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| Students from Cheongwon Elementary School and Richmond Street School in the latter's auditorium. / Courtesy of Alice Lee |
By Park Si-soo
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| Alice Lee, the principal at Richmond Street School |
Alice Lee, the principal at Richmond Street School, played a key role in making it happen. And the first visible outcome of her one-year endeavor was a group of Cheongwon Elementary School students visiting her school on a five-day exchange tour early this month.
The Jan. 14-18 tour saw 28 Cheongwon students take classes at the American school and mingle with their peers in activities such as a pep rally and soccer match.
In return, the Korean students taught the American students two traditional Korean games, "jegichagi" and "gongginori."
Lee called the students' collaboration "a perfect example of 'similar differences.'"
"This was truly an experience that I hope will remain prominent and near to all our students' hearts," said Lee.
Lee conceived the exchange program when she traveled to Seoul last year. While here, she visited Cheongwon in northeastern Seoul with a mentor, Suzie Oh, a former principal and current Korean educational consultant in California. She played a crucial role in getting the program off the ground by successfully handling administrative affairs on both sides.
Richmond's fifth-grade teacher Sheryl Croddy praised the program.
"I greatly underestimated the impact this experience would have on my class," Croddy said. "As soon as we met the students from Cheongwon Elementary School, it was as if they had been in our class since the beginning of the year. They immediately melded in, making instant friendships.
"It was remarkable to watch how excited my students were to show them everything they knew and how much more confident they became in the process. Seeing the exchange of ideas and collaboration between our fifth-graders and the Korean students in just five days was such a beautiful thing to witness as a teacher."
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| From left, Park Shin-young, consul general of the Republic of Korea; Nancy Cobb, president of the El Segundo Unified School District Board of Education; Melissa Moore, superintendent of the El Segundo Unified School District; Alice Lee, principal at Richmond Street School, and James Lee, director and administrator of Cheongwon Elementary School. Courtesy of Alice Lee |
The program drew big attention from the local community and the Korean consulate in LA.
Melissa Moore, a superintendent of El Segundo Unified School District who supervises Richmond Street School, visited the school to observe the program.
"Hosting students from Cheongwon Elementary School in South Korea proved to be a profound experience for ESUSD students," Moore said. "To observe firsthand our students engaging in cooperative games with the children from South Korea was absolutely heartwarming. The children spoke the universal language of acceptance, joy, laughter and kindness through play, and created memories for a lifetime."
Park Shin-young, consul of the Republic of Korea in LA, also visited the school on the last day of the program.
"A large population of students in the U.S. are multicultural and we believe an exchange such as this one provides an exceptional opportunity for students from both countries to learn from each other," Park said. "Through shared experiences in learning, social interactions and play the students become familiarized with a different culture."
James Lee, Cheongwon's director of administration, expressed gratitude to all involved.
"The students enjoyed being in the classroom here because it is a completely different experience than at home in Korea," Lee said. "The methods of teaching and learning are different. From our teachers' perspective, it was a great opportunity to learn about the new methods of teaching curriculum being applied here."
Principal Lee said she wants to run the event annually with more participants from both sides.
