Seocho-gu Supports Elementary Students' Orchestra Activities to Instill Music DNA

[Seoul District News] Seocho-gu Launches ‘Sound of Seocho Leading School’ Specializing in ‘Orchestra Instrument Classes’ Starting This Month · Jamwon Elementary Selected Last Year for 3 Years Expansion of Orchestra Classes and Free After-School Instrument Lessons... Gwangjin-gu Expands Entrance Preparation Fund Support for New Elementary Students This Year... Guro-gu Provides Internet CSAT Broadcast Access... Eunpyeong-gu Recruits 110 University Student Mentors on a First-Come, First-Served Basis... Yangcheon-gu Produces ‘Wise School Life’ Videos for New Elementary and Middle School Students... Yangcheon-gu Special Opening of Galsan Culture and Arts Center

2019 Jamwon Elementary School Orchestra Concert

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Seocho-gu is instilling artistic DNA in local elementary school students through orchestra activities.

Seocho-gu announced that starting this month, it will designate and officially operate the ‘Sound of Seocho (S.o.S) Leading School,’ which specializes in ‘orchestra instrument classes.’

The ‘Sound of Seocho Leading School’ is a project supported by the district this year to create an environment where students can learn orchestra instruments by offering more than 50% of the creative experiential activities classes in elementary schools as orchestra instrument classes over a total of three years.

At the end of last year, the district held a contest for local elementary schools to select the Sound of Seocho Leading School and finally chose Jamwon Elementary School in Seoul. Accordingly, the district signed an agreement with Jamwon Elementary School on the 22nd of last month.

The district will provide a total of 400 million KRW in educational support expenses over three years to the designated school for orchestra operation. Specific support includes ▲up to 100 million KRW annually for purchasing orchestra instruments ▲up to 100 million KRW for operating expenses such as creating a cultural arts room for instrument classes ▲support for orchestra instrument instructors, among others.

Accordingly, the designated school will sequentially expand opportunities over three years for students who usually have difficulty accessing orchestra instruments to learn instruments such as violin, viola, cello, flute, and clarinet for free as part of after-school classes, and they will also have opportunities to showcase their talents through concerts.

In the future, the district plans to analyze the operation results of the ‘Sound of Seocho Leading School’ this year and increase the designation of leading schools to other elementary schools next year.

A district official said, “Through the designation of the ‘Sound of Seocho Leading School,’ we expect students to lower the entry barriers to orchestras and classical instruments and to develop teamwork through ensemble playing.”

Along with this, since 2019, the district has been promoting the ‘One Student One Instrument’ project to support elementary students in learning various instruments at school.

This year as well, the district plans to support a total of 167 instrument instructors and instrument purchase costs in 15 fields including classical and traditional Korean instruments at all 24 elementary schools in the area to help cultivate students’ artistic talents.

Cheon Jeong-wook, acting mayor of the district, said, “We will continue to actively support creating an environment where elementary school students, the future dream trees, can freely learn orchestra instruments at school.”

Congratulations message from Kim Seon-gap, Mayor of Gwangjin-gu, for graduates and new students

Gwangjin-gu (Mayor Kim Seon-gap) will provide entrance preparation funds to new students entering elementary, middle, and high schools this year.

Entrance preparation funds are a policy that supports a certain amount so that students can autonomously purchase necessary items for school entrance preparation, aimed at alleviating the economic burden on new students’ families and realizing universal educational welfare.

Since last year, the district has provided entrance preparation funds to 5,919 new middle and high school students in Gwangjin-gu, and this year, the support has expanded to include 2,188 new elementary school students in addition to 4,989 new middle and high school students, making a total of 7,177 recipients.

The support amount is 200,000 KRW per elementary student and 300,000 KRW per middle and high school student. The funds can be used to purchase items necessary for educational preparation such as uniforms, gym clothes, bags, and school-recommended books.

The application process involves parents applying online through the entrance preparation fund application site, and the school allocates Zero Pay points to the parents. Those who do not apply within the application period must apply directly to the school after March. However, if middle or high school students choose to purchase uniforms through the school with the entrance preparation funds, the uniform purchase amount is automatically deducted, and any remaining balance is provided as Zero Pay points.

In addition, the district is promoting various policies to create a high-quality educational environment, including ▲support for native speaker online English learning ▲support for Gangnam online lectures for the CSAT (College Scholastic Ability Test) broadcast ▲support for eco-friendly meals in elementary, middle, high schools, and kindergartens.

Mayor Kim Seon-gap said, “We have provided entrance support funds together with Seoul City and the Education Office to reduce the economic burden on new students’ families. We hope this project will be a practical help to students starting their studies with excitement at their new schools.”

Guro-gu (Mayor Lee Seong) is recruiting students for the Gangnam-gu Office Internet CSAT broadcast for middle and high school students in the area.

Guro-gu announced on the 2nd, “Due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the learning gap among students has widened and the burden of private education costs has increased. Therefore, we have signed a joint usage agreement with Gangnam-gu Office for the Internet CSAT broadcast to support part of the tuition fees for students in the district.”

The applicants are 640 students who are enrolled in middle and high schools located in the area, reside in Guro-gu, or are repeat students.

Students only need to pay a self-pay fee of 10,000 KRW out of the membership fee. Welfare target students such as basic livelihood security recipients, low-income families, disabled persons, single-parent families, and national merit recipients will be fully supported.

With this course ticket, students can take unlimited lectures for one year on five major school subjects?Korean, English, Math, Social Studies, Science?and five CSAT areas?Korean, English, Math, Social Studies Inquiry, Science Inquiry.

Students who wish to apply can sign up on the Guro Learning Support Center website and fill out the application form. Applications are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.

Guro-gu will verify the applicant’s residence, school, and vulnerability status before providing the course ticket.

The Gangnam-gu Office Internet CSAT broadcast features current middle and high school teachers and verified famous instructors offering various lectures to prepare for the CSAT and school exams. Students can listen to desired lectures anytime and anywhere via the internet and smartphones.

A Guro-gu official said, “We expect that the Internet CSAT broadcast will alleviate parents’ private education costs and provide students with high-quality non-face-to-face lectures, which will be a practical help in improving their grades. We encourage many students who need learning support to participate.”

Eunpyeong-gu (Mayor Kim Mi-kyung) announced that it is recruiting university student mentors for the ‘9th Eunpyeong Daejeon’ until April 12.

‘Eunpyeong Daejeon’ is a youth career and academic support project promoted by the district and the Eunpyeong Career and Vocational Experience Support Center as part of the Eunpyeong Innovation Education District project.

It is an abbreviation of ‘Eun-geun-lyeong Pyeong-beom-han University Student Older Sister/Brother’s Major Stories,’ where university students from Eunpyeong meet juniors and provide information about their major departments tailored to their level as a career counseling project.

Preference is given to university students who live in Eunpyeong or graduated from middle or high schools in the Eunpyeong area. Any university student, graduate student, or student on leave interested in major mentoring can apply.

The recruitment is on a first-come, first-served basis for 110 people, and the activity period is from April to December this year. Applicants submit their application forms via email. Selected mentors will receive benefits such as volunteer hours, a small activity fee, certificates, and completion certificates.

Main activities include an online orientation starting April 16, group mentor training, visiting classrooms for ‘major lectures,’ ‘major experiences,’ and a major fair.

Group training provides quality information through practice and exercises such as learning how to create major lecture PPTs and conducting mock lectures before the full school matching activities begin.

This year’s expanded ‘major experience’ was newly prepared from the second semester of last year based on the ‘Youth Demand Survey Results’ that showed a very high desire for direct practical experience in university departments. In particular, the pharmacy major’s ‘Learning about types of general medicine & reading prescriptions and packaging medicine’ was the most popular among various major experiences. It was a customized program that relieved students’ curiosity by learning the effects of pills of different colors and manufacturing patient-specific medicine using chocolates and jelly candies.

For more detailed information about Eunpyeong Daejeon, check the Eunpyeong Career and Vocational Experience Support Center website or SNS channels such as Facebook and Instagram.

A district official said, “Through Eunpyeong Daejeon, youth can conduct practical exploration at the career planning stage, and university student mentors can deeply explore their majors and increase their satisfaction with their majors. We will do our best to support active youth career activities.”

Yangcheon-gu (Mayor Kim Soo-young) will reveal the secrets of ‘wise school life’ through special lecture videos for new parents with children entering elementary and middle school this March.

Every year, the district has provided special lectures for new elementary and middle school parents that thoroughly address questions about new school life, receiving great responses from residents. This year, to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the lectures were produced as videos so anyone can watch them non-face-to-face on the official Yangcheon-gu YouTube channel.

The special lecture videos feature actual current teachers Bae Soo-young (Gyenam Elementary) and Lee Sang-geun (Geumok Middle). In the videos, they explain in detail the parent’s role in ‘preparing as much as you know’ regarding ▲curriculum by subject ▲new semester preparation know-how ▲free semester system ▲overall elementary and middle school life.

There are two videos in total, each about 30 minutes long, available on Yangcheon-gu’s official YouTube channel ‘YangcheonTV.’

For more details about the new semester special lectures, contact the Education Support Division.

Yangcheon-gu Mayor Kim Soo-young said, “There must be many questions from our children and parents about the new school life ahead. I hope this special lecture introducing various useful tips will be a great help for wise school life.”

Yangcheon-gu (Mayor Kim Soo-young) announced that it will hold the popular family play ‘Nene-ne’ from March 12 to 13 to commemorate the opening of the Galsan Culture and Arts Center.

The play ‘Nene-ne’ is a nonverbal performance composed without dialogue, produced to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Korea-Sweden diplomatic relations and aimed at entering the global market. It is a collaboration between ‘Sangsangmaru Cultural Workshop Co., Ltd.,’ recognized for its family content in the domestic performing arts scene, and the internationally renowned Swedish children’s theater troupe ‘ZebraDans.’

Since its debut in Korea in 2019, it has been recognized for its artistic quality and commercial success by being selected as an excellent international cooperation project by the Arts Management Support Center, winning the Audience Popularity Award at the 29th Seoul Children’s Theater Awards, invited to the 2021 International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People (ASSITEJ) Winter Festival, and selected for the 2020 Seoul Arts Center Children’s Family Festival.

Inspired by the world-famous author Joanna Concejo’s ‘The Prince of the Candy Store,’ it contains the universally relatable theme of ‘What is happiness?’ The play plans to communicate with the audience through a parade of various animals in the mysterious forest called ‘Nene-ne.’

In particular, this performance was selected as a special opening performance for the Galsan Culture and Arts Center because it is content that the whole family can enjoy without language barriers through dance, mime, play, and sound. The performances will be held three times at the Galsan Culture and Arts Center Ainuri Hall (4th floor) on March 12 at 4 p.m., and March 13 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Tickets for the children’s nonverbal play ‘Nene-ne’ can be reserved through the Interpark Ticket website or by phone, priced at 20,000 KRW for all seats. Yangcheon-gu residents can watch at a 50% discount for themselves and one accompanying person. Strict quarantine rules will be applied to prevent COVID-19 infection.

For inquiries about the performance, contact the Yangcheon Cultural Foundation.

The Yangcheon Cultural Foundation, entrusted with operating the Galsan Culture and Arts Center, carries out various tasks for ‘a cultural city where dreams become life, Yangcheon-gu,’ including ▲planning performances, festivals, and exhibitions ▲regional cultural networking and arts education activation ▲operating cultural and artistic groups ▲operating Yangcheon Culture Hall, Yangcheon Public Library, and related facilities.

Yangcheon-gu Mayor Kim Soo-young said, “The Galsan Culture and Arts Center is meaningful as the first children’s theater specialized venue created in Yangcheon-gu. Through the opening commemorative performance ‘Nene-ne,’ we invite you to a mysterious forest where you can imagine anything, and we hope it will be a precious time with your family on a fresh spring day.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.