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BHA: The base for future Jeju global leaders
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[This article is written by a JDC Junior Journalist. The JDC Junior Journalist program is an educational project sponsored by Jeju Free International City Development Corporation (JDC). JDC Junior Journalist articles are only briefly edited by mentors before publishing.]

Since 2008, Jeju has started the business of building the Global Education City in Daejeong-eup, Seogwipo. The vision of this business is to make Jeju “the center of English education in Korea and the educational hub of Northeast Asia.” Three international schools were built in the Global Education City through the business. One of them is Branksome Hall Asia.

BHA was built in 2012 and is the sister school of Branksome Hall Canada. Branksome Hall Canada is a private girl’s school in Toronto and has a long history of 110 years. The capacity of BHA is 1200 students with an age range from kindergarten to 10th grade. Currently the school is at less than its capacity, with about 550 students.

The school’s motto is “Be remarkable.” “We believe that every student has within them the opportunity to do something remarkable,” said Glen Radojkovich, the principal of Branksome Hall Asia. “We want students to develop their potential. If they’re passionate about music, then we want them to shine in music, if they’re passionate about art, we want them to do that.”

BHA has a special curriculum called the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. It has three steps: PYP (Primary Years Program), MYP (Middle Years Program), and DP (Diploma Program). Many famous universities recognize the IB program when students enter their schools. The principal explained brief differences between the IB program and regular Korean schools’ curriculum. “The IB curriculum requires our students to be thinkers and to take leadership and inquiry themselves. It’s not the teacher telling you what you should learn. Students have to find the answers,” he said. One such example of this student led learning is that students must write a 4,000 word essay on a subject they’ve researched for a year in order to complete the Diploma Program.

Another way BHA makes their students remarkable is by offering four kinds of extracurricular activities: service, arts, athletics, and clubs. Service is particularly emphasized at BHA. Students can volunteer locally, nationally, and globally. To make sure students are receiving the most out of their extracurricular activities, there are a lot of well-maintained facilities at BHA such as an Olympic sized swimming pool, golf course, dance studio, and theater.

BHA is an international school, so the makeup of the students is very important. Radojkovich admits that a small percentage of students come from Jeju and that the majority are from Seoul, especially the Gangnam area. However, he also added that BHA has a greater percentage of international students (approximately 56) than any other school in the Global Education City. “Most of those are Chinese but we have Japanese, Singaporean, Irish, American, Russian students,” he said.

According to Radojkovich, students face difficulties because they live away from home and live in Daejeong, which is quiet and isolated. But these difficulties can be overcome by the school’s special policies. The school keeps great relationship with parents. “A lot of our parents will be on campus everyday. They’ll come to our cafe, come and visit what’s happening in the classrooms,” he said.

For the solution of the school’s isolated location, BHA provides shuttles to the city. “We try and provide those activities where we can. Bus all our girls into the city and they can go to the movies,” said Radojkovich. He also added there were benefits to the isolated location. “The plus side of that is there are no distractions so it’s great for girls in terms of getting on with what they want to focus on,” he said.

Although there are some difficulties and hardships that students face at BHA, it has not been a long time since the school opened in Jeju. Also, if there are good relationships between the school, students, and parents, these difficulties can be overcome easily. Then it will not be long before Jeju becomes a real educational hub, and BHA becomes the base for Jeju students who will be the global leaders in the future.

¨Ï Jeju Weekly 2009 (http://www.jejuweekly.com)
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