Teachers for the day

ISC students become one-day teachers at a rural school

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., on Friday, July 27, ISC students along with students from the KU Social Service Organization took part in a one-day teaching experience at Taebaek Middle School located in a rural area of Taebaek City.

Twenty ISC students departed from Seoul at 6 a.m. and later arrived at Taebaek Middle School. Upon arrival, the students were assigned to three classrooms of each grade and had some time to introduce each other to the students. The Taebaek Middle School students initially felt awkward speaking English, but soon opened up and talked about various topics such as the ISC students’ countries, hobbies, favorite food, entertainment, K-pop, and sports. They spent an enjoyable hour making English names and Korean names for each other. They also played charades, posed for photos, and held a competition to build the tallest building out of straws. By doing so, they were able to break the ice and overcome language barriers.

After lunch, the KU Social Service Organization had a completion ceremony for the 2018 summer “English and Science Vision Camp” that was held for five days. Right before the ceremony, the ISC students put on a spontaneous surprise performance to K-pop idol group Red Velvet’s, “Red Flavor,” which is the song they danced to in the flash mob event. Surprised by their unexpected performance, the Taebaek students responded by singing along loudly while cheering and applauding.

Kwang Phyo Hong, the Principal of Taebaek Middle School, expressed his gratitude in his congratulatory speech by saying, “Despite the hot weather, we were able to host this camp off successfully. I would like thank the KU students for what they have done for us during the past five days; I would also like to thank the ISC students who have come this far to provide an unforgettable experience to the Taebaek middle school students.” The ISC students congratulated the Taebaek students on their completion and delivered pens and notebooks as souvenirs. Although it was brief, the ISC students and the Taebaek students hugged one another and said their goodbyes knowing that they will miss each other. The ceremony closed with the ISC students and the Taebaek students taking group photos and selfies together.

Jung Ha Kim, a student from Taebaek Middle School who participated in the five-day Vision Camp, expressed her impression of the event by saying, “I am glad that I had the opportunity to meet student teachers from KU and have fun taking English and science classes, which I have not been able to come across easily. Moreover, I was nervous about meeting international students today, but I was amazed by how I was able to get close to them by playing fun games.” Michael Lee, an ISC student from the National University of Singapore, also expressed how he felt about the event by saying, “I applied to the event because I thought meeting Korean middle school students would be special and meaningful. I received a lot of help from the members of the KU Social Service Organization with regard to translating when participating in the event. Since I have actively tried to communicate with the Taebaek students, I really did not feel much of a language barrier. It was a memorable experience and I really wish that I could participate in another event like this again in the future.”

The KU Social Service Organization held a one-to-one career mentoring event and taught English and science to 50 students at Taebaek Middle School located in Taebaek-si from Monday, July 23 to Friday, July 27. The summer English and Science Vision Camps, which target middle and high schools located in underprivileged regions in the nation, have been operated by the KU Social Service Organization since 2009. The KU Social Service Organization has been running vision camps in an effort to provide opportunities to students in educationally marginalized regions and to motivate them to learn and to develop their academic confidence. The third Vision Camp took place at Taebaek Middle School this year.