Welcome to Students Incorporated Kids!
A podcast that invites you on a journey of imagination and creativity through the magic
of reading and writing.
I'm your host, Mrs. Brooke.
Episodes include author interviews, student discussions, and inspirational stories dedicated
to all things kids.
This podcast is created and produced with the help of students from the International
Community School of Bangkok.
Welcome back!
Today we are in for a treat!
We'll be interviewing two authors from ICS.
Did you know we had this talent right beneath our noses?
At 2!
Now I do!
I'm your host, Believe.
In today's episode, we will begin by reviewing our secret guests and getting an inside scoop
under the lights.
Then we'll interview them as authors.
And I'm your co-host, Mira.
Finally, we'll get to read excerpts from both of their books.
Before we begin the interview, our fun fact true is going to share a fun fact.
Thanks so much, Mira.
Our fun fact today is about students.
The elementary school goes from K4 through 5th grade.
How many total students are in the elementary school?
Hmm, there are 24 homeroom.
So if we multiply that by 15, then add 42 divided by, uh, I don't know, how many?
Drum roll!
Wow, that is one big school of fish.
I mean students.
Enough with the fish jokes.
You need to tune it down.
Bye!
If any of our listeners can think of a better fish pond, then please let me know.
Wow, something sure was bubbling up with our fun fact crew.
447 students?
That's incredible.
ICS has grown so much over the last 30 years.
Now let's get a sneak peek at the lives of two of our beloved ICS teachers who have helped
serve at ICS.
Introducing Miss Lori and Mrs. Aza.
Miss Lori and Mrs. Aza, we're delighted to have you both today.
Thank you so much.
It's so great to be here with you guys.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourselves?
For each question, Miss Lori, can you answer first and then Miss Aza, can you follow up
so our listeners know whose voice is whose?
Sure thing.
So this is my fifth year teaching first grade here at ICS.
I found my sweet spot teaching first grade for sure.
My students love to learn and always keep me laughing.
I also enjoy traveling and learning about new cultures.
I have three brothers, one of them being my twin and then an older sister and eight nieces
and nephews.
I also love running, staying active and eating new foods.
So I'm Mrs. Aza.
I love to do anything to do with art.
So I like to paint, draw, I work with yarn, do crafting like that kind of stuff.
I like to take care of plants.
Also my baby at home.
I have a baby named Wesley who is almost one years old and I'm married to Mr. Ben who works
at ICS.
Both of you have such unique life stories.
Why did you decide to come to ICS?
Well, I actually grew up in Nigeria, West Africa and I attended an international school
that's similar to ICS.
After graduating from college, I decided I wanted to teach in an international school
environment.
And so thankfully only after a couple of years of teaching in the States, God opened the
doors for me to teach at ICS in Thailand.
So similar to Ms. Lori, I grew up living overseas.
I'm originally from the US, but I was actually an ICS student quite a few years ago.
So I graduated from high school here at ICS.
I used to wear the cool uniforms that you guys are wearing right now.
Well, actually they've changed them.
They're much nicer now.
But I used to wear the uniform and it was really a great experience for me as a student
here.
So after I got my teaching degree in the US, I went ahead and decided to come back to teach
at ICS and I was teaching middle school art up until last year.
And I'm taking a break from teaching now to be at home with my baby.
We are so happy to have you a part of ICS community.
Why do you like teaching?
Teaching is so much about building relationships with my students and even parents.
I love learning with my students.
I like teaching them things every day.
And actually, I love learning from them as well.
And I always enjoy seeing life through their eyes.
They keep me curious and they teach me about loving with no reservations.
Also first graders give the best hugs.
I also believe teaching is the best way to impact lives.
My teachers believed and encouraged me and so I want to do that for my students every
day.
And last, I want to help them see themselves the way God sees them.
For me, watching my students achieve things that they didn't think that they could do
before is like the best experience for me.
So as I've been an art teacher in the past, a lot of times I'm teaching kids skills or
giving them tools that they've never tried or even thought or believed in themselves
they could do before.
Especially with drawing something maybe realistic like a portrait or a picture of like their
favorite pet and that aha moment where my kids will take their artwork and kind of step
back and look at it when they're done.
And there's this look in their eyes and just like, wow, I cannot believe that I just made
this.
This is the best experience for me.
And that's why I love teaching is just to see that glimmer in their eyes.
I also like to see what kind of things they're already interested in.
So each of us, I believe each of you guys already comes to the classroom with things
in you that you're excited about, that you're drawn to kind of like a magnet that you want
to learn more about.
And those are things that God has given you dreams and ideas and even stories.
We're going to talk more about that.
And I love tapping into and seeing what that is in each of my students as well.
What is the best book you've ever read?
Oh, that is a tough question.
There's so many, but I came across this one a couple of years back.
It's called The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse, written by Charlie Maxey.
It is for all ages, for kids and adults.
And it's packed full of simple yet wise truths that we all need to be reminded of.
And the artwork is very unique and beautiful.
I also know my dad would have loved it, which makes me like it even more.
Interesting fact, the book was so popular that it became a short film and it won the
Oscar.
So we definitely need to check out this book.
That sounds really cool.
I'm going to check that out when I get home.
So growing up, I was very, very close with both of my grandmas, my dad's mom and my mom's
mom.
And both of them have shaped different parts of me.
One of them, my dad's mom really taught me a lot about art.
And that's one of the reasons I'm an art teacher.
My other grandmother taught me a lot about books and stories.
And one of her favorite authors is a lady named Patricia Palacca.
She's still living.
You guys might have heard of her before.
And her books are amazing.
She writes the stories and she does the illustrations.
And her book, The Keeping Quilt, is one of my favorite books because it shows the story
of a family through the story of this one quilt as it's passed down through the generations.
And the story reminds me of my grandma and it's just really touching and really beautiful.
Those sound like great books.
What was your inspiration to write each of your books?
Well, my book is actually about my dad, but I'll give you the background.
I had an assignment to write a children's book my senior year of college.
But during that time, my life had been turned upside down after losing my father to cancer.
I still remember feeling really devastated, often wondering how I could continue on.
But then I thought about my dad's incredible life story that needed to be shared.
And so I knew there would be future grandchildren and others that would be inspired by his long
obedience and trust in God, even despite the struggles he went through.
So I decided to write a biography on my dad's life, including lots of photographs and cool
information.
I hoped writing this book would honor my dad's life and give God glory.
That story sounds so meaningful and I'm hoping that I get to read it once we're done with
this interview.
Mine, This is Wild, actually started as an assignment in my senior class at college as
well.
Yeah.
So I was getting an illustration degree from my college along with my elementary ed degree.
And I told my professor for my big project, I wanted to create a couple of illustrated
pages from a children's book.
And he kind of looked at me and said, well, why don't you just write the whole book?
And I thought, well, why don't I?
So I went ahead and just wrote the story and I drew all the pictures and made a book.
And I had never done that before.
It was a really big task.
I didn't know anything about printing books.
I didn't know anything about anything.
And so I actually went online to something called GoFundMe and I wrote about my project
on there and lots of friends and family, all the people on my Facebook supported my project
to help me pay for my first 100 copies of my book so I could actually get it printed
and put it into the real world.
And people in my town actually heard about the project and I got to take it into local
schools and share it with other second grade classrooms, which was really cool.
And I was just shocked at how this book opened up doors and new friendships for me all over
the place.
That's beautiful and really touching.
What was the hardest part about writing a book?
Alright, for me, since this was a children's book, I wanted to keep my story simple enough
for kids to understand, but a book adults would enjoy as well.
So it was difficult to find that medium.
So I also had a hard time knowing how to end the book.
I don't know if that's how it is for you.
Sometimes when you write, the ending is always the hardest.
Because I wanted there to be a sense of hope and God's faithfulness in my dad's life,
but also be honest with the truth of the pain and the sadness of losing my dad.
So since the loss was raw, I often cried a lot about it too.
So that was hard writing it, but I knew it was a powerful story and I wanted to keep
going on and be able to write out his life so others could be touched by it.
Your story actually, Miss Lori, reminds me of a picture book called The Heart and the
Bottle by Oliver Jeffers.
I don't know if you've read it before, but if you haven't, you'll have to check it out.
It's very meaningful.
It takes a sad event and sees the beauty and the hope in it as well.
I think you'll love it.
For me, the hardest thing about writing a book, because mine was a big project, I really
wanted to print a bunch of them to give to people and sell to people.
That was probably my hardest job was figuring out how to design it.
I had to go talk to printers.
I had a lot of questions that I had no answers for, and so I had to find people who knew
how to do this stuff and ask them to help me.
Do you either plan on writing another book?
Yes, actually, I have had a dream of writing a book with many of my students.
They could help draw the pictures and then help write the story as well.
I also would love to work with my mom to write a book because she's a very creative writer.
And since we did grow up in Nigeria, I've always had the idea of maybe writing a story
about my family in Nigeria.
So as you can see, I have lots of different ideas of stories to write and books.
It is a long process, but it's definitely worth it.
Yeah, I really hope to actually this year write another book.
I have been reminded recently because my little boy is getting to the age where he likes to
look through books.
He doesn't let me finish the page reading.
He gets bored.
He just wants to see the picture.
So he flips through, flips through.
But he's getting to the age now where we can share that together.
And I'm reminded of how important, especially at a young age, stories and reading is.
And it's really inspired me to do my next one.
I've been thinking about what that might be.
I've started sketching it out ideas.
And I'm hoping actually it's going to be a collaboration with my grandma, who I told
you guys about earlier.
She wrote a poem way back when she was in high school.
And that was a long time ago, back when people used to type on typewriters.
And she kept that poem and she's given it to me.
And I'm hoping to be able to turn that into a picture book for kids.
So I can share that with my child, who will be her great grandson.
That's awesome.
You both the definition of lifelong learners.
Thank you for joining us.
You've been great guests and we've learned so much from you and about you.
Thank you so much.
I feel so lucky to be able to be on your podcast today.
Yeah, me too.
And getting to talk with you guys makes me even more excited to write the next one.
And hopefully you can get some copies with that to share with you.
And maybe one day you guys will write your own book.
After a commercial break, we're going to read a little from Miss Lori's book called You
Win or Lose by the Way You Choose.
Then we'll read a short part from Miss Asia's book called Apartment Friends.
We'll be right back.
We apologize for the interruption, but we have a very important message for you.
Team Our Reporter on the ground is Harry Jeremiah, the captain of the Boys' War City soccer team
and a player on the TriSport team.
Hi, Jeremiah.
Can you tell us what is coming up soon?
The TriSport tournament is coming up and it's from April 27 to April 29.
What is a TriSport team?
A TriSport team is where they pick 15 high schoolers to play three sports, soccer, basketball
and volleyball.
And there are teams all over Thailand that are coming to play each other.
Well, make sure you get out there and watch some soccer while supporting our school and
players.
You can also watch it on the live stream.
Just check out the ICS Instagram page for more details.
Thanks, P for the update on your TriSport team.
Now we're going to read some of Miss Lori's book written about her dad and dedicated to
her mom.
You Win or Lose by the Way You Choose by Lori Crouch
A little boy named Jim Crouch was born far away in Nigeria, West Africa on July 20, 1945.
As he grew up, he liked to collect quotes.
One of his favorite was, you win or lose by the way you choose.
Sometimes he made good choices and sometimes he made bad ones.
We try to remember how important his choices are.
You may wonder how a person can know so many of Jim's specific choices.
I know because Jim is my dad, I was blessed to see firsthand how he won in making good
choices.
I pray that God will help me to make strong choices too.
Dad chose to devote his life to Christ and to others.
He won by the way he chose.
Most of all, he won by accepting Jesus because he gained internal life.
That was so thoughtful and warm.
Thank you Miss Lori for sharing a part of her life with us and an important lesson we
can carry into our lives.
Now we're going to read some of Miss Asia's book.
The second Greek student that the book includes will be revealed.
Any guesses who it could be?
Hmm, does his name start with an E?
Does his name have to do anything with the mountain?
Sure does.
Let's take a look.
Apartment Friends, written and illustrated by Asia Miles.
Everest lived in a middle-sized apartment in a big city.
I love my middle-sized cat, my paints, my trucks, and my comfy apartment, Everest said.
Right next door a middle-sized girl and her bunny moved in.
This girl looked different than Everest and even ate different snacks.
He saw her every day before school, sometimes at lunch time, and in the evenings.
She liked to play with her middle-sized bunny outside.
I wonder what her name is.
Everest wandered to his cat and trucks.
On the fourth day, Everest decided to introduce himself.
My name is Everest, he exclaimed.
She blinked and Everest confused.
Everest, he said again and smiled, pointing to himself.
Then he pointed at the middle-sized girl.
You he asked.
If you want to read the rest of this book, you can check it out from the ACS Library
or to finish me stories, you can go with her to her class for a chance to read the ending.
I'll come back with you soon, Ms. Lori.
Thank you for joining us today and giving us a sneak peek into your lives as teachers
and authors.
And with that last thought, we are running out of time for this episode.
Stay tuned for the next special episode, we'll continue to interview inspiring guests, hold
students, discussions, and argue in socks, all with surprising fun facts.
As we end this episode, we would like to thank our listeners and guests for supporting our
podcast.
Be sure to share this with your friends and family.
This podcast would not be possible without the hard work and support of our international
students' print-up team.
All music and sound effects are courtesy of pixabit.com, while a brand's community of
creatives sharing this copyright-free images, videos, and music.
And we are signing off until next time.
We are Students Incorporated Kids because your voice and reading matters.