Tiger Times Volume 45 Issue 7

Page 1

Charity Party:

New organization, STEH&LO, hosts fundraiser. Page 5

Perserverance:

Cheerleaders compete despite difficulties. Page 11

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

Tiger Times volume X X X XV

issue 7

F E B R UA R Y 2 0 1 4

ttonl.org

Habitat for Humanity holds student-led fashion show CSC auction

raises money for homeless

By Claire Yun

By Jungho Daniel Choi

Throughout the first few weeks of February, students saw members of the National Arts Honor Society and other volunteers designing their own apparel, including shirts, dresses, skirts and crop tops. On Valentine’s Day, students, teachers and staff members went to the auditorium during activity period, where these hand-made clothes were displayed in the third annual fashion show, hosted by Habitat for Humanity (HFH). “We host the fashion show because we feel that it is important for us to have a big project every year that allows us to raise money for Hwahweh Maeul, a village near our school in Bokjeong,” said Caroline Kim (12), HFH president. “We use money that we raised from our fashion show to help the people in Hwahweh Maeul in many different ways. We go to Hwahweh Maeul on Fridays after school. We usually massage them, talk to them, dance and sing for them to [entertain them].” The show began with a performance by the Dance Club to the song “Partition” by Beyoncé. Then, there was a catwalk which was followed by an auction of bracelets, in which both staff and students paid bids ranging from 30,000 to 150,000 won to purchase them. As the only

Photo by Yeni Cho

While other models were busily changing into their outfits and making final touches to their makeup backstage, Jenny Lee (9) and Ellis Kim (10) applied a glitter body balm to prepare for their catwalk. male model and also the final model to walk in the fashion show, Dong Gi Park (12), taking off part of his shirt, received much of the spotlight. “I did not know that I was the only male model until the day right before the fashion show,” Dong Gi said. “The incentive that first attracted me to try modeling for the show was [Shanna] Hurt’s offer of a revision in my AP Economics test. It will surely be a memory to look back at, so I decided to take [my participation] as a good opportunity

to challenge myself and overcome one of my greatest fears, stage fright. Looking back, I wished I had more time to physically prepare for the event, but I have few regrets and I’m glad to have tried it.” According to Caroline, the show generally went very smoothly with several setbacks. In order to continue raising money for the local inhabitants in Hwahweh Maeul, HFH plans to continue their yearly tradition of holding a fashion show even after this year.

“Making the clothes was definitely hard work, and I hate to budget my time to finish the clothes on time,” said Kate Moon (11), “This year, [the other designers] and I had a hard time managing time. Both designing and creating the clothes took longer than we thought it would take, and we also learned that we should start long behorehand the actual show. Overall, it gave me a headache but at the end it was all worth it. I want to pitch in as a designer next year too.”

SIS hosts third annual National History Day in Korea By Celine Hwang

From the effects of yellow journalism to the Red Scare, various topics relating to the theme of “Rights and Responsibilities in History” were presented on Feb. 22. For the third annual National History Day (NHD) in Korea, students from SIS and nine other international schools gathered at SIS to showcase their projects. Like last year, high school students who placed first and second in their respective divisions will be given the opportunity to compete in NHD in Washington, D.C. In addition to the competition, author Suzanne Crowder Han engaged in an interactive session during which she spoke about her experiences in Korea and answered questions from audience members. “[From my speech], I hope that students can learn to have an open mind and positive attitude,” Ms. Han said. “Sometimes you have to

Photo by Kelly Kim

Jennifer Huh (10) and Yeonjae Han (11) present a performance about Japanese biological experimentation during World War II on Feb. 22. be somewhat opportunistic because random events can lead to a lifelong journey. Although I did not choose to come to Korea, I was fascinated by its customs, tradition and art.” This year, SIS students won awards in almost all categories, with Sara Shin (11) and Lauren Jung (11) placing first and second respectively for individual website and sopho-

mores Patricia Song and Christine Seo placing second for group website. For the individual performance, Eugene Yang (11) won first place while Sydney Ko (12), Gina Lee (10) and Togo Tamura (11) won second for group performance. Bason Park (11) placed second for individual research paper, Kathleen Joo (11) won first for individual documentary and

sophomores Chloe Choi, Jenna Kim and Kevin Shim won first for group documentary. “This was my third year participating in NHD and I decided to take a unique approach,” Sydney Ko (12) said. “My group focused on whether or not Alfred Nobel had the right to create something violent and whether or not it was his responsibility to repair the damages he caused. We involved the audience in our performance by simulating a game show.” Although this is the last year Tony and Shanna Hurt will be organizing and hosting NHD at SIS, SIS students will be given the opportunity to participate in NHD at another international school next year. “In the future, I would like to see more quality over quantity in NHD projects,” Mr. Hurt said. “This is an opportunity for students to work on a history-related project because they love [the subject] and are passionate about it. Hopefully, NHD will help to develop a lifelong interest in history.”

A winning bid of 200,000 won was made by Jaehoon Choi (9), immediately before Tony Hurt, auctioneer, declared the prize of a film with snacks sold. On Feb. 5, Community Service Club (CSC) held its first teacher task auction to raise money for the homeless in Seoul. At the auction, teachers offered prizes that students bartered for. Proceeds not only went to directly helping the homeless, but also to a homeless shelter called Anna’s House. Prizes included food items such as a Texan lunch offered by Shanna Hurt, history teacher. Other teachers also offered services for students. Sean Syverson, English teacher, volunteered to hold a film viewing session, while Cheryl Lambie, art teacher, offered her design services. In total, CSC raised about 1,345,000 won from the auction. “[Jarret] Lambie, [high school principal] asked clubs to implement more innovative fundraisers besides bake sales,” said Erin Hogshead, CSC adviser. “We remembered that the HSSC used to do teacher auctions in the past, so we decided to do one.” With Mr. Hurt and Ms. Hurt moderating the auction, students bid for the 16 prizes offered. “Initially, my friends came over and told me that they’d pay a small portion of [the price], so I started bidding,” Jaehoon said. “I now regret it, because I ended up paying the large bid alone, even though my friends said that they’d help pay.” According to Ms. Hogshead, CSC members have already gone to Seoul Station to hand out scarves and kimbab for the homeless that were living there. CSC also will be trying to help Anna’s House, a homeless shelter that was chosen for its accessibility and because it was the one of the few shelters that gave out dinner to the homeless. “While walking around Seoul subway stations, I would always see homeless people being ignored,” said Tina Shin (12), CSC co-president. “Rather than focusing on relief work outside of Korea, I thought it would be more beneficial to the community if we could focus on our immediate surroundings.” CSC plans to organize another teacher auction next year, as they were able to raise money without undergoing any financial losses.


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