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Pattaya schools engage in traditional
‘wai khru’ ceremonies
Students at Pattaya School No.
11 prepare to perform the annual wai khru ceremony.
Teerarak Suthathiwong and Jetsada Homklin
Pattaya-area schools engaged in their annual rite of summer as students paid
respect to teachers with the traditional “wai khru” ceremony.
Phothisamphan Phitthayakhan School and Pattaya School No. 11 gathered at
their respective schools on June 12 - a Thursday, as that is the day for
Brihaspati, the Vedic god of wisdom and teachers - to perform the wai khru,
which is done in most Thai educational institutes at the start of each year.
Principal Visanu Pasomsap led the ceremony at Phothisamphan for junior- and
senior-high school students while Principal Jirasak Jitsom did the same at
the public school. At both, parents and teachers also attended.
Pattaya School No. 11 students
prostrate themselves before their teachers and school administrators as a
sign of respect at the beginning of the school year.
The festivities began with a Buddhist prayer, followed by
the students’ recitation of the wai khru chant, which expresses respect and
gratitude for the teachers and asks for their blessing of the students’
studies. A number of students then presented teachers with a tray of
candles, incense and flowers symbolizing sharp wit and respect.
Students at Phothisamphan
Phitthayakhan School participating in the activity walk through the school’s
“white fence” with their flowers, as white is the signature color of the
school.
Students performed the traditional wai khru
flower-presentation song before entertaining guests by playing traditional
Thai musical instruments and singing a mix of Thai and English-language
songs.
The pupils at School No. 11 extemporized, mixing in hand-created artwork
using pencils, erasers, pencil sharpeners, carved fruits, various leaves,
eggplants and more unique items.
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Panthers Purr-fect Games
Year 6 girls celebrate their victory in the football
competition.
Matt Dunn- P. E teacher
St. Andrews Primary Panthers set off on Thursday 29th May for the Primary
FOBISIA Games in Vietnam. The Games take place annually between 9 schools from
Asia and are a great event to showcase the abilities the children have in 4
different sports: teeball, football, athletics and swimming.
The Panthers went into the competition after 2 years as overall champions so
expectations for success were high. They did not disappoint!
Eve and Maren from year four
celebrate their victory.
The Games kicked off with an Athletics event which saw the
Panthers on the podium an unbelievable number of times. Particular highlights
were the 4x100 relay where we finished with 5 golds and a silver medal in 6
races. Understandably this speed translated into the individual sprint races
which brought plenty of gold medals too. We knew the Panthers were quick, but we
also found they could run long distances too with golds in the long distance
events also. It was apparent the Panthers were the dominant force in the
Athletics.
Swimming was less one sided with St. Andrews vying with Bangkok Prep to see who
would be top dogs (or cats) in the pool. It ended up being too difficult to
call. Again the podium was graced on a large number of occasions and the
children showed great courage and determination to race so soon after the
grueling morning of Athletics.
Nick from year 3 powers across the
finishing line.
After a night of indulgence on the hotel buffet and a good
sleep the children were ready for teeball on day 2.
Another near perfect day saw the Panthers win 7 of 8 games across the 3 age
groups and were 1 game away from gold in both U10 and U11, while 2 games away in
U9 before a thunderstorm called an early halt to proceedings. Unfortunately
there was no other time to complete the competition and no winners were
announced. However, with a record matched by none it was clear that the Panthers
were the team to beat. As an aside the U9’s, U10’s are unbeaten in 2 years now.
Football was left to the last day and all fingers and toes were crossed that the
competition would finish before the inevitable afternoon deluge. Fortunately,
only 5 minutes after a full day of competition the heavens opened.
At this point the Panthers had many admirers and coaches were wondering if they
could better last year’s total of 3 golds and 2 silvers on the football field.
Across the 6 competitions a total of 29 games were played with the Panthers
racking up an amazing 24 wins and 2 draws. This left them chasing 5 golds in 5
finals. The first 4 finals were all hard fought affairs with the Panthers coming
out on top of all 4 by the odd goal or 2. The fifth final proved 1 too far and
although the U10 boys dominated they couldn’t find a breakthrough and lost the
final on penalties.
Four golds and a silver medal meant we had beaten our record of the previous
year and was a great way to finish off the 3 day event. Other highlights in
football included an 8-0 semi-final win for the U10 boys, Plaeng from the U11
girls scoring 14 goals in 5 games, the U10 girls winning 6 games with a total
record of 12 goals scored and none conceded (not one shot on goal from an
opposition player!).
Overall it was 3 days of awesome competition and performance both individual and
as a team from the Primary Panthers and they can be rightly proud of their
achievements. Once again they can call themselves the (unofficial) Overall
Primary FOBISIA Champions.
Thanks to all the parents who travelled and gave the children such a great boost
with their support.
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Jesters Caring for Disabled Children from Poor Families
Jesters Care for Kids Charity Drive 2014 - Diamond Sponsors:
Glencore International and Canadian Jackalope Open
(L to R) The phlegm suction machine donated by the
Graham and Jay, the gastrostomy wound site on the girl, and Woody handing the
cash from Jim to the mother.
Lewis Underwood
In the summer of 2011, we joined ‘Share Love with Friends (SLWF)’, which is an
organization working with the disabled, alongside the Welfare Department at the
Nongprue Municipality. Since then, our participation has been to purchase and
distribute rice to impoverished families with disabled children, and to be there
each month to oversee the operation, help hand out the sacks of rice and, if
families cannot travel with their children on that day, we home deliver.
 Suratthikarn
with the previous undesired feeding system through her nose.
This direct involvement has been a boon for us in terms of getting to know the
families, the children and their names. This relationship has also allowed us to
assess other needs they might have, such as walking aids and wheelchairs, which
we gladly provide.
Whenever we can, we also help the families with their mode of transport, which
is typically an old motorbike with a side car often seen plying the roads here.
Up to now, we have supplied second hand bikes donated by friends and/or modified
side cars to help them make a living selling food, collecting recyclables or for
just getting around with the family. After all, many of these children are
house-bound, and it’s good to get them out in the sunshine for a period.
Special cases also arise, when children have health issues and need assistance
or certain equipment. For example, recently one such girl, Suratthikarn, 4 years
and seven months, was born severely handicapped and needed to go to Chonburi
Hospital for surgery. Since birth she was unable to swallow properly and had to
be fed through her nose via a rubber feeding tube. But this system continuously
interfered with her breathing, which was and made more difficult given the mucus
she was producing. As a result, without adequate nutrition, she became frail and
weak.
The doctors decided she needed a gastrostomy feeding tube, which involves making
a surgical cut on the left side of the stomach wall where one end of the tube is
inserted. On the other end of the tube is where soft and liquid food is
introduced by syringe, which then goes straight into the stomach.
Suratthikarn also needed a phlegm suction machine to be used at home after she
left the hospital.
We put an alert out to our committee and friends about the family’s need for the
previously mentioned machine, which cost 5000 baht. Immediately, we had a
response from Graham and Jay MacDonald, who informed us that they had a brand
new one that had never been used. Jim Lindquist, assuming we did not have the
unit yet, gave us the cash to buy one. When we told him we already had the
machine, he said, “Then give the cash to the family, I am sure they need it.”
We called Sam, who heads SLWF, and told him the good news. He said the timing
was perfect as the girl had just come home from the hospital.
So we went there to hand over the goods and check on the girl. We were happy to
see that she was in good spirits, which was confirmed by her mother, who said
that she was definitely more comfortable now. Sure enough she allayed any
hesitations we might have had when she showed us her smile.
Though we are content with the consequence, we also know that the job is not
done. Follow-up visits for cases like this are very important, especially when
there is an unhealed wound requiring strict hygiene to stave off infection.
A special thanks to Graham, Jay and Big Jim.
If you would like to learn children like Suratthikarn, please go to
www.care4kids .info, www.facebook.com/jesterscare.kids and/or https:
//twitter.com/JestersCare4Kid.
Please remember our events are coming up fast: Children’s Fair, Sunday,
September 7th, at Regent’s International School Pattaya and Gala Party Night,
Saturday, September 20th at Amari Ocean Pattaya.
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Regents celebrate a year of Sporting Excellence at the Amari
PE Teacher Miss Meena hands out certificates to the
Primary Swim Club.
Charlotte Summersby
The end of the academic year is fast approaching, so on Friday 13th June the PE
Department at Regents International School Pattaya hosted its annual Celebration
of Sports in the Aranda Ballroom of the Amari Hotel. Over 350 parents, pupils
and staff gathered to recognise the efforts and achievements of the students
from both the Primary School and Secondary School who have committed so much
time and effort to individual and team sports this year. A buffet dinner and
disco closed the evening in style.
Principal Mike Walton commented: “For many people our Celebration of Sports
dinner at the end of the school year is a highlight of the calendar. Students
clearly love the opportunity to celebrate their sporting experiences and it is
great to see so many parents encouraging and supporting them. It is clear that,
whilst recognising success, this event is more a celebration of teamwork, effort
and contribution. There is a wonderful spirit. I would like to thank the PE
department and the parents for their unstinting support of this aspect of our
students’ development.”
Rugby Coach and Head of Senior
Boys Boarding, Mr James Gray hands the ‘Coaches’ Rugby Player of the Year’ award
to Bobby.
Primary students present gift
vouchers to the PE Department as a thank you for their support and dedication to
Sport.
PE Teacher Roslyn McConnell hands
a trophy to another deserving student.
Head of PE Mr Paul Madden makes a
great speech to all students and parents.
PE Teacher Miss Meena hands out
certificates to two more deserving students.
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