A year after getting a fresh start as an English-language school for children, Connexus is growing and gaining recognition in its new South Korean community for strong academics and promoting peace.
Connexus’ reputation of having caring teachers, small classes (four students per class), and a speaking-centered curriculum is spreading by word-of-mouth in its new home in Deokso, a suburb of Seoul. The hagwon (a for-profit private institute) has grown from 10 students and two teachers to nearly 60 students and four full-time teachers.
“The past year has not been easy, but through it all, I’ve been amazed at the timeliness of the transition and at the rapid growth of our work,” wrote Karen Spicher, a Mennonite Mission Network mission associate and lead teacher at Connexus, via e-mail. “It’s also been a faith-affirming experience to witness God’s provision of everything we need and more.”
Connexus was established in 2004 as an English-language adult hagwon by the Korea Anabaptist Center, a Mission Network partner that acts as a resource for individuals and churches. In 2011, the Center moved to Chuncheon City because its downtown Seoul office had become too expensive. The Center saw this as an opportunity to have Connexus operate independently.
The Center had also established a successful peace-building program, now known as Korea Peacebuilding Institute (KOPI). It is also operating independently and sharing office space with Connexus in Deokso.
Connexus and KOPI serve people and organizations from all groups of society, while the Anabaptist Center continues to focus specifically on providing resources to people who are interested in Anabaptist theology and practice. Spicher’s husband, Jae Young Lee, is a co-founder of the Anabaptist Center, and is the director of Connexus and KOPI. Lee is also a mission associate with Mission Network.
“KOPI is doing various peace-building trainings for schoolteachers, students, workers at nongovernmental organizations, and local parents,” Lee wrote via e-mail. “Our main work these days is training people to learn what restorative justice is, and how to apply it in their communities. Restorative discipline has become an especially popular program, since it is received as a new approach to prevent school violence issues.”
Restorative justice is a systemic approach to peace that focuses on healing victims, offenders, and the communities in which they live. Restorative discipline is a step-by-step process aimed at increasing and sustaining mutual respect.
“Parents see it [Connexus] as a place where students not only improve their English, but also build meaningful relationships,” Spicher wrote. “The Korean staff, two of whom are also KOPI staff, practice restorative justice and restorative discipline with the students, enabling the students to develop the skills they need to be an active part of their own conflict resolution.”
All three sister organizations receive support from Mennonite Mission Network and Mennonite Church Canada, which also help to recruit teachers for Connexus.
Spicher said that the move to Deokso has enabled Connexus and KOPI to branch out into the local community more than they could in their previous location, a busy commercial district of Seoul. KOPI’s five staff members not only provide peace education and training for students at Connexus, but as a result of relationships built at Connexus, KOPI also works with students and teachers at nearly 50 elementary, middle, and high schools in the area, she said.
Janet Standen of New Brunswick, Canada, who has been teaching at Connexus since July 2012, shared that one of her new students went from initially having regular conflicts with classmates to being a class favorite after KOPI staff worked with him on conflict resolution. Teachers have even spent time with the student’s family, “sharing meals, going skiing and strawberry picking,” Standen wrote via e-mail.
“I feel privileged to be involved in the lives of all of our students, even for such a brief period of time, and it’s so rewarding to see the growth that happens here, both in terms of language ability and life skills,” wrote Anna Trella Ruth, a 2012 graduate of Goshen (Ind.) College who began teaching last year. “In a society where academics are highly rigorous and competitive, it feels good to be part of a school that focuses on fostering valuable relationships with students that stretch beyond the limits of the classroom.”
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For immediate release.
Mennonite Mission Network, the mission agency of Mennonite Church USA, leads, mobilizes and equips the church to participate in holistic witness to Jesus Christ in a broken world. Media may contact Andrew Clouse at andrewc@mmnworld.net, 574-523-3024 or 866-866-2872, ext. 23024.
