Valor Times 2023 December Vo.1 No.4

VALOR TIMES

“IF I HAD THE GIFT OF PROPHECY, AND IF I UNDERSTOOD ALL OF GOD’S SECRET PLANS AND POSSESSED ALL KNOWLEDGE, AND IF I HAD SUCH FAITH THAT I COULD MOVE MOUNTAINS, BUT DIDN’T LOVE OTHERS, I WOULD BE NOTHING.” ‭1 CORINTHIANS‬ ‭1 3‬: ‭2 ‬ ‭N LT‬‬

2023 DECEMBER VOL. 1 NO. 4

COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS On December 21, everyone in Valor International Scholars enjoyed a community Christmas event. Christmas is a festival to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ so basically, It is rooted in the religious event but in contemporary society, most people celebrate this festival with their family or friends. Also, there’s a figure relevant to Christmas: Santa Claus.

According to folklore, Santa Claus delivers gifts to children worldwide on Christmas Eve. For the community Christmas event, STUCO made the event called Secret Santa.

It is a gift-giving event depicting Santa Claus folklore where people anonymously give each other a Christmas present on December 21, all people in Valor International Scholars enjoyed a community Christmas event. Christmas is a festival to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ so basically, it is rooted in religious events but in contemporary society, most people celebrate this festival with their family or friends.

Also, there’s a figure relevant to Christmas: Santa Claus. According to folklore, Santa Claus delivers gifts to children worldwide on Christmas Eve. For the community Christmas event, STUCO made the event called Secret Santa. It is a gift-giving event depicting Santa Claus folklore where people anonymously give each other a Christmas present.

D O N G O H H A N P1

SECRET SANTA Merry Christmas Valor community! While snow is falling gently, and the weather is getting colder, an annual Christmas event in Valor, “Secret Santa” has come back! For those who are unfamiliar with Secret Santa, it is a gift-giving event where students and teachers anonymously give each other a Christmas present which is also called “Manitto ( )” in Korean. Through Secret Santa students and teachers were able to gain joy and closeness between one another. Through the wishlist, students and teachers were able to share their desired gifts.

Secret Santa continues to create lasting memories and strengthens the bond within the Valor community. Merry Christmas to all!

마니또

YUJIN LEE|SHINHOO KIM

P2

BAZAAR & TALENT SHOW We also had an Bazaar from 9-10:30 am. It is a marketplace selling a wide range of products. People who volunteered to sell their goods made a market in Berkan Hall.

This activity led to a profit of a total of $500 and the money will be donated to develop our school facility and infrastructure.

Our talent show had a total of six teams, each showcasing remarkable skills and creativity. Yeonji and Eunjo led the first talent show with a cute performance, blending clarinet melodies and dance. The Amazing Taekwondo Team took the stage next, delivering a powerful scene. Mingi brought a cute Christmas video, displaying his creativity. The ensemble of almost ten musicians in the fourth act produced a harmonious blend of Violin, Viola, Cello, flute, piano, and drums. Healynn, Yunwoo, Jewoo, and Hajoon's performance left the audience in awe with their incredible talent.

The band "Bandaids" showed a last performance, securing 1st place with a fantastic performance, making our talent show an unforgettable of diverse and impressive talents

MINJIN SHIN|DONGOH HAN

P3

VALOR

This month, on December 4th, the Valor community was lucky enough to experience a Tedx speaking event held at Valor. This year's theme was ‘The true meaning of education’. Students, as well as several members of staff, spoke about their interpretations of the ‘true meaning of education’, and shared insightful pieces of advice.

Interesting topics were covered in the speeches, relating to academic success, social success, and following your dreams. Many of the students, as well as teachers, have achieved incredible things, proving the fruits of hard work.

Their speeches offered inspiration to everyone.

MIEL PARK

There were occasional breaks in between the speeches where fun events took place. The Tedx team organized small quizzes and challenges, all with a prize reward. Each student was also given a raffle ticket, and numbers were picked randomly, with various exciting prizes on offer.

Thanks to the amazing Tedx team, we all got to experience an inspiring and unforgettable Tedex event.

P5

VALOR FIELD TRIP Near Death Experience On December 13th, Ms. Eugine’s psychology and holistic wellness class underwent a near-death experience at Baekseok Well Dying Healing Center. Students took pictures for a funeral, listened to a one-hour lecture, and learned about well-dying, and how to prepare for death and live a good life. After, they wrote their wills and spent about 10 minutes in a coffin. All the students said it was a meaningful experience. Below are some interviews from Hannah Lee (11th) and Taerin Lee (12th).

Interviews Hannah - Through the near-death experience, I was able to learn what my real importance is in my life. Having the experience of writing a will, I realized my regrets towards others and myself.

Taerin - The near-death experience field trip stirred a deep reflection on my life. Inside the coffin, a glimpse of death prompted a genuine contemplation of how I'd feel facing death in the future. The realization struck that we often aspire to live without regrets, expressing love and seizing every opportunity. This field trip, however, transformed into a pivotal moment, granting me the chance to authentically embody the values I hold dear.

P6

MICHELLE YANG

STUDENT LIFE EVENTS Gingerbread Night On December 8th at 7 pm, students made gingerbread houses to celebrate Christmas at Vision Hall. Four to five students made one gingerbread house. They enjoyed eating snacks and cookies and had fun making gingerbread houses together.

Student center 2nd floor is open!

On December 13, the counseling center threw a grand opening party! To celebrate the grand opening, Counselor Kim and Counselor Pyo prepared various foods to enjoy! Lots of people including students and staff came and celebrated the grand opening. With a fresh start, the counseling center will be used as a place where students can come and get counseled.

P7

HAJOON PARK I HAYEON SON

THE BIBLE IN COMIC 3. THE BIRTH OF CHRIST

“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.”

(Matthew 1:21)

P8

DONGYUN HWANG

VALOR SPORTS/CLUB Baking Squads Mean Girls, a legendary movie, gave an epic idea to Valor students. Why not do candy cane grams? That was the start of it all. Students came together thinking of how to adapt it to Valor. That was it. Christmas cookie grams! Christmas cookie grams is an event where you get to write a letter to someone whom you want to express your feelings to.

Lots of people received their cookies on Tuesday, December 19. People were filled with joy and also got to enjoy delicious cookies made by the baking club. We thank the baking club once again, by organizing such events and filling students with joy!

HAYEON SON

P9

Join the Euler Math club

Plogging club

If you are interested in participating Caribou, math competition held in January, please contact sungeun.chang@valorschool.org

Are you familiar with Plogging? Plogging is the word that is formed through the combination of jogging and picking up litter. Currently, the Plogging Club goes around the campus and makes sure that the Valor campus is clean. The Plogging Club also takes charge of giving out campus cleaning community service in Valor to help students fill 15 hours of mandatory community service hours.

This allows students to fill out their community service hours fully in school.

The Plogging Club is also making plans to open various campaigns and participate in various environmental competitions in the future.

Taekwondo Team Each member of the Valor Taekwondo team showed an effort to Taekwondo through countless hours of training, sweat, and perseverance over the course of a year to upgrade our degree. In December of this year, all Taekwondo team members who can obtain a taekwondo degree went to Kukkiwon and took the examination.

Dongyun and Andrew took the 4th-degree exam, while Minjin, Minseo, Michelle, Jeongmin, and Ms. Eugine took the 2nddegree exam. Clap for students who worked hard!!

P10

Fill out your community service hour through this link: https://calendly.com /plogging_club/30min

YUJIN LEE|SHINHOO KIM|HAYEON SON|MINJIN SHIN

GOOD COMMENTS Isaac Seth Panelo

Yunwoo Kim

Christopher Morshan

Helped my homework with strong efforts and love

Kind and a fun person.

giving his food and cooking for us

Yujin Lee Ms.Eugine prepared a wonderful field trip for students

Hayeon Son Being a great classmate in English Literature class.

Hamin Son Healynn

Thankyou for borrowing me your calculator

so talented at singing and so kind

For being a great classmate in geometry

Taekwondo team talent show was amazing

P11

TALENTS OF VALOR Jiho Lee On December 17th, Jiho Lee participated in the Dong-A-Ilbo National Fencing Championship 2023 and won 6th place in the middle school boys foil category.

Samuel Chang, Taeeun Park, Hannah Lee, Brian Lee, Yunwoo Lee, Justin Yoon On November 25th, Samuel Chang, Taeeun Park, Hannah Lee, Brian Lee, Yunwoo Lee, and Justin Yoon participated in the WMTC (World Mathematics Team Competition) Around 100 teams from Thailand, Korea, Bulgaria, the Philippines, Australia, United States, China gathered in Incheon, Songdo and performed their best abilities. The result of the competition is not announced yet but please congratulate them for their hard work

P12

MICHELLE YANG

VIS ALUMNI SEONGJUN KIM CLASS OF 2020 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, STUDYING MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS

Can you introduce your name, grade, and the major you're studying?

Hello. I am Seongjun David Kim, Valor International Scholars’ class of 2020. I am currently a sophomore at the University of California, Berkeley, majoring in mathematics and physics. I have once served as the school’s second student body president, and founder and the first captain of the Valor Cycle Team.

What are some memorable memories you had in Valor?

Various student council events like prom and the Coast to Coast cycle trip I accomplished with my fellow teammates are the most memorable memories I had in Valor. With the precious experiences that I would never get from any other school, I learned responsibility and leadership that is not about showing oneself but about serving others.

How did Valor help you as a person?

Among numerous aspects that deeply helped me as a person, meeting with graceful teachers was the most grateful thing that I got from Valor; specifically Mr. Ahn, head of the school, and our cycle team head coach, Mr. Lee. Both of the teachers taught me the essence that later penetrated my entire life: good, but great influence.

Do you have any academic and personal advice for Valor?

Be humble, but have ambition deep inside your inner heart; that is to say, believe in yourself, do your best on whatever it is, and leave the rest to God’s providence. There is no reason for you to not have confidence. I hope you all can remember that God will be with you always.

P13

Do you have any messages for the remaining Valor students and staff?

I mean what else can I say, indeed I do miss you all. Even though time has passed, I remember from time to time the valuable memories I had from the school. And students, I know you are doing great. Please believe in yourself and keep going. I was, am, and will always be part of a Valor family.

What were some of your struggles in college and how do you think Valor can help students prepare better for college?

Living in a college dormitory out of the country and apart from your own family may become a struggle.

But since Valor is in boarding school, a good opportunity to become independent can easily be given to you, and in that way, later living apart by yourself will prepare you.

P14

Valor Times

Editor-in-Chief Michelle Yang Managing Editor Junsoo Lee Journalists Dongoh Han Dayun Chung Hajoon Park Hayeon Son Jongchan Yun Minjin Shin Miel Park Shinhoo Kim Yejin Cho Yujin lee

Designer Soorin Choi Heaylnn Cho Yejin Cho Comic Dongyun Hwang

We are recruiting advertisers (all advertising fees will be used for the development of the Newspaper team and mission trips).

If you are interested in placing an advertisement in the Valor Times, please contact us at michelle.yang@valorschool.org.