Where's GReight?

Pattaya CS Trip

Last December 7-9, Mr. Raha and I accompanied Mr. Aquino’s 8th grade class on their Community Services trip to Pattaya, and I am very pleased to inform everyone that our student did us proud!

The class was divided into three and we the chaperones, were assigned to stick to the same group as we rotated our visits to the orphanage, the old folks home, and the school for the blind.

At the orphanage we distributed the toys collected in the Toy Drive organized by the Student Council. We visited the nursery, held games, and played soccer and basketball with the older kids. There are about 200 orphans, from babies to 18 years old. Some were abandoned, others were given up by their mothers who couldn’t afford to raise them. The youngest that the Center had was a 2-day old baby.

One baby is malnourished because he was fed nothing but non-dairy creamer. Many kids have found new homes in Europe and the US after they were adopted, but these orphans can only be adopted before they reach a certain age. Those who remain have sponsors who financially support their
education and upbringing. Two of our students sighed up to sponsor babies pledging to send at least 100baht a month. We did the same at the school for the blind, distributed toys and treats. We played “blind” volleyball and ball passing, that is, blindfolded. Not all of them are completely blind, many are sight impaired. They loved the jelly candies we brought. Our wish is that we did not have “noise making” kind of toys for them. They, in turn, performed for us with their music instruments.
The resident at the old folks home enjoyed a few rounds of bingo and high & low game. There were four of them that day, old people who don’t have families to take care of them. We took them out for a “walk” on their wheelchair and listened to their stories. Some students created artworks with crayons for them.

I was really moved and touch with the way our students reached out to the less fortunate. Do check out their photos in the Community Services folder at http://photos.yahoo.com/tcis_web. The smiles say it all!

The One

Mr. John Tsai is now the acting headmaster of TCIS. Oftentimes, we could see him walking around, checking on how people are doing.
Mr. Tsai graduated from Taiwan Provincial Teachers’ College. It is the school where people who want to be a teacher go. Before that, he also studied in a famous senior high school in Tainan, Taiwan. He has a Masters Degree from Wisconsin Stout in the United States of America, in Instructional Media Technology.

“Studying hard and trying your best was something that my parents always told me.” he said. Now, he wants to use the same words to encourage the students of TCIS, for that was how he succeeded. “My parents are very proud of what I have done.” he added.

Our acting headmaster used to be a homeroom teacher. Aside from that, he taught in an industrial- vocational senior high school in Taiwan for about 26 years. Afterwards, he became the Dean of Students, and took care the school activities, the students’ health and safety and sporting events. Then, he took the job as Dean of General Affairs and Director of Students’ Job Placement. His career development began with being a school teacher to becoming a professional administrator who is able to do something for kids around the world who want and need better education.

Mr. Tsai thinks TCIS students are very polite, and he enjoys lots of activities such as the TCIS Dance, Sports Day, etc.
However, he also thinks that there are still some things that should be done to further improve the school. “We are going to follow the suggestions that WASC had given us, to further improve and develop the school.” He commented.

Lastly, Mr. Tsai believes that TCIS is a good school. He said he would try to do his best to serve the school and always be “one” with the members of the Thai-Chinese International School. More power to you, Mr. John Tsai!

Different Strokes

Seven years had past, since TCIS first opened. However, I think people had realized that since the school started, the headmasters have been constantly changing! Why does this keep happening? Maybe this question had already been asked for a long time. The head of the school board, Ms. Gina, had given us some answers.
According to her, “The reason that TCIS is always changing headmaster is because we can’t find a headmaster who can coordinate with three different cultures that exist in our school. The target of the school board is to bring the school to a higher level of learning and create an atmosphere conducive for the students to study. However, since all the headmasters for of school need to come from Taiwan, it becomes a hard task for the school board to get a headmaster who knows what to do for an International School like TCIS. Ms. Gina also mentioned that, “The WASC spirits” of being, “Student Centered”, and the “Focusing on Learning” is also the main thing for the school to choose the headmaster.

Dr. T is in the House

Dr. Tom, who left TCIS two years ago is back in the house! The previous headmaster, Dr. Chou, and Major General Sothorn Vanitsthain had asked Dr. Tom to come back to TCIS and take the job of the academic director. For two years, since he left TCIS, Dr. Tom was the principal of the American school of Cairo in Egypt. “I didn’t get along too well with the headmaster during that time,” said Dr. Tom. This was the main reason that he had left TCIS. There are some other minor reasons also. Gaining more experience working in other countries was one of them. The first time Dr. Tom was hired by the school, the main goal for him was to bring the WASC accreditation to TCIS, so that students would have an easier time going into the collage. In the future, Dr. Tom is planning to start two other learning programs – the “Advancement Program” and “International Baccalaureate Program” these programs are going to make the graduates’ university life easier.

Dr. Tom, had set a goal for TCIS, which may be a wish that many teachers have in mind—to build TCIS one of the best international school in Bangkok, so students would want to graduate from school, and the graduates would feel proud of being one part of the school. It is also going to be good for students’ resume and records. “ I hope that all the graduates would go in and succeed at the college level,” he said.