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Holiday Party at
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 Santa's helper Rebecca Lomax giving out a gift. |
Santisuk School is a self-sustaining school, a designation given to only two other schools in all of Thailand. Sixty-five percent of the students are tribal children and thirty-five percent are Thai. About half of them live at the school because the distance to their villages is too far for them to travel every day. With their teachers, they grow vegetables, herbs and fruits in their gardens, raise pigs and chickens and care for three fish ponds. The food that is raised is part of the children’s diets, and they are also taught food preparation as well as other skills in living. This unusual school is a home away from home for 400 students, each of whom has daily responsibilities just as they would at home as well as a job to do for any special activity.
FERC board members led the students in stirring renditions of “Jingle Bells”, “Rudolph”, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and “Frosty the Snowman”, with FERC board member Frank Weicks explaining each song in Thai and reading the English lyrics to the students. All of the students had song sheets and have studied enough English to follow along, and amid much laughter, the group had a fun song fest. Celeste Tolibas-Holland and Rebecca Lomax helped to give out gifts to every student and tossed candy treats into the assembly. Local magician Nick Wiszynski, a guest of the FERC board members, captured the imagination and the hearts of the students with his magic show, then sat with small groups to perform magic in a more personal setting. It was easy to tell how fascinated they were – they barely moved during the show, and the “oohs” and “aahs” were evidence of their enchantment.
 Magic show amazes the students |
 Santa's helpers, gifts, and a sing along |
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last updated: June 25, 2010 |