|
Students, teachers and parents bid a fond farewell to Miss Ruth Grant, the world’s best principal
Helle Rantsén
Saying goodbye is never easy and especially hard when you have to say
goodbye to an extraordinary person like the principal of Garden
International School Miss. Ruth Grant. Miss Ruth Grant has for the past 10
years built up the Garden International School to what it is today always
supported by hard working and very dedicated teachers first as head of
primary and for the past years as principal.
 Fare
thee well Miss Ruth Grant.
Miss Ruth Grant will be leaving a school where parents and children always
felt that their interests were in focus. Giving each child full individual
support and making sure that everybody devolved to their fullest.
Miss Ruth Grant was always open to new ideas and paid attention to the
different inputs the parents had with an open mind.
The different tributes to Miss Ruth Grant from parents and children has
shown just how much she will be missed and how hard good byes can be.
From all of us grateful parents, we wish Miss Ruth Grant all the best in her
new job as Head of Junior School at Dulwich College Beijing and hope to meet
her again.
Sports day with a difference at Assumption College
Mark Beales
Parents joined teachers for a sports day with a difference at Assumption
College Sriracha.
The games began in the main school gymnasium, where female teachers took
on mums in games of indoor football, while the male teachers competed
against the dads in games of basketball.
 Mathayom
students get busy picking litter during their school’s Cleaning Day.
In between matches the ACS school band put on a display for the watching
students.
On the school’s main football pitch, at Sirindhorn Stadium, teachers
then played parents in a game of football.
It was a day of success for the teachers as they won all the sporting
events. The games were followed by a special dinner.
“This is the first time such an event has been held at Assumption and it
was a huge success,” said school director Brother Surasit Sukchai. “The
idea was to help strengthen the relationship we have with parents and to
provide some fun and entertainment for our students.”
 Assumption
English teacher Eric Haeg enjoys a joke with a parent during the
school’s special sports day.
Also at Assumption recently, environmentally friendly students searched
high and low for litter during Cleaning Day. All of the 4,400 students
from Assumption grabbed bin bags and went out to look for garbage.
The school also encouraged students to think about their environment in
other ways. Some classes in Mathayom 2 wrote a project about litter for
their English classes, and designed posters to explain how to keep the
school clean and tidy.
Assumption educates many students from Pattaya, and runs an English
program with smaller classes and more English lessons each week. For
more information visit www.acs.ac.th.
Jesters Caring for the Blind
Donation of rice cookers
to the Redemptorist School for the Blind. (l-r) Jeff, Khun Aurora, Woody
and Father Lawrence (Larry) Patin.
By Lewis Underwood
In the past, visiting the Pattaya Redemptorist School for the Blind was
just a matter of dropping by at one’s convenience and then going to the
office to see if Khun Aurora Sribuaphan, the principal, was available. A
young blind woman, Pern, was always there to greet guests and answer the
phone. She was easy to find because of her penchant to sing, and her
lilting melodies used to permeate the idyllic setting. Pern, the Singing
Secretary, always remembered a voice and loved to chat, so there was
always the obligatory socializing with her before one could get around
to asking if Khun Aurora was in.
Of course things change with time: Khun Aurora now has a cell phone
there is a guard at the gate to ask your business and a sighted
secretary, Jaysanee, who now runs the office and is the personal
assistant to Khun Aurora.
Khun Aurora claims that over 95% of the blind people in Thailand have
not been given the opportunity to get an education. The Pattaya
Redemptorist School for the Blind in Naklua is one such institution that
offers education, vocational training, boarding and special caring for
blind and mentally impaired children. Additionally, music, dance, sports
and games are also taught and prove to be popular meaningful activities
for these special children. The Jesters Care for Kids Charity Drive has
been supporting this worthy establishment since 2003.
Khun Aurora, the blind principal with a masters degree in special
education for the visually handicapped, helped found the Pattaya
Redemptorist School for the Blind with the late Father Ray Brennan back
in 1986. They have been at their present location in Naklua on Soi 16
about a half kilometer from Wat Po off the Pattaya-Naklua Road since
1992.
Last year there were 173 registered school children at the Pattaya
Redemptorist School for the Blind from 1st year kindergarten to the
ninth grade, which is near their carrying capacity. The list of children
waiting for spaces to open at this school is endless as well. Despite
the fact that they are full, there always seems to be ‘special cases’
that need immediate assistance and are readily admitted.
Khun Aurora makes it perfectly clear that there institution is a school
and the goal is to educate these people so that they are not ‘a burden
on society’. While some blind students aspire to higher education, many
just want a high school education so they can earn a basic living. When
a student turns 18 he or she should be ready for the next step, which
hopefully is finding a niche in the world of employment. It is important
for the older students to move on to make room for younger candidates
awaiting admittance.
She admits that there are ‘special cases’ for some young adults where
mental impairment is also an issue and finding a useful place in society
is unlikely. For these persons there are special homes in Bang Prakong,
Papa Daeng (Samut Prakhan) and Nontaburi, where they can reside
indefinitely. Still others can return to their families and qualify for
special pensions from the government.
The local Disabled Persons Act requires companies of 200 employees or
more to employ at least one handicapped person. She says that blind
persons can work in the hotel industry answering phones, making
bookings, translating languages, etc., while partially blind individuals
can be porters, waiters/waitresses and/or work in laundry. She
acknowledges that one of the biggest demands for blind people is in the
capacity of masseurs or masseuses, who are also qualified to diagnose
ailments through this art of touch.
This year the Jesters Care for Kids Charity Drive has already been
involved in furnishing the quarters for 10 students living independently
across the street from the school named affectionately Father Ray’s
Home, in memory of Father Brennan. Here they are able to experience a
more sociable environment as well as taking part in household chores
such as cooking, washing, cleaning, going shopping, and gardening, along
with their lessons.
Our next objective at both the blind school and the new independent
living home is to supply proper beds, actually bunk beds (by request)
for all the students, so they no longer have to sleep atop mattresses
laid out on the floor.
If you would like to see the blind school, one of our perennial
beneficiaries, and I do encourage you to go for a look-see, tell the
guard at the gate, you want to go see Khun Jaysanee at the office. It is
easy to find as Pern is still there too, answering the phone and still
singing. In the event that she is not there, she will most likely be in
the classroom teaching her fellow blind students how to sing.
Teachers, students and
benefactors pose in front of Father Ray’s Home.
Memorial ride for Jon Wilson
Friends and family pay
tribute to Jon Wilson at his memorial stone.
By PM reporter
A memorial ride took place recently to honor Jon Wilson, who died in a
motorcycle accident on February 20.
Jon was a member of the Mad Dog motorcycle club and members gathered at
Sally’s Bar on Soi 5 in Jomtien, with the bikes warmed up and Jon’s
friends decked out in protective leather. Then they set off on an outing
in memory of their friend.
The police were on hand to provide an escort for the bikers as they
firstly made their way along to Jon’s memorial stone, which is by the
roadside that skirts alongside Lake Maprachan.
From there the riders went onto the racetrack, which had kindly given
them permission to do a lap of honor for Jon.
Then they made their way down to the Officer’s Club in Bang Saray for
lunch, then on to Bang Chang for more refreshments. The riders finished
off their day at The Other Bar in Soi 4 in Jomtien, where they enjoyed a
barbeque along to the sounds of live music.
The memorial ride was arranged not just to remember Jon but also to make
a donation from the money raised for Jon’s wife and young daughter.
Friends ride their
motorbikes along the Mabprachan Road.
Lions Club of Pratamnak provides clean drinking water for school
Piyavadee Suvannahong
Tassanee Khakhay, President of the Lions Club of Pratamnak Pattaya
presided over the presentation of a clean water drinking facility for
school children of Wat Boon Samphan School in Soi Khao Noi, on June 26.
 Children
are excited about their new hygienic drinking water facility.
School director Somchoke Yindeesook said that there are currently 840
students attending. In the past the school received drinking water
support from the sub-district administration organization, with water
being transported and transferred to a small water filtration tank. This
was not only insufficient but was also unhygienic. The school thus
approached the Lions Club for their support.
Somchoke said there should now be enough drinking water for the large
number of students, with the new system providing quality water
filtration that will be a positive contribution to the health of the
pupils.
The drinking water facility cost 90,000 baht to build. Lions Club of
Pratamnak Pattaya provided 40,000 baht, and another 50,000 baht was
donated in the name of the late Khunmae (mother) Tan Khakhay. To add to
the happy day, lunch was also laid on for the students after the
ceremony.
After Lunch, Tasanee and
Phantree served delicious ice cream to the delightful children.
Rotary Club of Jomtien-Pattaya and Diana Group donate computer equipment to Vocational Training Center
Jointly sponsored by the Pattaya Mail PC Classic
Royal Cliff Beach Resort International Regatta 2006
Peter Cummins presents
Sirinart Yokluean with the donation watched over by Sopin Thappajug,
(3rd left) Primprao Somsri, (center) Sales and Marketing Manager of
Pattaya Mail and Pratheep ‘Peter’ Malhotra (right)
Piyavadee Suvannahong
On June 28, at the sprawling grounds of the Diana Garden Resort and
driving Range, Peter Cummins, ex commodore of the Royal Varuna Yacht
Club, Sopin Thappajug, Managing Director the Diana Group, Pratheep
Malhotra, MD of Pattaya Mail, District Governor Nominee of Rotary
District 3340, representing the Rotary Club of Jomtien-Pattaya, jointly
presented computer equipment and other learning enhancement
paraphernalia to the Vocational Training Center in honour of the 36th
birthday anniversary of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Foundation.
Sirinart Yokluean, director of the Vocational Training Center was
present at the ceremony to receive the donation. Sirinart said the
center had also held its own activities, such as a charity golf event at
the navy course at Plutaluang on May 27 to raise funds for the purchase
of other needed equipment.
Sirinart said “We have had a great deal of support from Sopin Thappajug
and Pratheep Malhotra in the past. After having heard that we were in
dire need of learning and teaching equipment, which the center could not
afford, they immediately set the wheels in motion to raise some funds
for us. For this we are ever so grateful.”
Sirinart added that the center wants to teach the basics to students to
further their understanding of today’s vital technology. “Some of the
students have very little understanding of the new IT technology and we
want them to have that knowledge.”
The college provides free vocational training to students for those less
affluent people but are willing to learn.
Peter Cummins, the “PC” in the Pattaya Mail’s PC Classic handed over
40,000 baht worth of computer equipment to Sirinart Yokluean, director
of the center on behalf of the Rotary Club of Jomtien-Pattaya and the
Diana Group, saying, “I personally wish to thank all the sponsors of the
annual PC Classic, without whom we would not have the funds to do this
charity work on your behalf for the good of our society.”
|
