6 #2
In America or Europe, most students would never go to another school after a full day of regular school, but it was par for the course here.
Few students skipped hagwon. There were certainly students who didn’t want to attend hagwons, but there were more who sought refuge in them.
The students at Eagle didn’t want to go home.
They liked it here. Eagle was a haven away from intrusive parents and school bullies, and a place where they could ask questions and learn at their own pace.
It was true that the Eagle students did better in school, but it was also true that the Eagle students were mentally stronger because they felt they had room to look foolish and someone caring to guide them in case they couldn’t ask their teachers.
What was cruel, Sean believed, was that every child could not have such needed attention.
However, it didn’t make sense to him to get rid of something good because not everyone could have it.
The Koh children were obviously bright. They spoke English with Australian accents and were native Korean speakers.
The parents must have worked on it. Hearing the four students speak English and Korean made Sean miss living in New York, where it was possible to hear a jumble of different languages and accents.
Every year, he thought about going back, but Mark wasn’t ready, and Sean would not leave without him.
Sean smiled at Mido.
“I might have flunked out in Korea at your age. I’m not being modest. I’m brilliant at math.
The way they teach math here would decimate most children in America.
It’s sort of absurd.” He laughed. “I mean, it’s doable because obviously, many of the kids can do it here, China, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, and elsewhere, but it’s just not the focus in the West. Especially in the States.
But it doesn’t mean that American kids can’t do it.
You have the necessary aptitude. However, this material at your grade level is just unfamiliar.
Remember that unfamiliar is not the same as impossible, or even difficult. ”
This was a speech Sean had to give often, especially to bright students, who could be discouraged when they didn’t do something well quickly.
Mido tilted her head. She’d never heard a teacher talking like this.
“I really tried,” she offered. “I’m sorry.” Mido found herself crying again.
“Oh, dear.” Sean exhaled. “It’s not important, Mido.
This is an assessment. These papers don’t show anything really except for what you have learned so far.
If you have done the work you were asked to do, and if you don’t know something new, then it isn’t your fault.
What you choose not to learn is certainly your responsibility, but it’s also our responsibility as teachers to explain things, to share what we know.
Right? How can I teach you what I know unless I know what you need?
That’s why we have assessments.” He trained his large, amber-colored eyes on the girl’s teary face.
Embarrassed, Mido smiled and sat up straight.
“Yun said Eagle doesn’t have a lot of room, and she hasn’t seen any new families here. Especially anyone with bad marks,” she said.
Bo exchanged a glance with DH. This was more than what Mido usually said to strangers.
“I wanted to study here with Yun,” she added.
“Ah, yes. Yun Kim is your friend. Right.” Sean touched his forehead as if to jog his memory. “She told me, and Dr. Song mentioned that, too. Did you know that her name in my class is Yvonne?”
Mido shook her head.
“Yun’s Western name was between Yvonne and Yvette. She picked Yvonne.” He smiled at Mido. “Do you want another name?”
She shook her head again, unable to imagine another one. The two brothers shook their heads, too. All of them had been asked this many times before.
“Cool,” Sean said. “Bo, DH, and Mido.” He paused. “Yeah, your names are easy to say and spell. Lots of people get my name wrong: They say ‘Seen’ instead of ‘Shawn.’ ”
“We’re really Bo-hun, Dae-hun, and Mido,” Bo said. “In Paramus, my kindergarten teacher started calling me Bo, and it stuck. Even my parents call me Bo.”
“DH is short for Dae-hun, but I used to play baseball, and my coach used to say DH was for ‘designated hitter,’ ” DH added.
Peter looked up. “Nice.”
“Soccer is my game, but when I can, I do track and field and baseball,” DH said, and glanced at Peter, who nodded in approval.
“So, Sean Teacher, I’m the jock.” DH pointed to himself.
“Bo is the brains. Mido is our baby sister who is just awesome. She can put up with anything and has the best attitude.” DH patted his sister on the back gently, relieved that she wasn’t crying anymore.
An only child, Peter felt wistful at how clear DH sounded about who they were in relation to each other.
He didn’t know which category he would fit into, and no one had ever said it like that.
He was good at school and sports, and he’d devoted countless hours to improving his guitar skills, but at King’s, he hadn’t been able to figure out the others and get into a group.
The kids there were different from his classmates at Seoul Foreign School, where he had gone before, and even there, he hadn’t quite fit in.
Sean pointed to Peter while looking at DH.
“Peter is a soccer player, too. Winger, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Peter is going to Andover in Massachusetts in the fall.”
“Wow,” DH exclaimed. “So cool.”
“Have you thought of applying?” Sean asked.
DH rubbed his thumb and index finger together and raised his eyebrows.
“Takes a lot of dough.” Of the three of them, he spent the most because of soccer—for uniforms, cleats, and travel matches—and he couldn’t imagine asking for even more money to go to school in America.
“But you’d go if you could be admitted?” Sean asked.
“Sure. Who wouldn’t? I could play a different sport each season and not study for the Suneung. Man, that would be amazing. Dude”—DH turned to Peter—“you are so lucky.”
Peter shrugged, not having thought of himself that way. It had always been understood that he would attend university in America as his parents had. His father had gone to Princeton and his mother Cornell.
Sean looked thoughtful. He gathered the assessments into a neat stack, then picked up his red pen.
The Koh children and Peter looked around, not knowing what would happen next.
“Any questions?” Sean asked.
The teenagers shook their heads.
“Listen, I need to take a careful look at these. Go on, get out of here. Your mothers are waiting for you.”
Sean winked at them.
Each of the students thanked him in turn.
“The pleasure was mine. And I hope to see you again, Bo, DH, Mido, and Peter.”
After Sean graded the assessments, he told Tom and Clara to accept the Koh kids.
“There’s no room at the inn,” Tom said.
“They would be excellent for discussions in class. I can make them sort of like teaching assistants. The little one needs more confidence. I can work on that,” Sean said.
“There would be major complaints if the waiting list parents found out,” Clara said.
“Peter is only here until the fall before he heads to the States, so there will be room for at least someone in DH’s grade,” Sean said. “It’s a shame, though.”
Clara looked at him quizzically.
“DH would be better off going to boarding school in the States.”
“I don’t think they can afford it,” Clara said.
“I can talk to Peter’s mother,” Tom said, who knew Renee was worried about Peter’s troubles at King’s.
There was little Renee wouldn’t do to help her son adjust at school, even if it meant funding a possible companion.
“If Peter went to Andover with a kid like DH, he might be better off. They’re both soccer players, and DH seems like the kind of kid who’d be much happier studying in the US. ”
Sean gave a thumbs-up. “OK, Dr. Song, do your behind-the-scenes prime ministering. No matter what, my vote is for all three of them to be accepted. It would be good for the existing students to have these native speakers, and I don’t know why, but I think these kids need this.”
Clara made a face, worried.
Tom considered his star teacher’s evaluation. Sean was never wrong.