry Park Home Reunon, April, 2024.

Spring 2024 | Alumni

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Class Notes

The Banner always welcomes your Class Notes and submissions. To submit, please reply to emails or send notes to alumni@seoulforeign.org.

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John Cornelson ’80 visited the campus with his family after 28 years. He is now a consultant and currently resides in the US.

Thomas Kim '88 with his family.

Sharon Munro '93 with her colleagues.

Moon, Thomas worked as a Tribal Physician in Washington state, then received public health and epidemiology training through CDC and then transitioned to be a full time public health officer for tribes in California. Thomas also happened to run into Yeuen Kim ’88 at a global health meeting at Stanford and it was real joy to meet again after all these years and to hear how well she, her husband Tony, and her three children are doing. Incidentally, Thomas and Yeuen went to the same undergraduate school, so Thomas also knows her husband.

spaces named after her teachers such as the Lyso Center for the performing arts and the Edie J. Moon Theatre and was thrilled to see all the developments over the years.

John Cornelson '80 with his family.

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After 36 years, Hazel Tanga ’88 was on campus with her husband. She could not believe how long it took her to come back to Seoul and visit her alma mater. So much has changed since her time.

She said that SFS has taught her so much as she has fond memories of her time here at SFS. Hazel currently works at the Veterans Health Administration and resides in San Diego, California.

Sharon Munro ’93 currently lives in Sydney, Australia with her husband and three children.

She is the Director of Learning for the IB Diploma Programme at St. Andrew’s Cathedral School and also teaches Japanese. She is also an IB Educator often running workshops and working with schools as a consultant. She still loves to travel and play basketball. She was an athlete when attending HS and happy to see Mr. JP Rader on the Alumni Wall of Honor as well as her class of 1993 classmates, Nicholas Park and Gene Moon.

Alice Fe Lavina, Former Teacher from 1994-2012 was on campus for the KORCOS conference. She is currently residing in the Philippines at Silliman University. As President Emeritus of the Korea Council of Overseas Schools (KORCOS), she wanted to congratulate SFS for the excellent hosting of the conference as always!

Thomas Kim '88 ran into Yeuen Kim '88 at a global health conference at Stanford.

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Dina Lee Yoo ’93 visited SFS with her husband and two children on April 2, 2024. It was over 30 years since she last visited SFS and was excited to bring her family to Korea and see all the changes at SFS. Dina is a teacher and currently teaches 2nd grade in Berkeley, California. She was happy to see some of the buildings and

Alice Fe Lavina, fromer teacher from 1994-2012.

Hazel Tanga '88 with her husband.

During the Christmas break, Thomas Kim ‘88 visited the campus with his family. Inspired by a teaching module that included native Americans in 5th grade at SFS taught by Mrs. 84

96 97 China.

Dina Lee Yoo '93 with her family.

The BANNER | Class Notes

Alexander Robinson Archer ’96 attended SFS from 1983 - 1987 and is currently residing in Shanghai, Gina Chon ’97 visited the campus during the Christmas break. She was the SFS Award recipient that

Alexander Robinson Archer '96 and his wife.

Julian Gouldan '13.

Eddie Pasternak '23 with his parents.

and was happy to reunite with the Korean Art Teacher, Ms. Anna Park ‘81 at the HS Artroom.

He worked as a nurse for several years and now works at ADT installing fire alarm systems.

Julian loves cars and is looking into starting rallycross with friends back home.

Yoo Jin ’23 met with Ms. AhYoung Chi, our University Admissions Counselor in May. Currently at the National University of Singapore (NUS) studying Pharmacy, Yoo just finished her last final exam of her first year.

She is planning to take a short vacation with her friends before returning to Seoul for the summer.

20 Gina Chon '97 with her children and parents.

year. She currently lives in New York with her husband and 3 kids. Pictured are Gina with her children and parents who had not been on campus since her graduation and were marveling at the changes and how awesome the campus is. They talked about dropping her off and picking her up everyday from school.

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Sanchit (Sunny) Sehrawat ’04 visited SFS with his wife and was delighted to reconnect with his classmates, Paul Rader ‘04 and John Black ‘04 who are working at SFS and also to meet with Stephanie Black ‘05 who he took classes with in HS. Sunny works for Amazon and he currently resides in San Diego, California.

Tomoki Yoshikawa ’20 was on campus to meet his former teacher Mrs. Holly Hitchcock. Tomoki came to SFS in 5th grade and it was his first international school experience and to learn English. He was also Mrs. Hitchcock’s first EAL student so they have had a very special relationship since then. Tomoki left SFS in 10th grade, moved onto Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. He will be graduating from college this March also starting his career as an accountant at Ernst and Young. Tomoki mentioned that the visit to SFS made him realize once again how great SFS is and was so thrilled to be reconnecting with his former teacher, Mrs. Hitchcock and see all the developments on campus.

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Julian Gouldan ’13 moved back to England after graduating from SFS. He attended the HS for 4 years

SFS Global Connect

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Tomoki Yoshikawa '20 with Mrs. Hitchcock.

Sanchit (Sunny) Sehrawat '04 with his wife.

Yoo Jin '23 with Ms. AhYoung Chi.

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Eddie Pasternak ’23 attended SFBS between 2009 - 2013 visited the campus with his parents. He is currently attending Kalamazoo College in the US. His mother, Susan who was also a very active member of the Parent Association back then was delighted to be back and see all the changes on the SFS campus.

Spring 2024 | Class Notes

FS Global Connect is a private platform connecting alumni. The robust tool combines many of the features of Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn into an online space for alumni. You can look up and email friends via the directory, post and comment on photos, add to the feed, as well as check out all the events for alumni both in person and DOWNLOAD THE APP online. Access SFS Global Connect today at sfsconnect.com or by scanning the QR code.

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VEX & AQT Championships Lately at SFS Bryan Weatherby Communications & Marketing Assistant

There is so much happening at SFS on any given day that it would be impossible to capture everything in one magazine, so we’ve rounded up a few events that happened this semester at Seoul Foreign School.

The Super APAC Champion Rob Elliott Head of PHE Department The 2023-2024 Varsity Girls Basketball team had a historically great season, becoming the first SFS Girls basketball team to have an undefeated KAIAC record (Conference and Cup tournament); they also were the first SFS Girls Basketball team to win a Super APAC Tournament.

Winning the treble as champions of KAIAC Conference, KAIAC Cup, and APAC all in one season is a feat in itself, and this team has now accomplished this in back-to-back seasons, further cementing their mark in SFS’ storied history.

SFS students’ academic achievements are creative, collaborative, and sometimes a little competitive. Academic Quiz Team, or AQT, gives students a chance to show off their knowledge, skill, and teamwork. In March, the SFS AQT A team defended their title as Asian Champions at a tournament hosted at SFS. The B team made it to the quarter finals as well. The event, hosted for the first time in-person, brought together teams from around the region, and included cultural excursions to Insadong and Gyeongbokgung.

VEX is a robotics competition in which teams design and operate robots to perform specific tasks. SFS elementary, middle, and high school students participate. After a strong showing at the national competition in February, multiple teams from SFS made it to the finals in Dallas, Texas.

The positive team chemistry for this squad began during tryouts and continued all the way through the season as they truly treated every mark of success as a celebration of the team.

We also want to thank and give recognition to our 4 senior athletes who have left a legacy on SFS basketball and have demonstrated to our younger players how to be leaders as student-athletes: Autumn Gilmore, Ana Hernandez, Hyejoo Hong, and Kina Lee. There are two memorable moments worth celebrating:

(Top) the SFS AQT Team, 2023-2024, (bottom) the SFS VEX Teams, 2023-2024.

• Coming back from 15 down in the 4th quarter vs DMHS in the KAIAC Cup Final by scoring 21 points in the final 3 minutes • Beating Brent in the Super APAC final on their homecourt after losing to them the day before (the first official loss of the season) Congratulations on a phenomenal season to this incredible group of basketball players.

Follow us on Social Media There’s always something happening at SFS. Follow us on social media and don’t miss an update!

Website: www.seoulforeign.org Instagram: @seoul_foreign_school Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seoul.foreign.school/ Youtube: Seoul Foreign School LinkedIn: Seoul Foreign School Twitter: @SFS1912

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The BANNER | Lately at SFS

Moms in Prayer Nayoung Han Moms In Prayer Chair SFS Moms in Prayer serves the school and the children by gathering mothers to pray.

Moms in Prayer is an international organization that was started by a mom who, in the fall of 1984, found herself with a heavy heart as two of her four children entered junior high school. She was desperately concerned that her children would be confronted by immorality, vulgarity(profanity) and peer pressure that would take them off track in life.

She cried out to the Lord praying and asking Him to protect her children to help them see a clear difference between right and wrong and to help them make good decisions.

Moms in Prayer, 2023-2024.

Her burden was so overwhelming that she felt she could not bear it alone. She asked God to introduce another mom who felt the same way and who would be willing to pray with her for the children and their school.

And so began the Moms in Prayer International ministry. Word spread and soon groups grew in her area and, later, throughout the world. Today groups meet in more than 150 countries.

Besides praying for the school administration, teachers and students, the SFS Moms in Prayer group members support one another through weekly fellowship.

MIP Prayer group meets every Tuesday at 8:20am in the Christian Ministries Chapel.

All SFS parents are always very welcome to join us to support our school through prayer.

Chinese Calligraphy Devin Allen MYP Visual Arts Teacher After the Lunar New Year break, the students of Grade 4-5 and Year 5-6 Chinese classes immersed themselves in the world of Chinese calligraphy painting, guided by our talented MS art teacher, Mr. Devin Allen. The collaborative spirit was truly heartwarming, as several Grade 8 students (Yerin Lee, Wesley Lee, Amy Yena Lee, Olivia Lee) from Mr. Allen's class graciously offered their support to the younger ones during this artistic journey.

Spring 2024 | Lately at SFS

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Letter from Advancement Dear SFS Community, Thank you for your ongoing generosity and commitment to support our Advancement Programs at SFS. We are truly grateful to our community for the diverse participation and contributions towards philanthropy that enhances the learning experiences of our students and provides new opportunities for learning.

This year, we have received KRW 190,491,216 to the Annual Fund as of April 30, 2024 which directly benefits every student, every day, and every part of the SFS experience. In addition to the Annual Fund, we have received a total of KRW 636,567,394 and 581 gifts to date for other designated areas of need such as Building for the Future Fund, Scholarships and the Golf Training Facility.

On February 3rd, we hosted the first fundraising Gala at SFS, ‘SFS Gala - Around the world in one night’ which was truly a night to remember, filled with great fun, memories, and philanthropic support from our community. We are thrilled to share that we have raised a net profit of KRW 70,000,000 at the SFS Gala which will go towards supporting our Golf Training Facility on campus. We are truly grateful to our sponsors, partners and to our community members for your invaluable

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support which will make a profound impact on our students.

Please read more about the ‘Golf Training Facility Campaign Chip in for Change’ on page 91 . We welcome all questions and donations big and small.

As mentioned earlier in the school year, this year will be the final year to leave a lasting legacy at SFS by engraving a Centennial stone on campus along with a plaque on the donor wall, while supporting the Building for the Future Fund. Our Advancement program for the Building for the Future Fund started with the new High School building and all contributions designated to this fund will go towards supporting future capital projects and campus improvements. Please contact the Advancement office to permanently leave a mark at SFS and help us build for the future!

As we continue to seek donations for the Annual Fund and the Golf Training Facility this spring, we invite you to join our growing donor community by making a gift of any size by June 30th to help continue our traditions of excellence.

With great appreciation for your continued support, Yoojin Um Director of Advancement

The BANNER | Advancement

For more information on giving

Centennial Stones C

entennial Stones are exclusive and limited to 100 stones. They bear engraved names and are positioned at the entrance of the High School, along with a plaque on the donor wall. This is a great opportunity to leave your legacy at SFS while supporting the Building for the Future Fund. 20232024 will be the final year for this opportunity. If the notation of creating a lasting legacy resonates with you, please contact the Advancement office at advancement@seoulforeign.org

TESTIMONIALS

“Some of my fondest memories and strongest friendships were built during my time at SFS. It is only natural that I would want to leave a footprint behind to stay forever connected with the school. I hope that our support will help the school build many more lasting memories for students in the years to come.”

— N I C H O L AS PARK ’ 9 3 , S F S P a r e n t , A l u m n u s a n d 2 017 A l u m o f t h e Y e a r

“As students, our parents donated to the construction of the Lyso Center and turfing the field for the first time. Little did they know that it wouldn’t just be benefiting their children, but their grandchildren as well! Now that we’re SFS parents, we wanted to donate to the next building project, the High School, knowing that it might not only benefit our children, but generations to come. We want to be part of the legacy of giving for the future.”

— JOHN BL ACK ’04 AND STEPHANIE (SMALL) BL ACK ’05 S F S A l u m n i , F a c u lt y a n d P a r e n t s

“We thank SFS for welcoming us into the community and all the amazing friends we have made along the way. The wonderful teachers and staff, the experiences the school and the community has offered and overall making our lives in Korea so much richer and fulfilling. We also thank SFS for showing your appreciation by “Building for the Future” and the thoughtfulness of the Centennial stones. We are grateful to be a part of this future and look forward to all the amazing changes yet to come.”

— T H E M AC N EILL FAMILY, PAREN TS

Spring 2024 | Advancement

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Gifts in Kind

M

emorial plaques on campus have been nicely decorated with flowers by a generous gift from our alumna and faculty member, Jennier Rader Purvis ‘83 last fall and this spring in loving memory of our former faculty, staff and students who passed away during their time at SFS. The memorial plaques are placed on the Elementary school playground.

L

inda Sande, Former SFS teacher from 1988 -1994 gifted a painting plate by Kim, Ki-chang (1913 -2001), a renowned Korean artist which is currently placed at the Centennial Welcome Center for everyone to enjoy.

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The BANNER | Advancement

Golf Training Facility

S

eoul Foreign School aims to create innovative learning spaces and facilities for our students. This spring we are excited to share that we are embarking on a campaign to open doors to new learning opportunities with the Golf Training Facility. This facility will provide opportunities for our students to be exposed to the game of golf at a young age. Research indicates that early exposure and consistent practice during formative years can significantly enhance a player's aptitude and enjoyment of the game. Golf is a life sport and being able to play provides multiple benefits for health, wellness, enjoyment, recreation and socialization.

The school plans to officially incorporate a golf program into the Physical Education curriculum starting in the 2024-2025 school year. This program will be offered to students of upper elementary age and above, allowing them to learn the basic skills and fundamentals of golf. Also, with the successful launch of the High School Varsity golf team this year, we hope we can offer and expand our golf program for Middle Years and the SWEP program moving forward and build a robust golf program at SFS. The Golf Training Facility will consist of a Putting Zone and seven Golf Bays for learning and practice. A virtual golf software program will also be installed to accommodate the needs of our advanced golfers for golf games.

With your contribution by June 30th 2024, the Golf Training Facility would be ready for opening in August 2024, making an immediate impact on our students’ wellbeing and new opportunities for learning. Every gift matters and participation builds community, so please chip in for change!

For more information, please contact: Yoojin Um, Director of Advancement yoojin.um@seoulforeign.org, 02-330-3137 Or scan the QR code

Spring 2024 | Advancement

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T

he Seoul Foreign School community came together on the evening of February 3rd for an event that shimmered with elegance, camaraderie, and a fantastic commitment to our community's generosity; our very first fundraising gala. The SFS Gala proved to be a night to remember, filled with moments that will linger in our memories for years to come.

Yet, beyond the glitz and glamour, the true highlight of the evening was the remarkable display of generosity from our community. Thanks to the extraordinary contributions of our guests, a staggering KRW 70,000,000 was raised in support of the construction of our new Golf Training Facility on campus.

This tremendous show of support will have a lasting impact, paving the way for unparalleled opportunities and fostering growth and excellence for generations to come. The belief in our mission and dedication to our students exhibited by our donors is truly inspiring, and we extend our deepest gratitude for their unwavering support.

As we reflect on the success of the SFS Gala, let us carry forward the spirit of generosity, unity, and dedication that defined the evening. Together, we have demonstrated the incredible power of community and philanthropy, and we are filled with gratitude for each and every individual who played a part in making the Gala a resounding success. With continued collaboration and shared achievements, we look forward to building an even brighter future for Seoul Foreign School and our students.

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The BANNER | Advancement

Fall 2023 | Advancement

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The BANNER | Advancement

Spring 2024 | Donor & Impact Stories

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2023-2024

Donors

Jason Juyoung Chang ’26 Yune ’27 and Jean ’33 Hur

As of April 30, 2024

Maryclaire Seo Yeon Kelly ’35

Faculty and Staff (F/S), Alumni (A)

The Kho Family

(USD 1 = KRW 1,273.80)

The Heritage Club

$ 100,000 + KRW 100,000,000 +

1912 Society

$ 50,000 - 99,999 KRW 50,000,000 - 99,999,999

The Millennium Club

$ 10,000 - 49,999 KRW 10,000,000 - 49,999,999

Red and Black Club

$ 5,000 - 9,999 KRW 5,000,000 - 9,999,999

The Crusader Club

$ 2,500 - 4,999 KRW 2,500,000 - 4,999,999

The Crest Club

$ 1,000 - 2,499 KRW 1,000,000 - 2,499,999

Centennial Club

$ 100 - 999 KRW 100,000 - 999,999

The Legacy Club

Under $ 99 Under KRW 99,999

Annual Fund THE MILLENNIUM CLUB Joseph Choi ’27 Ian Chung ’36 Yihan Kim ’32 Jennifer Oh and Yon Sog Choi Youngju Park ’27 Min, Hyejin and Ethan Suh ’25 Family Parents of Benjamin Tae-young Yoon ’32 and Isabella Seo-young Yoon ’35

RED AND BLACK CLUB Colm and Sinead Flanagan (F/S) Goldman Sachs Matching Gift Adithya ’30 and Sahana ’30 Iyer Jun Family - Christian ’36 and Sarah ’38

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THE CRUSADER CLUB

THE CREST CLUB Anonymous (2) S. Cary Family (F/S) Minjoon ’32 and Guipeum ’32 Chang Youngjoong Chang, Hyolin Kim and Ian Chang ’25 Adeline Lia Choi ’34, Dahee Kim, Moses Choi Kwanghae (Aaron) Choi ’35 Minsoo Choi and June Kang (A) Ella ’24 and Gwyneth ’25 Chun Claire Francis (F/S) James and Sarah (Hubbard) ’71 Gunberg (A)

Nancy Calimlim and Lexis Fridden Calimlim ’30 (F/S) Dana Cha (F/S) Jennifer Cha ’02 (A) Chevron Matching Gift Hyukjin Cho, Helen Kim, Ahran Cho ’29 Hana Choi (F/S) Makayla Choi (F/S) Yun Jeong ’24 and Hee Jeong ’28 Choi Andrew Chung ’97, Soo Youn Nam, Farrah ’29 and Micah ’34 Chung (A) Mary Crabtree ’77 (A) Alejandro ’34 and Leonardo ’36 CuelloFederighi Yves Donval (F/S) LD Fernandez (F/S) Ms. Ann Fuell Tsira Gabelia and Michael Farrant (F/S) The Gilmores (F/S) Kirsten Gray (F/S)

Noah Heo ’35

Jee Hye Ha (F/S)

Family of S. Hyun ’31 and M. Hyun ’33

Caroline Hahn (F/S)

Agnes Ji (F/S)

David Han and AhYoung Chi (F/S)

GaHyun Kim ’33

Catie Han (F/S)

Jerome and Silvia Kim (A)

Carl Hanson

Joohun ’22 and Jueun ’25 Kim

Holly Hitchcock and Colin Spitler (F/S)

Youan Kim ’35

The Holbrook Family (F/S)

Nancy Le Nezet and Adam Bernard (F/S)

Choongpyo Hong (F/S)

Michael and Danielle Jarvis Lucchesi (F/S)

James Hopkins (F/S)

Charlotte McMurray ’32

Chris, Julie, Calla ’36 and Zinnia ’39 Horan (F/S)

Emily ’33 and Olivia ’33 No John and Emily Park (A) Susan Park and Minhoo Bae (F/S) The Prest Family (F/S) Sunyoung Shin and Sang Jin Han The Walker Family (F/S) Jessica ’15, Michael ’18 and Stephanie ’25 Woo (F/S)

CENTENNIAL CLUB Anonymous (9)

Ashley Kay ’31

Dong-Joon (Andrew) An ’24 and MinSung Kim (F/S)

Josephine ’22 and Jeneve ’27 Lee

Man Ok Baik

Yule ’31 and Jeanne ’33 Lee

Jamie Bacigalupo Song (F/S)

Joelle ’29 and Cooper ’34 Oh

The Boulestreau Family (F/S)

Davin Park ’29

Melissa Brabon (F/S) The BANNER | Advancement

David and Judy Hwang Yuwon Jeong (F/S) John K. Johnson ’69 (A) The Johnson/Park Family (F/S) Jamie ’09 and Jonathan ’11 Jun (F/S) Minjae Kang ’32 Seung Min Kang (F/S) Sophia Kang (F/S) Yoon Kang (F/S) Anna Kim (F/S) Crystal Kim (F/S) Eileen Kim ’31 and Juhie Suh ’92 (F/S) (A) Esther H. Kim (F/S) Hannah Kim (F/S) Jean Kim (F/S)

Jinny Kim (F/S)

KeeRyeung Song (F/S)

Borah Kim (F/S)

Marie Kim (F/S)

The Sons (F/S)

Catherine Kim (F/S)

Michelle Kim (F/S)

Chris Sykes (F/S)

Chul Hoi Kim (F/S)

Nikki Kim (F/S)

The Teather Family (F/S)

Doyeon Daisy Kim (F/S)

Paul and SueKyung Kim (F/S)

Kelly Yuan Tian (F/S)

Esther (Ji Young) Kim (F/S)

Roel Kim ’34

Mikael ’31, Alexa ’34 and Rafael ’37 Vainio

Hyung Gil Kim (F/S)

Ryan Kim ’28

The Visahan Family (F/S)

Nampil Kim (F/S)

Haydn, Sarah and Atticus ’39 Kneeshaw (F/S) Geoff and Marlene Ward (F/S) Michael and Ketklao Knox (F/S) Eunha Ko (F/S) Sarah Ko (F/S) Dongwook Koh (F/S) Soora Koh (F/S) Hong Seo Koo (F/S) Michael Kosh (F/S) Jae Eun Lah (F/S) Andy and Joanna Lee (F/S) Geon Chul Lee (F/S) Helen Lee (F/S) Heung Sang (Hugh) Lee (F/S) Kyoungjae Lee (F/S) Moon Jin Lee (F/S) Seulgee Lee (F/S) Arabella Lespine (F/S) Marcus Li ’26 and Leo Malik ’31 (F/S) Yanghee Lim (F/S) Vasile Lozneanu (F/S) Zuzana Matusova (F/S) Elizabeth McGarroch-Slack (F/S) Donghoon Moon (F/S) Dr. & Mrs. Gene ’93 and Theresa Moon (A) Moon Ki Min (F/S) Young Sik Moon (F/S) The Munce Family (F/S) Jodi Lynn Murdoch (F/S) Rebecca Murray (F/S) Elish Pangiraj and Prema Thomas (F/S) Anna Park ’81 (F/S) (A) Madeline ’25, Katherine ’27 and Elizabeth ’30 Payne Paul ’04 and Hannah Rader (F/S) (A) Hyesoon Shin (F/S) Irene Shin ’24 Family Shannon and Justin Smith (F/S) Grace Song (F/S)

Matt, Dee Dee, Lily ’24 and Olivia ’26 Wasmund Mia and Joshua Yaniw (F/S) Jeonghee Yoon (F/S) Hanwen ’30 and Xianwen ’37 Zhang Peize Zhao ’33 (F/S)

THE LEGACY CLUB Anonymous (14) Younjin Ahn (F/S) Kurt, Andreea and Zoey ’38 Amundson (F/S) Young Bo Bae (F/S) Lychelle Bruski (F/S) Jennifer Bush (F/S) Ja Yong Choi (F/S) Jong Chul Choi (F/S) Hannah Chung (F/S) Nicole Cook (F/S) Kristen Creech (F/S) Ben Damaso (F/S) Kang Hoe Do (F/S) The Elliott Family (F/S) Dave Gagnier (F/S) Haruka Hattori (F/S) Seong Hoon Hong (F/S) Hyunjee Im (F/S) Wootak Jeun (F/S) Rafael Jimenez and Ana Mazul (F/S) Bryan Johnson (F/S) Emmalee Johnson (F/S) Jin Hyuck Joo (F/S) Jungkyo Jung (F/S) Lily (ChoLong) Jung (F/S) Dongsuk Kang (F/S) Sang Oh Kang (F/S) Catherine Keep (F/S) Aelee Kim (F/S) Spring 2024 | Advancement

Sook Young Kim (F/S) Sung Duck Kim (F/S) Ikhwan Kwon (F/S) Byung Ju Lee (F/S) Chaelynn Christine Lee (F/S) Hyesoo Lee (F/S) Jae Hun Lee (F/S) Jin Ju Lee (F/S) Jungmeen Lee (F/S) Jungyong Lee (F/S) Seungwoo Lee (F/S) Sua Lee (F/S) Soo Yeon Lim (F/S) Cathy Lorenz (F/S) Christina Luo (F/S) Kasia Martin (F/S) Meagan Mathews (F/S) Shawn Monette (F/S) Soo Jee Moon (F/S) Indira Pappaterra (F/S) Jay Park (F/S) Justin Park (F/S) Andrea Razon (F/S) John Sciurba (F/S) Woochul Seol (F/S) Yooju (Jany) Shim (F/S) Dong Jin Shin (F/S) Karen Terry (F/S) In honor of Richard F. Underwood Donna Wang (F/S) Elizabeth Watson (F/S) Emma Woo (F/S) Chang Kun Yang (F/S) Jean Yoo (F/S) Jackie Yoon (F/S) Ji Yae Yoon (F/S) Xin Zhao (F/S) Anna Zygner (F/S) 97

Building for the Future Fund

Golf Training Facility

THE MILLENNIUM CLUB

THE HERITAGE CLUB

Anonymous

Friends of Seoul Foreign School

Haelyung Hwang Family (A)

Ohyeon (Zoe) Kwon ’29, Misook Yoon and THE MILLENNIUM CLUB Youngbum Kwon April ’28 and Eva ’31 Choi In loving memory of Richard Underwood - Friends of Seoul Foreign School RED AND BLACK CLUB

RED AND BLACK CLUB Tom and Anita Alexander (F/S) The Chung Family - A.C. Class of 2028 Ryan, Sophie, William ’32, Florence ’34 and Alfred ’37 Hammerberg (F/S) Family of Dong-Yeob Daniel Hyon ’27 Celine Suhyeon Jin (F/S) Doyi (Elsa) Kim ’32 Hyungji Park ’85, Dongkyun Nicholas ’22 and Seoyun Natalie ’24 Kim (A) Lauren ’23 and Aidan ’26 Song Chloe Lee ’31 and Yoojin Um (F/S) In loving memory of Richard F. Underwood, SFS Staff - BuhmJin Yoon, KeeHyun Sung, YoungSun Lee, ChangHwan Lee, HeeJe Ko, Eunhi Cho, HyunSook Hong, MyungSook Kim, KiSoon Chun, YoungHee Joo, InSil Tak, YooSoo Cho, HyeSun Woo & HaeJin Koh (A)

THE CREST CLUB

Isaiah ’38, Abe ’35, Tim and Cyrielle Bazin (F/S)

Nate and Julie Doelling (F/S) Nidhi and Conrad Francis (F/S) Dae Woon Kim (F/S)

CENTENNIAL CLUB Ethan Albano ’24 (F/S) Youngwoo Cho (F/S) Lilly and Scott Day (F/S) Ling Guo (F/S) Won Joo Hwang (F/S) Nami Kwon (F/S) Eun Joo Lee (F/S) Jina Lee (F/S) Elena Pinkston (F/S) James Sandford (F/S) Nathaniel Smith (F/S)

THE LEGACY CLUB Anonymous (1) Juyeon You (F/S) 98

Kwanghae (Aaron) Choi ’35 Family of Jeena ’21 and Jeean ’25 Lee

THE CREST CLUB Ian Ka Ioi Chu ’32 Charlotte McMurray ’32 John Min ’95 (Parent of Halyn Min ’27 and Seojoon Min ’30) (A) Nicholas Park ’93 (Yena Park ’26 and Eunie Lee ’00) (A) Seodaemun Volleyball Association

CENTENNIAL CLUB Adeline Lia Choi ’34, Dahee Kim, Moses Choi Kirsten Gray (F/S) Chris Een Soo Kim (F/S) Olivia L. Kim ’26 Roel Kim ’34 Ryan Kim ’28 Haydn, Sarah and Atticus ’39 Kneeshaw (F/S)

Jae Eun Lah (F/S) Chloe Lee ’31 and Yoojin Um (F/S) Helen Lee and Eugene Cho ’38 (F/S) Jayden Joon ’27 and Natalie Min ’31 Lee Soo Yeon Lim (F/S) Vasile Lozneau (F/S) Mishras (F/S) Byung-Ju (June) Park ’25 Paul ’04 and Hannah Rader (F/S) (A) Ruggles Family Teather Family (F/S)

LEGACY CLUB The Elliott Family (F/S) Calvin Kamphuis (F/S) Yoon Kang (F/S) Christine Lee (F/S) The BANNER | Advancement

Jack R. Moon Biology Scholarship THE CREST CLUB

John ’04 and Stephanie ’05 Black (F/S) (A) Jerome and Silvia Kim (A)

CENTENNIAL CLUB Anonymous (1) Chris Een-soo Kim (F/S) Oh In Kwon (F/S)

THE LEGACY CLUB Anonymous (1)

Temporarily Restricted Funds RED AND BLACK CLUB

Younghan, Grace, and Isaac ’34 Hahm (F/S)

THE CRUSADER CLUB

Anonymous Edward ’38 and Philip ’39 Choi Family

THE CREST CLUB

SFS Catholic Mass SFS Wrestling Team In Honor of Kevin and Ellen O'Donnell (A) Jennifer Rader Purvis ’83 (F/S) (A)

THE LEGACY CLUB Julie Lee (F/S)

Endowment THE CREST CLUB KyungEn Kim ’90 (A)

CENTENNIAL CLUB The Feitosa Family (F/S)

Pitch In: Playground THE MILLENNIUM CLUB The Striffler Family (A)

Gifts in Kind Debbie Gim ’06 (A)

International Fair

Fall 2023 | Advancement

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rc a e S ord W r e Summ

h

Find these words in the puzzle. Words are hidden → and ↓ .

the n o Feet

AUGUST

JUNE

BEACH

KIDS

CAMP

PLAY

FRIEND

POOL

HOT

SUNNY

ICE CREAM

SWIM

JULY

WARM

ays D r e le b Summ m a r Sc Word

Beach

Unscramble the words, then use the highlighted letters to figure out the secret message.

Hint: The secret message is scrambled too!

cheab ensrsecun SCHOOL'S OUT!

esbablal

WATERMELON BEACH

The BANNER | Games

SUNSCREEN

100

BASEBALL

reamwntelo

POOL

rbueecba

VACATION

iacnotva

BARBECUE

oplo

11. HIKING

10. POPSICLE

4. SUNDRESS

9. SURFING

3. FISHING

8. TROPICAL

2. SUN

7. VACAY

1. WATERMELON

11.

12. SUNGLASSES

10.

5. CORN ON THE COB

9.

6. SANDCASTLE

Spring 2024 | Games

12.

8.

6.

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7.

5.

3.

4.

Can you find the words by using the key below?

me m u S Hello

1.

2. r!

mer m u S I Spy

!

Count and write how many of each summer items you spy!

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The BANNER | Games

D

E

Math

F

A

or w s s o Cr

d

Add, subtract, multiply and divide to complete the crossword!

B

C

s! i h T on Capti Submit your wittiest captions for our featured picture to communications@seoulforeign.org or on Instagram. The best caption wins a Spirit Shop Gift Card. Get ready to wow us with your imagination!

Spring 2024 | Games

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Our youngest students in Pre-K2 PE Class gearing for an obstacle race.

Seoul Foreign School 39 Yeonhui-ro 22-gil Yeonhui-dong, Seodaemun-gu Seoul, South Korea 03723 www.seoulforeign.org For the digital version of this issue, scan the QR code or visit https://bit.ly/banner2024spring