Friday, October 3rd, 2025 | N-052526

Starlight, Firelight, and the Essence of Hope

CAMPING

The fire broke the bark like an endless song as the trees danced underneath the descending moonlight. The lush lagoon water dances at the shoreline, pulling with it new dreams. Stars disappear and reappear, but always return to spread light to all underneath their gazes. The smell of burnt bark complements the frosty air. Leaves fall like teardrops. Hope is a necessary essence like water to the forgotten trees surrounding the fire. Crickets sing their endless orchestra, playing each note with their shivering bodies. Each star that shoots past the magenta sky pulls along a dream, a hope, and a new beginning. I take one last glance at the forgotten sky, then I close my eyes and let the dreams unfold.

- An anonymous HOPE student from the Creative Writing Workshop of FLAG Week

HIGHLIGHTS

A celebration from Parents to Teachers!

Today, on International Teachers' Day, our wonderful HOPE Parents prepared a beautiful appreciation lunch to celebrate our dedicated teachers and staff. We are incredibly grateful and feel truly blessed to have such an amazing community of parents who wholeheartedly support HOPE's mission: to provide quality, Christ-centered educational services for the families of Christian workers in Cambodia. Their thoughtfulness in preparing a diverse and delicious lunch for all staff is deeply appreciated. Thank you!

Refreshed by Camp and FLAG Week

Before the Pchum Break, our students dove into a week of spiritual emphasis and retreat.

Forever Learning About God (FLAG) Week

FLAG Week, with the theme “Made to Worship”, was a huge success for our Primary and Middle School students. The Primary students enjoyed daily worship sessions and dedicated time for quiet reflection right in their classrooms. Meanwhile, our Middle Schoolers spent the week focusing on finding God in everything. They engaged in various workshops—including painting, movement, writing, math, and history—to meditate on how they could discern God’s voice in all aspects of life. It was truly amazing to witness how God moved among them! We invite you to read this piece of creative writing and look at these photos to see the impact.

High School Camp Week

Away from the city, our high school students embraced Camp Week as a vital time to bond, build community, and reflect deeply on specific biblical principles. The Grade 9 and 10 students traveled to Kirirom, where they focused on relationships with God and each other. They shared incredible devotions and had wonderful worship sessions around the campfire. It was moving to see students from different age groups eager to connect and pray for one another. At the same time, Grade 11 students traveled to Siem Reap. They focused on key themes of servant-leadership models, decision-making, and the integrity of the heart. Their learning was put into practical application with a service activity involving a visit to the Hard Places Community, all set against the breathtaking scenery near Angkor Wat. Additionally, our Grade 12 students had a week of exciting activities, like a dance lesson and a coffee hangout with Mr. K.

We thank God for blessing us with a week full of insights and are deeply grateful for the unwavering support of the entire school community!

Student Recognition - A Commendation from the National Merit Scholarship Program

We are honored to recognize one of our Grade 12 students, Ezariah Lee, who participated in the National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the Preliminary SAT / NMSQT in 2024. About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the US are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. This academic distinction places Ezariah in the top-scoring 2-3% of test-takers, opens opportunities for University admissions and scholarships, and speaks highly to the hard work and learning he has done over the years. We look forward to seeing how God uses these blessings for His future glory.

ACADEMICS

Parent-Teacher Meetings

Parent-Teacher Meetings are next week! You should have already received an email with instructions to book a slot with our staff. These meetings are an opportunity to discuss a student’s academic progress, personal development, and overall well-being. They directly strengthen the home-school connection, ensuring achievements are acknowledged, areas for growth are identified, and support strategies are clearly defined.

These are different from the "Meet the Teacher" event, which focuses on community engagement, course overviews, and classroom expectations. Parent-Teacher Meetings are specifically designed to address a particular matter or concern observed with an individual student, allowing for a more detailed discussion.

The meetings will be held on October 9th from 1:00 to 5:00 pm and will be 8 minutes in duration. Please note that Grades 10 and 12 students will not be included on this date, but will have meetings scheduled later in October. If you have any questions, please contact the Academic Office.

Extracurricular Clubs begin!

Extracurricular clubs after school are confirmed and they will begin next Monday, except for the Thursday clubs, which will start the following week because of the Parent-Teacher Meetings.

Please make sure you are familiar with the schedule of your club. We request that students are picked up on time at the end of each session. Late pick-up will result in the student being unable to continue with the club activity. As part of our safeguarding policy, students are not allowed to wander around or remain alone on campus without parental supervision after school hours.

Buddy Groups

Look at these amazing pictures of our Buddy Groups! This connection between Secondary and Primary students is a key way to bond and is a unique tradition of HOPE’s student life.

Grade 10 Global Perspectives Projects

Grade 10 students from Global Perspectives have updates on their project!

Take a look at the tabs below; they will need the support of our community.

Fighting Fake News!

Sunyul Park, Evelyn Kim, Isaiah Tan, and Jina Kim

Fake news is all around the internet we use. This is an issue not just in Cambodia, but globally. The purpose of our project is to educate people about what fake news is, how to identify and fact-check sources, and ultimately to prevent the dissemination of fake news online and offline. To reach this goal, we have created a poster containing information about what fake news is, signs of fake news, and why it is important to be able to identify fake news. Our group will be using the current situation of border conflict between Cambodia and Thailand, which various fake news about casualties and aggression is around the internet. We are planning to distribute this poster to English-speaking Cambodians and international school students, both online and offline in order to meet our final goal.

Pick up and Clean up!

Ruby Jorgenson, Ruby Staunton, Ethan Pen, Jonathan Dunbar

In Phnom Penh alone, 3,000 to 5,000 tonnes of waste are created daily. Of that, 15-25% is plastic, 5-10% is paper and cardboard, and 2-5% is glass and metal. This is why we need to make changes quickly. We may not be able to reduce the amount of plastic created each day, but we can reduce the plastic buildup around us.

Ruby Jorgenson, Ruby Staunton, Ethan Pen, and Jonathan Dunbar want to make the land surrounding our school a cleaner and fresher place to be. If you want to join us in picking up rubbish, we will be doing it every Thursday of October from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM, just outside of HOPE School, to make our world a cleaner place to live in.

Dare to educate!
Jonah Oh, Anna Claire Mellon, and Hope Asiata

This student group is driving a positive impact with some incredibly fun and mind-blowing teacher challenges! Over the last two Mondays, we've seen Mrs. Holmes transformed into a clown and Mr. Mike bravely shave off his long-standing mane.

The forecast announces that Mrs. Portela is up for the next challenge! Want to see what happens? For every $30 donated, a teacher or staff volunteer will complete a dare of their own choosing.

Crafting Change with jewelry!

Elena Portela, Pannapat Phromnopwong, Eunjae Kim, Hangyeol Choi

This project is an after-school beaded accessory station and shop where students can make or buy handmade jewelry. The project also sells snacks and accepts commissions through its Instagram account. All proceeds from these sales will go towards a fundraising goal of $250 to support the Save the Children foundation's efforts to provide education to underprivileged children in Cambodia.

See more details on this website

Bible Verses

Week 10 - Proverbs 3:31

Week 11 - Proverbs 4:7

Week 12 - Proverbs 5:21

SPORTS

Grading Tournaments: The Koupreys' first fire test! 🔥

This and the upcoming weekends ahead are key dates for Season 1 of our PPAC8 interschool sport competition.

Thank you for your support of friendly games, and we look forward to having many of you on the sidelines and on the court this weekend. If you are a parent, friend, sibling, or caregiver of a player, there are SO many wonderful benefits of being on the sidelines. Being present gives you the opportunity to speak into the life of your child/sibling/friend in an encouraging manner and help to develop Godly character.

This article, “Sports from a Christian Family Perspective” written by Focus on the Family, gives some really useful reminders about the positive impact sport can have on our lives and in our families. It is worth the 3-minute read!

Key Dates

Find all the details of the Tournaments on our HOPE Koupreys Website.

High School Volleyball Grading Tournament

Saturday 4th October

High School Volleyball Details

Middle School Basketball Grading Tournament

Saturday 11th October

Middle School Basketball Details

Primary Football Final Tournament

Saturday, 25th October

Primary Football Details

Please wear your HOPE lanyards and HOPE shirts, and ensure you follow all PPAC8 Guidelines when attending! If you do not have a lanyard, you may be refused entry or asked to sign in and wear a campus lanyard. Here are a few reminders for players and spectators.

Players, please remember:

FULL Koupreys Uniform
Student lanyards
Personal medication (Inhalers, etc)
Healthy snacks/food
Prehydration and at least 2L on tournament day
Sports glasses
No food inside gyms
No single-use plastic
No jewelry

Spectators, please remember:

Watch the game, NOT your phone
HOPE T-shirt if spectators
Student/Parent/Staff Lanyards

As always, these events are an opportunity to be a light in the wider community. This series of tournaments is the first one since we restructured and created PPAC8. The hope is that we raise the standard of behaviour both on the court and on the sidelines.

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16

ACSC 2026 Update

We would like to provide you with an update on Sports Tournament from the March 2-8, 2026, at Udon Thani International School, Thailand.

HOPE has been and continues to monitor the situation between Cambodia and Thailand. ACSC is an incredible experience for our students to engage in culture, sport, and service; however, the safety and security of our students remains our highest priority. We will need to come to a definitive decision regarding participation over the next few weeks. Please continue to pray for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

CAMPUS

PARENT University

Developing Healthy Habits

Thank you to all the parents who joined us for our recent Parent University session on the first part of Developing Healthy Habits with presenter Matthew Stock. It was a rich time of learning and discussion!

We look forward to welcoming you back for the second part of this topic, which is scheduled for Thursday, October 30, 2025. The materials of this session will be available soon for those parents who were not able to attend.

Next Thursday, Early Dismissal

Please be reminded that next Thursday will be a half-day of school, with early dismissal at 12:00 pm.

All students must be off campus by 12:15 pm. Students should not remain on campus without direct adult supervision. They may attend a scheduled teacher appointment if needed or desired.

COMMUNITY

Mark your calendars! 👟

Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 15—our annual fundraiser that turns steps into scholarships! More information to follow.

Next on the Calendar

Saturday, October 4

High School Volleyball Grading Tournaments

Monday, 6 October

Extracurricular Clubs begin

Thursday, 9 October

Early Dismissal | 12:00 pm
Parent-Teacher Meetings (No Grades 10 and 12) | 12:50 - 5:00 pm

Saturday, October 11

Middle School Basketball Grading Tournaments

See full Calendar

STAFF ECHO

Milestone Staff

HOPE is a community, and its staff deserve our gratitude for dedicating a significant portion of their lives to the ministry of the school. Please join us in thanking the following people for their years of service. Join us in their recognition during the next Whole-School Assembly on October 6.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Promotions for the Community

Brooklyn Sen Sok is excited to announce an exclusive promotion for all HOPE Community staff and families.

The promotion includes a 10% discount on the entire order, and no VAT will be charged.

Orders are also available for delivery, and you can place them directly via Telegram @BrooklynPizzaSenSok, and the discount will be applied.

This special offer is exclusive to the Brooklyn Sen Sok branch and does not include Brooklyn Toul Tom Poung.

Take time to pray for...

Grade 3

- - Sarah Kennedy
  - Makenzie Bass
  - Channthol Chhorn
  - Nita Sim

Human Resources

- - Laurence Ling
  - Edizza Mora
  - Puttheavy Ket

Sciences

- - Lourdes Donguines
  - Jeffrey Donguines
  - David Sundaram
  - Benrick Opiyo
  - Flora Njock
  - TJ Lee
  - Seyha Song

That's it!

Have a great Weekend!

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