Tiger Times Volume 34 Issue 10

Page 1

volume x x xiv

m ay 2 0 1 1

issue 10

Tiger Times s e o u l i n t e r nat i o na l s c h o o l

Prom: The High School Student Council hosts annual prom at Banyan Tree. Page 5

Service: Sophomore travels to South Africa with wheelchair tennis team. Page 9

Persevere: KAIAC sports teams pull through despite inclement weather. Page 10

Common cause unites SISers at fundraising brunch

Photo by Joshua Kim

Yeeun Chun, president of Habitat for Humanity and Global Issues Network, gives a presentation on Hwa-Hweh Maeul at the champagne brunch. By Angela Cho

An upgrade from a bake sale or toy drive, the champagne brunch held May 14 was a fundraising event with elegance. Parents joined teachers and administrators at family restaurant Market O, savoring the taste of tender steak and fine champagne. The brunch was part of a larger, more collaborative fundraising activity for Hwa-Hweh Maeul, a vinyl village located five minutes away from school. In addition to selling custom-made t-shirts, Global Issues Network (GIN) and Habitat for Hu-

manity (HFH) organized SIS’ firstever champagne brunch to raise money for water filters for the village’s 185 residents. “Originally, I wanted to have a dinner at a fancy hotel,” said Donna Spisso, GIN and HFH adviser. “It is difficult to make it [to the brunch] right in the middle of a day on a Saturday. But the event was successful [considering the amount of money raised].” In total, the clubs sold 36 tickets and raised 5.5 million won. While participation was limited to adults, the event was student-coordinated.

Middle school GIN members and Yeeun Chun (11), president of GIN and HFH, introduced the purpose of the brunch by giving a brief presentation on Hwa-Hweh Maeul. “This is the biggest fundraising event I’ve seen in my four years here at SIS,” said Aaron Elser, science teacher. “The champagne brunch was wonderful [because] we got to hear more about the village and the meal was delicious.” To contribute to the fundraising, National Art Honor Society (NAHS) members donated 10 framed art pieces for a silent auction

for a minimum bid of 150,000 won each. Jasmine Park (11), Danbi Kim (11) and Daniel Lee (12) also performed four songs. “We successfully incorporated both traditional music [“Arirang”] and modern pop songs,” said Danbi. “Because of preparation for Advanced Placement exams, we had our first official practice on [May 13], but performed well thanks to our previous experiences performing on the street.” Headmaster Hyung-Shik Kim and Korean celebrity Joong-Hoon Park also attended to support the

occasion. “The [hosting] clubs had a good reputation and I wanted to take a look [at the event they organized],” said Mr. Park, actor and Bason Park’s (8) father. “Today, I came here [to support the cause] as a dad, not as a movie star.” Other parents were as thoroughly impressed with the quality of the brunch. “If I had known the brunch was this well-organized, I could’ve invited more people,” said June Bai, Yeeun’s mother. “I’m very proud of my daughter and the clubs.”

classes because it makes it harder for me and the others to get to class on time after the [previous] class is over since there is no break in between,” said Justin. Avoiding situations like this was one of the reasons the administration decided to build a new gym, elementary school and fine arts center. However, Korea’s 20 percent footprint rule prohibits the school from constructing more buildings on campus without the consent of the school’s Foundation, which consists of construction businesses, the army and President Myungbak Lee. Therefore, the gym will be built

underneath the already existing elementary playground. The Foundation approved of the school’s renovation plan after one year. “The main reason we decided to renovate was because the classrooms in the elementary building were too crowded and small,” said Paul Gowans, director of school. “Then, Hyung-Shik Kim, headmaster, other school directors, and the Foundation began to discuss the cost and date for the renovations to begin.” According to Mr. Gowans, the administration hopes that the new gym will be finished by 2012. It will have a larger fitness center and new

changing rooms. Also, the current bleachers will be replaced with foldable ones, widening the space available for school-wide events. The new elementary school center will soon replace the existing Tiger Gym 1. The current elementary school building will become the school’s fine arts center. “I think building the performing arts center will be an asset because we can further develop drama, strings and choir,” said Brenda Myung (11). “[The performing arts center] is more specialized so the school can give more support for those students who are artistically

gifted. It can also foster an artistic community.” However, the arts center is scheduled to be completed after the construction of the new gym, which means that current high school students will not be able to benefit from these new facilities. “ I think having our school renovated is an excellent idea to provide future students a suitable learning environment that the previous generations missed out on,” Jason Han (10). “It would have been better if it had started sooner so that I could see the changes before I graduate in 2013.”

School to begin renovation of facilities this summer By Jessica Song

After US History class, Justin Kim (10) rushes to the strings room. Worried about being marked tardy, he prefers to spend his morning break in the strings room because it takes a while to go from the main building to the basement classroom located underneath the parking lot. However, these complaints are bound to reduce once the construction of new school facilities officially begins this summer. “I wish [the strings room] wasn’t so far away from our regular


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
Tiger Times Volume 34 Issue 10 by SIS Tiger Times - Issuu