Last month New School West hosted 19 early childhood educators from South Korea. It was big day, with so much to share. Starting at 8:30, the group gathered in the Atelier where they were presented with individual notebooks, hand-delivered by diligent student messengers. Then, after a welcome and orientation from Roleen and Kris, they respectfully (no photos of children, please!) toured and observed the myriad corners of our school. This was followed by a generous lunch hosted at the Reimers’, (James, WW) by Jill Bryman, Karen Koh, Tamy Cohen and Sarah Reimer [more on the lunch in Part 2], and then a couple hours at reDiscover in Culver City, an organization personally and philosophically connected to NSW.
“It was such a treat to spend time with the group of Korean educators last Thursday. I asked Willow what she thought of their school visit, and she said, “They were really nice.” One of their teachers was moved to tears with the sense of community she felt at New School West, particularly among the parents. They want to create this kind of community in their Korean schools. Their interpreter was excellent, and able to convey thoughts, insights, and feelings so articulately. It truly felt as though there wasn’t any language barrier with her interpretation. They were very impressed with Roleen and couldn’t say enough about her leadership and vision. One teacher commented on how courageous Roleen is, to run such a unique school/community, and for so many years. They are right about that…we have a wonderful, brave leader! The afternoon was a true joy, and I’m grateful to have been a part of it!” — Tamy (Willow, EW)
“I know our school is special, but to observe the interest these teachers took, across language, across culture, “across a big ocean” (as I told Ren) was pretty thrilling. I walked around the school with my camera, looking through their eyes, and thinking Wait! This place is unbelievable! The number of challenging, engaging, inspiring, formative things going on simultaneously knocked me out — and I hope they do for you too as you see the photos. I, too, noticed their particular curiosity about parent involvement, especially as a DAD. I felt like some kind of exotic enigma. Many were quite emotional about it and told me “You look happy!” and I said “I am!” Their visit, in addition to nourishing our participation in an international community (how cool is that), caught me off guard by showing our own school to me again through their eyes. Ren and I want to go to Korea to check out THEIR schools — anyone want to come along? — Jona (Ren, WW)
“I like their faces.” — Ren (WW)
[We’ve been working on the blog slideshow function — let us know if it doesn’t work for you. There are two ways to do it: the first is to click “Show slideshow”, then give it a few moments to load, and you’re on your way. You can click the image to move faster if you like. For a little more control, start by clicking any thumbnail below and then find “forward” and “backward” arrows near the edge of each image. This is a big, illuminating photoset… share with your kids! — Doc Committee]
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