Tucson schools host Korean exchange students

Thirty-five South Korean exchange students were welcomed by the Tucson Unified School District at a reception at the Armory Park Center on Monday.

The students arrived in Tucson Friday to participate in the Tucson Korea Ambassador Program, a cultural exchange that connects American middle school students to their counterparts from South Korea. The program is in its seventh year.

Participating Tucson schools are Magee and Secrist middle schools and Safford K-8 Magnet School.

The program aims to expand Tucson and Korean students’ global understanding through learning about their similarities and building strong friendships, said Tsuru Bailey-Jones, director of Asian Pacific American Student Services and Refugee Student Services at TUSD.

“It allows us to connect with a different culture,” she said.

The Korean students from Ulleungdo and Yeongyang-gun will live with host families in Tucson until Feb. 7.

They’ll visit schools here and shadow their American “ambassador” students to learn about American school systems and culture, she said.

They also will get to see Tucson’s top attractions, including Sabino Canyon, the University of Arizona and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.

In the summer, some of the Tucson students will have a chance to visit Korea and do the same, Bailey-Jones said.

The Korean students come from Ulleungdo, an island off the eastern coast of the Korean peninsula, and Yeongyang-gun, a county in Northern Gyungsang province.

Both are rural areas with limited access to international education, said Mayor Yeong Taek Kwon of Yeongyang-gun, who attended the welcome reception Monday.

He said he personally has a passion for students in his district to experience a “broader view” of the international society.

“In Yeongyang, we are trying to develop opportunities for students to move forward internationally,” he said.

The mayor said he hopes to teach Tucson students about Korea beyond what’s already known to the Western world, such as K-Pop music.

Sohyun Park is one of the students visiting Tucson from Ulleungdo. Her ambassador in Tucson is 13-year-old Summer Fox from Magee Middle School.

“I would like for my language skills to improve,” Park said in Korean.

She’d also excited to visit famous attractions in Arizona like the Grand Canyon, which Fox says they plan to go to. But mostly, Park said, she is excited to be able to study with American students.

Fox said she’s not at all familiar with Korean culture, but she wants to learn more about the language through this experience. In turn, she hopes she can teach Park new things.

“It’s cool to see how we can teach them more about English and American culture,” she said.