Jungnang-gu Middle and High School Students Learn Study Tips from Mentors at Seoul National University

[Seoul District News] Jungnang-gu Operates Campus Tour with College Student Mentors for 4,300 Middle and High School Students... Nowon District Public Gongneung Youth Culture Information Center Awarded Presidential Citation... Seodaemun-gu Launches Voting Encouragement Campaign with 3 Youth Facilities... Geumcheon-gu Recruits 100 College Student Summer Part-Time Workers... Dongjak-gu Completes Safe School Route Improvement Project at All 21 Elementary Schools in the District as Part of 7th Term Pledges... Dongdaemun-gu Conducts On-Site Inspections of 29 Children’s Activity Spaces Including Daycare Centers, Parks, and Play Facilities... Yangcheon-gu ‘

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Jungnang-gu will conduct a university campus tour with college student mentors for local youth until the end of this year.

The university campus tour is part of a career experience program organized by the Bang Jeong-hwan Education Support Center, a landmark of education in Jungnang-gu.

Last year, the district conducted a university campus tour with Seoul National University student mentors for 1,500 students from 11 middle and high schools in the area, receiving great responses from students and parents. Accordingly, this year, the target has been expanded to 4,300 students from 18 schools, and the universities visited have increased to five: Seoul National University, Yonsei University, Korea University, Kyung Hee University, and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.

The campus tour kicked off this year last month with 275 students from Sinhyeon Middle School visiting Seoul National University.

During the campus tour, student mentors accompanied the group to visit Seoul National University’s Kyujanggak, art museum, law school, and College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Using mentoring-specific textbooks, the mentors shared study tips by subject and efficient exam preparation methods, providing practical help to the students.

A student who participated in the tour said, "What I found most satisfying was not just seeing the university buildings but directly talking and communicating with the mentors, gaining practical information about the pros and cons of university life."

A district official said, “We hope the campus tour and mentoring will help students with their concerns about college admission, even if just a little. Jungnang-gu will continue to strive to become an educational city that nurtures students' dreams and hopes.”

Nowon-gu Public Gongneung Youth Culture Information Center announced that it received the Presidential Citation in the ‘Youth Development and Protection Merit Awards’ commemorating Youth Month in May.

Hosted by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, this award is given to organizations that lead the healthy growth of youth and the creation of youth-friendly social environments.

Opened in 2010, the Nowon-gu Public Gongneung Youth Culture Information Center is a complex facility that serves as a hub for youth activities and includes a library, supporting various activities for children and youth.

The Presidential Citation recognizes the center’s dedication to the proper growth of local youth in the community.

Breaking away from the traditional paradigm of viewing youth as objects of education, the center ensures that youth are the main agents, collaborative partners in education, and producers in all its projects.

It has activated youth autonomous organizations such as youth clubs based on spontaneity and creativity, youth operation committees, and youth cooperatives, which actively participate in the center’s management.

In particular, the ‘Started Change Project,’ ongoing since 2011, is a youth participation activity where youth directly identify and improve local issues and create new cultures. Despite the COVID-19 situation last year, 50 to 70 youth groups carried out social participation projects.

The center’s activities are also widely known as an excellent case of restoring community. The ‘Gongneung-dong Dream Village Community,’ formed around the center in 2012, leads local changes through various village activities involving voluntary participation of children and youth.

Every spring and fall, the center holds the ‘Wagle Wagle Children’s Grand Festival’ and the ‘Youth Festival Kkumnarsha,’ where children, youth, and local residents participate together from planning to evaluation. These festivals attract 2,000 to 3,000 visitors annually.

Additionally, the center has focused on supporting at-risk youth and reducing educational gaps. Programs such as ‘Tall Uncle Mentoring,’ which provides pocket money and builds relationships with vulnerable youth, reading mentoring for middle school students with reading difficulties, and career experience activities for special class youth have been highly evaluated.

The center’s excellent youth activity cases were published in two books in 2016 and 2021, serving as models for activists and youth in other regions.

In 2020, the center also underwent space remodeling. With one basement and six floors above ground, it now includes youth cultural spaces, three club rooms, three activity rooms, a band room, youth caf?, and multipurpose room, enabling diverse activities. The library functions, including a comprehensive reference room and reading room, have also been enhanced to support the holistic growth of youth.

The center’s space remodeling project was recognized for presenting a ‘new public space model reflecting contemporary demands’ and won the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s Public Architecture Award Grand Prize, acknowledging its innovation.

Seodaemun-gu (Mayor Moon Seok-jin) recently conducted a ‘Fair Election Voting Encouragement Campaign’ targeting 18-year-old voters in collaboration with three local youth facilities: Hong Eun Youth Culture House, Seodaemun Youth Center, and Seodaemun Youth Counseling Welfare Center.

The campaign visited four high schools, distributing a ‘Pre-Election Tips Guide’ to youth voters and prospective voters during their commute.

Additionally, a quiz related to elections was held on Yonsei-ro in Sinchon to increase youth interest and enthusiasm about elections.

Furthermore, the campaign includes a ‘Voting Pledge Certification Campaign,’ the ‘Udangtangtang (Let’s All Vote Proudly! Bang Bang) Street Campaign,’ and a ‘Voting Squirrel Reels Challenge.’

The campaign slogan, ‘A World Changed 180 Degrees Through 18-Year-Old Voting,’ was created by the youth themselves, adding meaning.

For reference, the term ‘squirrel’ used in the campaign symbolizes youth preparing for the future.

Mayor Moon Seok-jin of Seodaemun-gu said, “This campaign will have been a meaningful foundation for many youth to actively participate in elections, a citizen’s responsibility, and grow as owners of the nation.”

Geumcheon-gu is recruiting participants for the ‘2022 Summer Vacation University Student Part-time Job’ from May 31 to June 9.

The recruitment is for a total of 100 students: 70 through ‘general selection’ and 30 through ‘priority selection.’ Selected university students will be assigned to the district office, community service centers, and related institutions during the work period to assist with administrative tasks and various district affairs.

Applicants must be currently enrolled or on leave from a junior college or higher as of the announcement date (May 31) and registered residents of Geumcheon-gu. However, those who have worked within the last two years, prospective university students, graduates, graduate students, students of broadcasting and communication universities, cyber universities, academic credit bank system students, and foreign university students are excluded.

The ‘priority selection’ targets include recipients of national basic livelihood security or near-poverty class, their children, multicultural families, households with three or more children, persons with disabilities (registered under the Disability Welfare Act), North Korean defectors, national veterans, and those with over 100 hours of volunteer work after university admission.

Selected workers will work for four weeks from July 4, five hours a day, five days a week, between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m., according to the schedule of their workplace. The daily wage, including lunch allowance, is 53,830 KRW, totaling about 1.28 million KRW if all workdays are completed.

University students wishing to participate can apply through the ‘Integrated Reservation’ service on the Geumcheon-gu website.

Geumcheon-gu will select the final candidates through a public computerized lottery on June 13 and announce the results on the district office website and individually notify applicants.

Lee Ki-chung, head of the Village Autonomy Division, said, “We hope the university student part-time job will be a valuable opportunity for students to build understanding and trust in district administration and gain necessary experience before entering society.”

Children's resting area created on the stairs of Singil Elementary School playground

Dongjak-gu (Mayor Lee Chang-woo) has completed the ‘Safe School Route Environment Improvement Project’ applying school violence prevention designs to all 21 elementary schools in the district.

Since 2017, the district has been promoting a customized school route environment improvement project to prevent violence by deeply analyzing causes affecting school violence and applying design solutions tailored to each school’s characteristics.

Until last year, the district implemented the project in 12 schools, installing customized facilities such as open rest areas for students and parents after school, fences encouraging positive language use, and painted markings distinguishing sidewalks and roads, receiving positive evaluations from students and parents after gathering opinions from parents, stakeholders, and experts.

Especially this year, based on the Ministry of Education’s survey results showing an increase in ‘emotional violence’ such as verbal abuse and group bullying, designs considering psychological stability were applied.

At Noryangjin Elementary School’s fence, etiquette design signs such as ‘Let’s be good friends who support each other’ were installed, and the previously somewhat dark back gate idle space was reborn as a community space harmonizing with nature.

The stairs in the playground of Singil Elementary School were decorated with a lively atmosphere under the concept of ‘Small groups chatting and enjoying a joyful picnic,’ transforming it into a resting place that stimulates children’s imagination.

Also, on narrow roads without sidewalks that pose high traffic accident risks on elementary school routes, blue ‘Safe School Route’ designs were applied to sidewalks to visually separate roads and sidewalks, creating a safe walking environment.

Additionally, considering each school’s characteristics, various facilities with designs such as promoting physical activity and ground play within the school and creating school fence galleries were installed, presenting solutions to school violence.

With the five-year-long school route environment improvement project concluding, the district plans to analyze the project’s effectiveness this year with Ewha Womans University School Violence Prevention Research Institute, including facility awareness and satisfaction, reduction rate of school violence, and changes in peer relationships. Proven excellent design cases will be utilized.

Lee Chang-woo, Mayor of Dongjak-gu, said, “Creating an environment where our children can enjoy school life safely without school violence was one of the top priorities of the 7th local government. Completing this five-year journey, I feel rewarded that we contributed to creating a school route environment where both students and parents can feel safe.”

Dongdaemun-gu (Mayor Yoo Deok-yeol) will conduct on-site inspections of children’s activity spaces from May 31 to June 10, 2022.

The district aims to inspect the environments of facilities where children spend significant time to ensure their safety and health, as children are particularly vulnerable to harmful environments.

The inspection targets 29 locations, including daycare centers’ childcare rooms, park playground facilities, and apartment playground facilities. Inspection items include corrosion and aging, heavy metals in paints and finishes, pollutant emissions, and indoor air quality. For outdoor playgrounds with soil, samples will be collected for inspection.

If air quality or heavy metal measurement results during the inspection exceed environmental safety management standards, samples such as wall materials and paint will be collected and subjected to detailed testing at designated inspection agencies.

Facilities exceeding environmental safety management standards will be subject to administrative actions such as improvement orders.

A district official said, “To create a Dongdaemun-gu where children can be raised safely, we will continuously inspect facilities and environments related to children and operate them safely.”

Yangcheon-gu announced that it will hold a Children and Youth Citizen Forum for realizing a child-friendly city in Yangcheon on June 24 at 3 p.m. at the Yangcheon Digital Media Center and is recruiting participants until June 9.

Since receiving UNICEF Child-Friendly City certification in May 2019, Yangcheon-gu has been making multifaceted efforts to create a happy, respected child and a child-friendly city.

This Children and Youth Citizen Forum is a place where children, youth, parents, and child-related experts gather to share diverse opinions and reflect them in policies.

The forum will be conducted through group roundtable discussions on six topics of Yangcheon-gu’s child policies: play and leisure, participation and civic consciousness, safety and protection, health and social services, educational environment, and family environment, promising lively discussions.

The recruitment period for forum participants is until June 9, with a total of 100 people: 70 children (grades 4 to high school students) residing in Yangcheon-gu and 30 parents and child-related persons. Participants will receive three hours of volunteer service credit.

Those wishing to participate can fill out the application form on the district office website’s notice board and submit it via email to the person in charge.

Final participants will be notified individually by text message on June 10 and will attend the Children and Youth Citizen Forum held at 3 p.m. on June 24 at the Yangcheon Digital Media Center.

For more details about the forum and participant recruitment, contact the Family Policy Division of Yangcheon-gu Office.

Yeongdeungpo-gu announced that it is promoting the ‘2022 Yeongdeungpo Youth Climate Environment Awareness Change-UP’ project to cultivate young leaders’ capacity to take an active interest in and respond to climate and environmental issues, recruiting youth supporters to participate by June 3.

The district plans to activate sustainable eco-friendly programs rather than one-time events, wisely respond to the urgent climate crisis, and actively support youth to grow into mature citizens who voluntarily gather and act to solve local community problems.

Accordingly, it will recruit youth supporters who will participate in environmental awareness improvement activities until November and officially launch the youth-led ‘Climate Environment Awareness Change-UP’ project.

Supporters can be any youth aged 39 or younger based in Yeongdeungpo-gu, with a total of 30 people to be recruited.

Their roles mainly include creating card news, articles, and blog posts using SNS; hosting forums to establish climate environment policy ideas; conducting youth awareness surveys; planning and operating eco-friendly experience programs; and running eco-friendly diet challenges.

Supporters will receive various capacity-building training and participate in eco-friendly product-making programs, with a completion ceremony and awards for outstanding supporters planned after the activities.

Youth wishing to participate can scan the QR code on the poster or access the application form via the link on the Yeongdeungpo-gu website and submit it.

The district expects this supporter activity to significantly raise residents’ awareness and alertness to climate change risks and spread improved environmental protection awareness through various activities.

A district official said, “We hope many youth who want to respond sensitively to the climate crisis and join environmental protection movements will apply and show interest. We will continue to vigorously implement eco-friendly policies to improve climate environment awareness.”