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“My volunteers and I went to Overbrook Hospital to hand out gifts that we bought, made, baked, and also to pray with the patients. We gave these gifts, and prayer to the children in the children’s ward to encourage them to get better. This project was important to me because I have a heart for kids. Giving these gifts to the kids and seeing their little faces light up brought joy to me, and fulfilled my project vision.” — Madalynne, Gr 12

“For my senior project I raised the money as well worked with a local church to build a new home for a local widow. 1 Timothy clearly tells us “Take care of widows who are destitute.” We mixed and poured concrete for the floor. We built her new walls of metal framework and concrete boarding slats, along with a window on one wall and metal roofing was used to cover the whole home. Along with the bedroom, we built a room off the main area for her to use as a bathroom as well as a small kitchen, finishing the project by tiling the floor and painting the walls the color of her choice.” –Liam, Gr 12

“I wanted to do something unique that would challenge me for my senior project, so I contacted a local preschool that required some construction work. The school had an old bus that was rusting away and they wanted me to turn it into a library. At first, I was overwhelmed, but I trusted in my skills and I had help from friends and mentors. In the end, the library bus turned out better than I expected and I was satisfied with the result.” –Tan, 12th grade

“All of the people I mention are a living indication that Jesus’s life was real. God with us in every moment, that’s true. That’s the real deal.”
“Let’s take the skills that we have now and change the world for the better.”

CRICS Class of 2020 say Goodbye in the context of the pandemic.

As many CRICS alumni return to join family in Thailand, traveling from afar like those wisemen, CRICS teachers have a glimpse of how important a quality holistic education is to our Chiang Rai community.  We have alumni as film producers and alumni as software engineers. CRICS students change the world as church leaders, journalists and interior decorators. Graduates love and serve people groups in Burma, Thailand and countries around the world.  Holistic education at CRICS means diligence in the classroom so that every part of society and every part of the world might eventually experience the love of Christ, a love we find in CRICS teachers.

In 2020, CRICS continues in our effort for this holistic education.  The final component of our campus plan will address physical health and education of CRICS kids.  We hope to break ground in January 2020 for a gymnasium that will teach kindergartners to skip rope and 12th graders to be skilled and generous competitors.  Thanks to the Lord’s kindness in finances, CRICS moves forward in this project with provision. CRICS development efforts raised 2 million baht (almost 70,000 U.S. dollars) towards this project already and we are engaged in efforts to find the additional 8 million baht (275,000 U.S. dollars) needed for completion.  As 2019 comes to an end, please think about helping CRICS push to the finish line of developing our campus! Consider CRICS in your end of year giving by sharing a gift that helps CRICS complete the gymnasium in 2020. Contact https://crics.asia/support/support-through-giving/ for giving options.

Peace of Christ,
Brent Pennington
Superintendent

View the PDF version of this letter here.

Over the course of two days the entire student body took a field trip to learn more about local northern Thai culture.

“Have you ever been concerned about having to go to a new school? Experience new things? Meeting new people? It may terrify you a little bit. Before I came to CRICS I felt this way too! But CRICS has changed how I think about having to go to a new school and getting to know new people. When I first came to CRICS, I was so worried and nervous to make friends with people I never knew before. This was a new place and so unfamiliar to me. But when the first day come, it was an awesome day actually. One new friend came directly to me to talk to me and make me feel really good. 

Soon after the first day the youth retreat took everyone to a resort to worship, pray, and have fun with friends. This was the best way to begin a school year. Going to the youth retreat helped me make more friends and get to know more people. I engaged with not only friends but also with teachers.

I always think quite negatively:  “oh, new school, new people, no friends, what am I supposed to do?”. But after meeting people at CRICS, they completely changed my mindset!” – Mink, 11th Grade

“On Mondays and Tuesdays, what I look forward to most in the day is Chinese class. I don’t always love, or get overly excited about taking the “core” classes required in high school. But when seventh period finally comes, I get to take Chinese. I love learning all about this language, all the different beautiful and unique characters of this unique language. Yes, Chinese can be incredibly difficult sometimes, learning how to say words and phrases and remembering them. The process is exciting to me. Many different activities provide ways to study Chinese culture, besides the language itself.  Occasionally we cook Chinese food while learning vocabulary for the different ingredients. On Chinese holidays we celebrate; this also helps our learning. I love the beauty of this language and learning about the age of it and how it has slowly evolved over time to its shape today. I do hope more students decide to take this class. And I do hope they enjoy it as much as I do.” – Nathaniel, 11th Grade

 

 

 

The Chiang Mai Model United Nations Conference was very interesting. It was in Chiang Mai, at the school PREM. There were eight students and three teachers from our school that went, and at the conference there were about ninety students in total. It was my first time attending the conference and it went differently than what i expected. I expected it to be very serious and boring, but instead, it was exciting and inspiring. Watching everyone speak about how they would change things really reminds you of how these things are an issue now and are dangerous if not resolved. Many students were passionate about their subjects and yet were still able to keep an open mind on other people’s thoughts. There were many committee groups. A couple were serious issues and one was fictional, the Marvel group. There were topics such as climate change, violence of all kinds, and other human rights issues. Each person or pair represented a country in where you must decide how your country would deal with the situation.

The group of students from CRICS that went to the conference showed great care for each of their subjects and great social skills. I really appreciated seeing the people in the Marvel committee. I was very pleased to see one of the CRICS students, who has always been terrified of talking in front of others, do such a wonderful job of talking to everyone in her committee about her topic and was a big help with creating a solution for it also. I also got to observe another CRICS student discuss their topic with passion and connect with students from other schools. Everyone did an amazing job at engaging with others and truly caring about their subjects. I’ve asked two of my friends to share their point of views from the conference:

“It was very fun. There were many new students who participated. Many of whom I’ve become close friends with. MUN is a great way to connect with global issues and share your ideas with others like you.” -anonymous

“This years MUN conference at PREM was very different from other years. I was in the Marvel committee. I think it’s nice to have a different topic where other geeks could join and be passionate. It was a lot more laid back and you could feel a lot more comfortable. There was also less stress because in other committees its very serious and everyone is also very serious. Although, I’m not saying the Marvel committee wasn’t professional, i just think its nice to bring a different approach to the conference.” -anonymous

The Model United Nations Conference truly is an amazing experience. It’s a great opportunity to come together to discuss serious matters. It’s a chance to have a voice and maybe even make a difference in the world.

 

Story by: Emily, 9th grade student