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St Andrews School raises funds for the Dek Dee Centre
Pon is
all smiles after Mr. McGee passes
on the money from members of the St Andrews community.
Kevin McGee, Assistant
Head of School at St Andrews
Dek Dee is an early childhood learning centre located in
Ban Chang. This non profit organization provides early childhood schooling
for 50 children aged 2 1/2 - 4 years old. Dek Dee provides a safe and
educational environment for young children while allowing their parents to
go out to work and make a living to support their family.
During the month of December, members of the St. Andrews
community held two events which helped to raise money for Dek Dee. At the
Christmas Carol Concert, three of our year 12 students asked for donations
from the parents and children who attended. In all 5,150 baht was collected.
Additionally, another 2,486 baht was raised through the sale of candles and
drinks.
Secondly, the final Friday of term 1 was a uniform free
or “mufti” day. Students coming to school in their own clothes were asked to
make a 50B donation to help support Dek Dee. In all, 14,465 baht was
collected.
In addition to these two very successful fund raising
activities, a total of 6 different St Andrews families donated 6,000B each
to sponsor a child so that they could attend Dek Dee for a full year. This
is a most generous gesture. Dek Dee is always looking for additional
sponsors for children so please contact myself or the school office if you
would like to help or just want more information.
In January, Ms. Jane Thompson, Mr. Simon McCloskey and I
visited Dek Dee to donate the money that had been collected and to chat with
Pon who runs the centre. Pon was very grateful for the help that we were
able to provide.
In the coming weeks and months, Pon hopes to improve the
playground area for the children, finish painting the walls and ceilings as
well as build some additional fencing. As ever, there are the normal day to
day needs such as soap, toothbrushes, talcum powder and paying the wages of
staff. The money that we donated will help with some but not all of their
needs.
Thank you again to everyone who donated money and therefore helped to
make a small difference to the lives of the children at Dek Dee.
This
area needs to be upgraded so it is suitable for young children to play in.
Dining
room for 50 - the ceilings still need painting.
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Students from St Andrews International School learn to sail at Sattahip
A fleet
of Optimists crossing the bay.
Ben Wiggins, PE teacher
at St Andrews International School
As part of the Outdoor Education component of the PE
Curriculum, students in year 8 participated in a residential trip to
Sattahip, where the focus was on water sports.
During the trip all of the students learnt how to sail a
boat around a triangular course. Some of them also found out what to do when
you fall out of your boat, your boat capsizes or it fills up with water!
They also had the opportunity to snorkel over a coral
reef, where they were thrilled to ‘find Nemo’ and his many friends, and
participated in a team trust building jungle walk at night.
A special thank you goes to Khun Jin who liaised with the
Thai Navy to organize the logistics of this trip and ensure that it was such
a success.
Getting
the hang of the ropes in an Optimist.
Hopping into a New Year
The
Year 1 students are dressed in their silky red finest traditional
Chinese costumes in their class assembly.
Thomas Grogan
On Monday afternoon the 24th of January if you were
in Rayong, you might have thought you’d taken a wrong turn and ended up
in a village somewhere in China, as the students at Garden International
School welcomed in the Chinese New Year with a twitch of their ears and
a wiggle in their tails by presenting an adorable assembly filled with
song and dance.
The Year 1 students at GIS were all dressed in their
silky red finest traditional Chinese costumes, when they began the show
with a warm welcome song entitled ‘Gung Hay Fat Choy,’ which means Happy
New year in Cantonese. The children then took turns telling the story of
Chinese New Year through sharing interesting facts and traditions about
common New Year activities in China and throughout the world.
Ricky in yr 1 takes his turn to tell a story of Chinese New Year.
This was then followed by a pulse quickening
performance of a traditional lion dance by the students set to the
echoing sounds of firecrackers and Taiko drums to officially welcome the
Year of the Rabbit for this year’s Lunar New Year Celebration.
In just a few short weeks, the Year 1 team created an
original script with enough parts for all the Year 1 students to be able
to participate in the final performance. They also faced the challenge
of putting together costumes for the little ones in a short period of
time, but succeeded in the end with much help from parents to give the
final show that little something extra special.
Class assemblies are a weekly occurrence here at
Garden International School, in which the students in Primary and
Secondary are given the chance to share highlights from their studies
through performance art and celebrate both local and international
holidays and festivals.
We have had such positive feedback from parents and
children alike and several parents have said that their children had
been singing the songs so much at home that the adults now know the
words too.
The official last day of the Chinese New Year
celebration was Thursday the 3rd of February, and we hope you remembered
to take a moment to welcome in the Year of the Rabbit, especially if you
happened to notice houses adorned with the warm red glow of paper
lanterns or heard the loud crack of fireworks in the night.
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Miss Thailand World graces Father Ray Foundation with charity donations
The
honored guests watch closely as the youngsters cut the birthday cake for
all those born in January.
Pratchaya Kerdthong
Miss Thailand World brought lunch, gifts and smiles
to children of the Father Ray Foundation as Esso Thailand, Channel 3 and
the Garden Cliff Resort and Spa organized a “charity caravan.”
Sirirat Ruangsri, 29, made her appearance at
Redemptorist School for the Blind, Redemptorist Children’s Home and
Redemptorist Vocational School Jan. 29, along with nearly 100 people
sponsors and volunteers. She helped served lunch to the kids and
presented five televisions to the vocational school. She also helped cut
a birthday cake prepared for kids born in January.
The children were all smiles at having Thailand’s
reigning beauty queen in attendance. They eagerly opened gifts, then
showed their appreciation by putting on dancing, singing and boxing
shows for their guests.
Supachai Satheesilapin, director of the Redemptorist Children’s Home in
Pattaya, welcomes guests and thanks them for their kind support.
Wanasanan Channim, Miss Congeniality 2009 (front, right) helps guests
distribute gifts to the blind children.
The
young Thai boxers excite the audience with a demonstration of their
prowess.
Singers from the Redemptorist Blind School warm hearts with a song.
Don’t mess with these young pugilists.
Borisut Booranasamrit, PR Manager of Channel 3 from TV Channel 3 helps
this little girl blow out the candles on the big birthday cake.
This
young girl is very happy to receive a cuddly toy from the visitors.
The
smile says it all.
(L
to R) Miss Thailand World 2010 Sirirat Ruangsri, Miss Thailand World
2009 4th Runner up Kanpisacha Kademanee, Wanasanan Channim, Miss
Congeniality 2009 and Chutatip Pakdeekul, Entertaintment news anchor
channal 3.
Beautiful young maidens in their flowing golden
gowns perform traditional Thai dances.
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