Gary Moskowitz
A pilot program to offer Korean-language classes at Crescenta Valley
High School has sparked so much interest that Glendale Unified board
members intend to make the classes permanent.
Board members this week said that a high amount of interest -- 66
students enrolled in two Korean-language classes at the school -- was
sufficient to continue offering the classes. Any new class requires
between 35 to 60 students to be considered for permanent status,
officials said.
The Korean classes were among a list of new and revised courses
reviewed by board members at last week's board meeting. The board is
expected to vote to approve the classes at its meeting Tuesday.
"Staff is allowed to pilot a course to see if there is interest,
and there was absolutely an interest and a need," board President Pam
Ellis said. "Now that the class is established, it is ready for board
approval."
Thirty-three students are enrolled in each of CV High's Korean
classes, which are taught by Mimi Lim. About 20% of the school's
student body is Korean, officials said.
The school's Korean parent group had initially requested the
classes, and put up several thousand dollars this fall to help pay
for textbooks, officials said.
Lim, who has teaching credentials in chemistry, math and Korean,
was born in Korea and moved to Omaha when she was 14. This is her
first year teaching in the Glendale school district.
"I tell my students that this class is not an easy A. I want them
to be proud of that A," Lim said. "So far, I am very pleased with
their progress. By the end of the year, they will all be able to read
and write basic Korean."
CV High sophomore Jan Kum, 15, enrolled in Lim's second-year
Korean class because she wanted to be better able to communicate with
her parents, who speak Korean in their home.
"My mom speaks to me in Korean, but I always speak back in English
because I'm not fluent," Jan said. "I think the class will help me do
better on the [Scholastic Assessment Test], plus it will help me
communicate with my parents better. They're excited because they can
help me with my homework."
The district's other high schools have not expressed an interest
in offering Korean classes yet, but administrators can if a
sufficient number of students show interest, officials said.
The district added Armenian-language classes at Glendale and
Hoover high schools about six or seven years ago. French, German,
Latin and Spanish are offered at all of the district's comprehensive
high schools.
Glendale High plans a pilot Japanese-language class next fall, but
it has not been finalized, officials said.
"Teaching more foreign languages is a sound direction for the
district to take economically, we think," said Alice Petrossian, an
assistant superintendent for educational services at the district.
"We need to compete in world markets, and in order to do so, the more
students we have fluent in languages in which people buy and sell,
the better, and the more competitive our students can one day be in
the world market."
