Welcome to Students Incorporated, a podcast where we dive into relevant topics and issues
related to the world of business, technology, education, and design.
I'm your host, Mr. Jason.
Episodes include student conversations, interviews with thought leaders, and inspirational stories
with an international flavor.
This podcast is created and produced with the help of students from the International
Community School of Bangkok.
In today's episode, we'll be looking back with several guests who have been around the
ICS community for many years.
In fact, this year, 2023, marks the 30th year anniversary of the school, which began in
1993.
Our first segment will feature an interview with Mrs. Elsie, one of the founding members
of the school, followed by a light-hearted top 10 list, also read by Ms. Elsie with some
student commentary.
The second segment will include a discussion with two current seniors who have been attending
ICS since kindergarten.
But before we begin, let's hear the quote of the day and get some headline news.
Our quote of the day is, you can go to other places, all right.
You can live on the other side of the world, but you can't ever leave home.
This was said by Sue Monk Kidd, who is an American author known for her novels, The
Secret Life of Bees and The Invention of Wings.
This quote is perfect for today's episode.
As we transition to our new lives in different countries, we may be leaving our homes, but
we will always be connected to the places we leave, especially ICS, which has been our
second home in so many ways.
Although it is somewhat cliche, home is truly made up of people and their impact on us.
Now let's hear the news headlines.
Our first news headline features AI technology and how it can be used for harm as well as
good.
In Arizona, a woman received a call from her daughter, who was panicking and screaming for
help, claiming to have been kidnapped.
However, her daughter was safe on a ski trip and her voice had simply been replicated through
AI.
The kidnapper demanded $50,000 as ransom.
But thankfully, they called the authorities and were able to verify that their daughter
was actually safe.
Several tornadoes hit the US East Coast recently.
Virginia Beach has begun cleanup efforts and a state of emergency has been declared.
50 to 100 homes have been damaged with collapsing roofs.
The temporary shelters have been opened for those who cannot live in their houses.
Now onto the other side of the world.
A city in Japan decided to remove a street piano after people began to break the rules.
The rules were that users should disinfect their hands before playing, could not exceed
the time limit of 10 minutes, and were not allowed to sing.
However, these rules were broken as people began to play the piano for too long and sang
loudly.
However, officials say that they might relocate the piano.
Thank you for the quote in the headline news.
Let's jump into our first segment with Mrs. Elsie.
Kush will start us off.
Welcome to the podcast, Ms. Elsie.
We're honored to have you as a guest.
Can you please introduce yourself and tell us how long you've been part of the ICS community
and what roles you've had?
Sure.
I'm Elsie Fusazi and I've been here at ICS for 30 years.
The different roles, you know, when a school is small, one person has to do many roles.
So over the years, I've been elementary teacher, elementary coordinator, accreditation coordinator,
curriculum coordinator, director, deputy director, school nurse, and I guess that's enough.
I mean, maybe there's a few more, but I don't remember anymore.
But so glad when the school increased in size, we could specialize, hire more staff.
So I could focus on my main job, which was elementary principal.
We understand that ICS is celebrating its 30th year anniversary this year because the
school began in 1993.
And since you said you've been here from the beginning, could you describe what the
school was like those first few years and maybe some of the challenges it faced?
Oh, I think of those first few years.
Oh boy, no air con, no computers, open air, lots of mosquitoes.
And I had a class in third grade of 22 students.
Some spoke no English.
Others were native speakers, very intelligent.
So it's a real challenge to keep everyone occupied, especially when they're slapping mosquitoes
throughout the school day.
And the fans in the ceiling would blow their papers off their desk.
But we survived and we kept on.
We did not give up.
We spent thousands and thousands of dollars renovating the campus, which was at Sauton
near downtown.
And our playground was filled with cement debris and nails.
We had to take care of all that, had to renovate the bathrooms because we just had squatty
potties at the time.
So we had to put other things in.
The plot that we leased used to be a snake farm and then it became a Chinese Christian
school and had been vacant for quite a few years before we were able to lease it.
But we're so happy at the end, before we moved to this campus, the new campus, we have 500
students and a two-ride campus, had to schedule every minute.
But we survived, we kept on because we had that vision to have a K-12 accredited school
in which God would be honored and our students, no matter what their faith or values were,
could hear the values that the Bible teaches.
You know, we can't cover 30 years of history in this short interview, but as you just mentioned,
how was the transition of moving the campus from the one in Sauton to the one over here,
where it's located today and how it changed the school's dynamic?
Well, it took a lot of effort.
The school board administration looked at at least 40 sites that we could possibly buy.
Most of them were too small or too expensive.
So where we're sitting now on Bangla campus is the one that was the largest and the most
reasonable and we bought it taking out a loan from the bank.
And just a few months later, the value of the land increased, almost doubled and then
tripled and I'm sure it's worth much more now.
So God was great in providing a campus.
A lot of parents and students wanted to stay downtown because it's convenient transportation-wise.
But when they saw the new campus, by the way, it's building this, all these buildings were
built in nine months, except for the arc, which was built later.
They all decided to come to a new campus.
So for three years, we had two campuses, the downtown and Bangla, but the old campus only
had like 65 students average for the three years.
So we closed it.
People and students often say, oh, I miss the so cozy home feeling of the small campus.
But eventually they were happy to be here, new facilities, more room, more play area,
more activities.
And we could just not be bumping heads all the time.
For you personally, what was it like becoming the principal of the elementary division for
the first time?
Well, I was elementary coordinator before I became principal.
And it was just an increase in responsibility, increase in decision-making, increase in worrying
at night and not sleeping, but just a grand opportunity to help move the school forward,
to look for ways to help the school grow, to evaluate where our current program was
and look into different aspects, research what would help our students achieve more
and more, and continue to value the individual student.
Because you've been with the school for this super long path, could you describe how the
school has been able to maintain its core values?
And if it's had to ever shift those values?
We maintained our core values from the very first all through the years, except for a
short instant where we had to pull back and reevaluate, are we really sticking to our
values?
To me, the most important thing was who we hired, who worked here.
Did they have the same passion, the same values?
Were they followers of Christ?
Were they into demonstrating as as we expect our students to do?
And to me, if an organization, the most important things are people.
If you don't have people, you have nothing.
If you have people, then you need facilities and you need finances.
Without people, it's just a shell.
So hiring the right people is the way to stick to your values.
So before we get into our final part of the segment, which we will need your help with,
we'd like to ask you one more question.
As ICS continues each year, what is one thing you'd love to see continue even another 30
years?
Well, you all know loving and learning, right?
That's sort of our theme.
I'd be pleased if we continue with that theme, continue basing our education on the Bible,
helping our students to do good things for our world and bring glory to God because when
we do good things for others, God is also pleased.
I hope we never lose track of that.
I'd also like to see us grow.
I'd love to have a bigger campus so we can have more students because we have so many
students wanting to come here and we have to say no to the majority of them.
And they're so sad.
Sometimes the parents cry because there's no room.
It'd be great if we could somehow acquire more land so we can have more facilities and
then we can have more people.
And of course, more people means more finances so we can do more activities and on and on
and on and on.
All right.
Thank you so much.
We're going to shift gears a little and we want to end this segment with you on a little
bit of a lighthearted note, maybe even on a little bit of an edgy note.
With that said, Ms. Elsie, we'd love for you to read from our top 10 list.
Because of your years of work and service as a previous administrator, we assume that
you've conducted a lot of meetings and interviews with teachers.
So we decided to come up with a list called the top 10 things a teacher should never say
during the end of the year meeting with their administrator.
Ms. Elsie, could you please start off with number 10 and count down the list?
Sure.
I hope this all gives everyone a chuckle.
Okay, number 10.
Why do I have to follow that policy?
This question can make the administrator feel defensive and may not be the best way to suggest
changes in school policies.
Instead, trying to come across was constructive criticism.
This is the best way for policy change.
Number nine.
Can I have my personal phone calls during class time?
This question can indicate a lack of professionalism and a lack of respect for the students learning
environment.
Number eight.
Do I have to attend that staff meeting?
This question can make it seem like you're not interested in being a part of a team and
may not be willing to collaborate with your colleagues.
Number seven.
Can I work from home sometimes, please?
This question can give the impression that you are not willing to present in the classroom
and may not be fully committed to the job.
Number six.
Why did you make that decision without consulting me first?
This confrontational question can undermine the administrator's authority and may damage
your working relationship.
Number five.
Can I leave early on Fridays?
This question can indicate that you are more interested in leaving work early than fulfilling
your responsibilities as a teacher.
Number four.
Can you give me a higher rating on my evaluation?
This puts pressure on the administrator to be lenient in their evaluation and may damage
your credibility in future evaluations.
Number three.
Can you tell me who complained about me this year?
This puts the administrator in an awkward position and may make them reluctant to provide
constructive feedback in the future.
And number two.
How many personal days do I have remaining?
This question can give the impression that you are not dedicated to your job and are
more focused on your personal time off.
And number one.
The thing a teacher should not say to the administrator during the end of the year meeting
is am I getting a raise next year?
Discussing salary seems self-centered and it's not something that should be brought
up with the administrator.
If brought up at all, it should be brought up with the HR department so no one feels
uncomfortable.
And there you have it.
The top 10 things a teacher should not say during their end of year meeting with their
administrator.
We'll be right back after this short PSA.
As the school year comes to an end and our seniors get ready to take off, there are a
few upcoming dates regarding the class of 2023.
On May 26th, the senior chapel will take place and to mark the end of their 12 year long
journey the high school graduation ceremony will be happening on the 27th of May.
We're really proud of our seniors.
We are back with part two.
In this segment, we'll be looking at the present and past.
We are going to be talking to two students who have been here since kindergarten and
are now seniors.
Let's welcome Patty and Austin.
Kush will start us out with our first question.
Can you two introduce yourselves, say where you're from and how long you've been here
at ICS?
Yeah, so my name is Austin.
I'm from the USA, but I've lived in Thailand for my whole life and I've been here at ICS
since K-5.
And hi, my name is Patty.
I'm from Thailand and I've been here since K-4.
What has been your favorite and least favorite change since coming to the school?
I'd have to say my favorite change is the arc because I remember the old gym was here
for like my first two or three years and it was just really bad.
We only had the one indoor court.
There was nowhere to sit for people to watch sports games.
So just in general, it was a whole lot worse.
So that was definitely my favorite change.
My least favorite change, I can't really think of anything in specific.
I mean, I remember hearing from my siblings that high school lock-ins were really fun,
but I understand why they stopped doing those because, you know, no teacher wants to sign
up to be with us kids all night.
And for me, my favorite thing or change is the arc also and the cafeteria, which was
like recently changed.
And my least favorite was changing from skirts to pants.
What have been some of the biggest changes in the campus since coming here?
I mean, they painted everything blue instead of brown.
That was weird.
And I mean, also the arc, but I don't want to answer that again.
Back when I was first here, the elementary playground was much different and like a lot
more dangerous.
It's like they had this big cage thing that you would climb up on and if you fell, you
just, you know, you just fell.
That was your problem.
It's hard to notice academic change since you're not, you know, repeating grades all
the time.
I mean, I've heard that in elementary, they don't have the same grading system now.
So that's interesting to me.
For me is the community because growing up, I get to see the quality of the ICS community
shape so much with like more interaction with each other after school and like sessions
that teachers like give to the students.
So our next question is how has ICS molded you or impacted you as people?
Yeah.
So I remember when I was in sixth grade, I had like a, had a medical crisis and it was
really a pain and I had to be in the hospital for like two weeks at the very beginning of
sixth grade.
I wasn't able to meet lots of new people, but despite that, despite having never met
the middle school teachers and never having met the new kids, a teacher organized like
the entire class to all write notes for me.
And that really meant a lot for me because I hadn't, you know, I hadn't met anybody
new or any of the teachers, but it really just showed how the teachers and other students
cared for me.
I wasn't very open with teachers and students in my community.
And also I was afraid of being goofy around people, but then there were like teachers
who are always supporting and always reminding me that like ICS is actually a safe zone for
me.
What is one thing that you have taken away from ICS that you will bring into the real
world?
One thing that I've taken away from ICS is that at the end of the day, even though there's
teachers, there's students, there's principals, at the end of the day, we're all people.
It doesn't seem like anybody is out of reach or like, you know, they're above us that we
can't talk to them.
Like every teacher knows our names, every administrator knows our names, asks how we're
doing.
They know what we're involved in.
And I think it really shows servant leadership because they're not here to lead just to tell
people what to do.
And that's been a good example for me.
For me is serving others because we've been doing it for like almost every year since
middle school.
And I will use it a lot in my future lives because I figured out that the capstone project
was actually just an introduction for me to keep serving others in many ways.
I agree.
Those are really important takeaways.
So our final question for you guys today is what is one shout out you would like to make
either to a teacher, a lesson or a class?
What is one person or thing from ICS you will remember forever?
I'd have to shout out middle school teachers as a whole because middle school is when everybody
is so annoying.
Everyone's trying to like figure out who they are, who their friends are, stuff like that.
And they have to put up with so much.
Like in high school, we calmed down a little bit.
Yeah, just middle school teachers for putting up with all of our crazy stuff.
My nap time friends that we always sleep in every class since we have like one, two, three
guided classes.
And one of the teachers that I will never forget is Mrs. Christine because she has been
like the best counselor for me.
She helped me like pass like a lot of obstacles in my high school life.
And with that last shout out, we have run out of time.
Thanks again to our guest for helping us reflect on the impact this school has made over the
years and continues to make in the lives of so many.
Looking back can help us see the path forward more clearly.
It helps to keep us grounded in the things and people that have enriched our lives over
the years.
As we end this episode, my team and I have already begun reminiscing about this past
year.
We're so thankful for the opportunities we've had to enjoy with our guests and the variety
of topics that have been discussed.
We hope this season has added value and a bit of entertainment to your lives and we
are super grateful for your continued support.
Looking ahead, episode 32 is coming up next.
It will be slightly different in format.
In fact, it's already been titled.
It's a falafel wrap.
Thanks to Machi.
Make sure you tune in.
As always, this podcast would not be possible without the hard work and support of our international
student production team.
All music and sound effects are courtesy of fixabay.com, a vibrant community of creatives
sharing copyright-free images, videos, and music.
And we are signing off until next time.
We are Students Incorporated, because your voice matters.