ID :
199216
Fri, 08/05/2011 - 03:45
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/199216
The shortlink copeid
Oldest foreign school in Seoul kicks off its centennial
By Lisa Schroeder
Contributing Writer
SEOUL (Yonhap) - Seoul's oldest foreign school is turning 100 years old next year, and the school is ready to celebrate the occasion by opening itself up to show how its pioneering academics have shaped 100 years of educating Seoul's foreign population.
June Kang, the director of communications and development at the Seoul Foreign School (SFS) and head of the centennial celebrations, is busy organizing various yearlong special events surrounding the official centennial in 2012.
Kang said the school hasn't been open to the press or public as much as it has in past months.
"Now the school wants to make its presence known," she said. "At 100 years, which is something to celebrate, it's high time to say, 'Hey, we're around.'"
Because of its private nature and word of mouth among the expat community, the school never had the need to advertise and never had a lack of students. There are waiting lists for admissions. However, because of the lack of publicity, many Koreans living in the school's vicinity didn't even know the school existed, Kang said.
The demure institution sits on a green leafy campus tucked behind Yonsei University in the foothills of Mount Ansan. Operating since 1912, it was not only the first foreign school in Seoul, but also the only one until the late post-war 1950s.
Although there are now more than a dozen foreign schools targeting the expat community of English, French, German and Chinese speakers in Seoul's expanding foreign population, there are only friendly rivalries and mutual encouragement amongst them, said Kang.
Seoul International School (SIS), which opened in 1973, has sent its congratulations to SFS.
"(Seoul Foreign School should) be proud, accept the compliments and enjoy the celebrations," said the SIS staff.
Back in the early 1900s, evangelical missionaries founded Seoul Foreign School when the demand for English education for the children of foreign missionaries became large enough.
Prior to the official 1912 founding, non-Korean children of Westerners were homeschooled separately or in groups, according to SFS's official history book written by the school's first director, Dick Underwood.
SFS was established as a community school rather than a mission-supported school because of the many different religious faiths represented and less interference by the mission board, according to Underwood.
When the school was founded, Ethel Van Wagoner was the only teacher and she had 18 pupils. Minnie French was the first graduate in 1919. These days, the school has 180 teachers and a fluctuating population of around 1,500 students of more than 50 nationalities, ranging in grade levels from elementary through high school.
"We provide a competitive school in Korea for foreign directors' children. In order to achieve that, we have to make sure our school is culturally diverse," said Kang.
SFS boasts educating the largest population of overseas ethnic Koreans in all of Korea as well as exporting the largest amount of students to overseas schools.
Many parents in the expatriate community want their children to be taught at SFS, which includes a separate British school and a high school with an International Baccalaureate program. SFS has educated many illustrious and high-achieving alumni throughout the years.
"I have very fond memories of my time at Seoul Foreign School," said Ellana Lee, CNN International Asia Pacific's managing editor, who attended SFS from preschool through her junior year in high school.
"The school's culture instilled a high standard of academic achievement, which helped me succeed when I moved (back) to the United States," said Lee. "I am also appreciative of the teachers there, who were caring and invested in their students' development."
Other famous SFS alumni include South Korea's former trade minister Kim Hyun-chong, Chinese actor George Kee Cheung and "Jeopardy" champion Ken Jennings.
In 1912, SFS was initially set up in one room in the Pai Chai Methodist Boys' School. The school changed locations five times in 12 years but by 1924, had finally settled into its newly expanded location at Jeong-dong near Ewha Girls' High School and Deoksu Palace where it would stay until the 1950s.
The school was established along with its North Korean sister school, Pyongyang Foreign School (PYFS), which was forced to close in 1940. The outcome of SFS also changed because of war a decade later.
SFS had to cease operations during the 1950-53 Korean War. The students were evacuated to Japan at the time. Its current location near Mount Ansan was an important battleground during the war.
Mount Ansan, known as Hill 296 at the time, was the dividing line between North Korean invaders and allied American forces trying to retake Seoul in September 1950. Four days of fighting, in which the Americans eventually prevailed, cost hundreds of lives on both sides, according to U.S. military reports.
After the war, SFS moved to its present location in Yonhi-dong where students could try to return to a level of normalcy amidst the rebuilding of the city.
On a sunny day in the middle of May, SFS held its annual international fair. Students held their national flags aloft during the parade of nations as they wound their way through the school grounds.
The last flag this year, the centennial flag, was held by members of the Underwood family to officially launch the school's centennial year. Another marker of the passage of time was the 25-year time capsule opening at the end of May. Many teachers who are still at the school were present when the time capsule was buried in 1986.
SFS's official centennial celebrations start at the end of August with many trips, tours and historical event markers. One of the historical tours is a trip to Daechon beach where SFS students and teachers went on religious retreats throughout the years.
As for the future, the school buried another time capsule that will be opened in another 25 years.
"We want to continue to be the leader in international schools, to be at the forefront of the 21st century and to continue for the next 100 years," Kang said.
Contributing Writer
SEOUL (Yonhap) - Seoul's oldest foreign school is turning 100 years old next year, and the school is ready to celebrate the occasion by opening itself up to show how its pioneering academics have shaped 100 years of educating Seoul's foreign population.
June Kang, the director of communications and development at the Seoul Foreign School (SFS) and head of the centennial celebrations, is busy organizing various yearlong special events surrounding the official centennial in 2012.
Kang said the school hasn't been open to the press or public as much as it has in past months.
"Now the school wants to make its presence known," she said. "At 100 years, which is something to celebrate, it's high time to say, 'Hey, we're around.'"
Because of its private nature and word of mouth among the expat community, the school never had the need to advertise and never had a lack of students. There are waiting lists for admissions. However, because of the lack of publicity, many Koreans living in the school's vicinity didn't even know the school existed, Kang said.
The demure institution sits on a green leafy campus tucked behind Yonsei University in the foothills of Mount Ansan. Operating since 1912, it was not only the first foreign school in Seoul, but also the only one until the late post-war 1950s.
Although there are now more than a dozen foreign schools targeting the expat community of English, French, German and Chinese speakers in Seoul's expanding foreign population, there are only friendly rivalries and mutual encouragement amongst them, said Kang.
Seoul International School (SIS), which opened in 1973, has sent its congratulations to SFS.
"(Seoul Foreign School should) be proud, accept the compliments and enjoy the celebrations," said the SIS staff.
Back in the early 1900s, evangelical missionaries founded Seoul Foreign School when the demand for English education for the children of foreign missionaries became large enough.
Prior to the official 1912 founding, non-Korean children of Westerners were homeschooled separately or in groups, according to SFS's official history book written by the school's first director, Dick Underwood.
SFS was established as a community school rather than a mission-supported school because of the many different religious faiths represented and less interference by the mission board, according to Underwood.
When the school was founded, Ethel Van Wagoner was the only teacher and she had 18 pupils. Minnie French was the first graduate in 1919. These days, the school has 180 teachers and a fluctuating population of around 1,500 students of more than 50 nationalities, ranging in grade levels from elementary through high school.
"We provide a competitive school in Korea for foreign directors' children. In order to achieve that, we have to make sure our school is culturally diverse," said Kang.
SFS boasts educating the largest population of overseas ethnic Koreans in all of Korea as well as exporting the largest amount of students to overseas schools.
Many parents in the expatriate community want their children to be taught at SFS, which includes a separate British school and a high school with an International Baccalaureate program. SFS has educated many illustrious and high-achieving alumni throughout the years.
"I have very fond memories of my time at Seoul Foreign School," said Ellana Lee, CNN International Asia Pacific's managing editor, who attended SFS from preschool through her junior year in high school.
"The school's culture instilled a high standard of academic achievement, which helped me succeed when I moved (back) to the United States," said Lee. "I am also appreciative of the teachers there, who were caring and invested in their students' development."
Other famous SFS alumni include South Korea's former trade minister Kim Hyun-chong, Chinese actor George Kee Cheung and "Jeopardy" champion Ken Jennings.
In 1912, SFS was initially set up in one room in the Pai Chai Methodist Boys' School. The school changed locations five times in 12 years but by 1924, had finally settled into its newly expanded location at Jeong-dong near Ewha Girls' High School and Deoksu Palace where it would stay until the 1950s.
The school was established along with its North Korean sister school, Pyongyang Foreign School (PYFS), which was forced to close in 1940. The outcome of SFS also changed because of war a decade later.
SFS had to cease operations during the 1950-53 Korean War. The students were evacuated to Japan at the time. Its current location near Mount Ansan was an important battleground during the war.
Mount Ansan, known as Hill 296 at the time, was the dividing line between North Korean invaders and allied American forces trying to retake Seoul in September 1950. Four days of fighting, in which the Americans eventually prevailed, cost hundreds of lives on both sides, according to U.S. military reports.
After the war, SFS moved to its present location in Yonhi-dong where students could try to return to a level of normalcy amidst the rebuilding of the city.
On a sunny day in the middle of May, SFS held its annual international fair. Students held their national flags aloft during the parade of nations as they wound their way through the school grounds.
The last flag this year, the centennial flag, was held by members of the Underwood family to officially launch the school's centennial year. Another marker of the passage of time was the 25-year time capsule opening at the end of May. Many teachers who are still at the school were present when the time capsule was buried in 1986.
SFS's official centennial celebrations start at the end of August with many trips, tours and historical event markers. One of the historical tours is a trip to Daechon beach where SFS students and teachers went on religious retreats throughout the years.
As for the future, the school buried another time capsule that will be opened in another 25 years.
"We want to continue to be the leader in international schools, to be at the forefront of the 21st century and to continue for the next 100 years," Kang said.
