University Professor enthusiastically recommends Ambleside
It is with the highest degree of confidence and exuberance that I whole-heartedly recommend
Ambleside School of San Angelo. As a professor, with three degrees in three different fields,
from three different nationally ranked universities, I believe that I am highly educated, but
I do not consider myself to be well educated. The quality of education that I see at Ambleside
is what I would label a truly good education, an education which I wish I had received. Further,
as a professional educator in a technical field for a number of years, I have come to believe
that a liberal arts education with a good dose of mathematics and science is the best education.
(This is in contrast to what I believe our universities are becoming: advanced trade schools.)
I believe that Ambleside offers a level of education comparable to such a liberal arts college.
My wife and I first learned of Ambleside through an “open house” at the school. The friend that
invited us to this “open house” was always “over the top” in her comments about Ambleside. We
dismissed her overenthusiastic praise, but attended the open house just to be polite to our friend.
As homeschoolers, we were not even looking for a school. Within approximately the first 10 minutes
of our visit, we were convinced of the high quality of education. Our children have now been
attending Ambleside for only one year; our enthusiasm has not dwindled, nor have we been dissappointed
in any respect.
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Korean boy leaves home for dream
By Matt Phinney
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Seung-Taek Oh likes his classes and his teachers, but it might have been the huge backyard that
sold him on Ambleside School of San Angelo.
That's not surprising, because it's perfect for a 12-year-old boy. There's a huge wooden arbor
and basketball court, and the rest is all beautiful green grass where children can run and play.
Seung-Taek (SOONG tek) likes to play soccer, and he can get a lot of that done in the huge yard
by the school, he said. But he said he likes more than just the yard.
"The people here are very kind," he said. "The teachers are very kind, and I can ask a lot of questions."
Seung-Taek, born in South Korea, is staying with family friends through next school year and
attending Ambleside School of San Angelo to learn more about American culture. Already, he has found
the people and students are friendly at the local school.
He first came to San Angelo three and a half years ago with his family. His father, Beom-Seog
Oh, was a visiting scholar at Angelo State University, and Seung-Taek fell in love with the area. Then,
when he got back to Korea, he begged for the opportunity to come back to San Angelo.
His father asked Won-Jae Lee, assistant professor of criminal justice at ASU, if Seung-Taek could
live with him and go to school here. Lee, who has three children of his own, saw it as a way to broaden
the cultural diversity for Seung-Taek, his own children and those at Ambleside.
Seung-Taek has been at Ambleside for just a few weeks and already fits in well at the school and
likes his classmates. He is a good-natured youth and smiles and laughs easily. He understands and speaks
English well, but sometimes finds it easier to speak Korean when answering questions.
Through interaction with the class, all students are able to see things from a global perspective
and know that one culture is not better than another, Lee said.
The students will have the ability to understand and accept differences among people, he said.
"He will be a future leader," Lee said. "Even though my children are born in United States, they
are Korean-Americans. As a parent, I want to have both cultural backgrounds. It's a good opportunity for
my kids to be exposed to the Korean culture.
"It's an opportunity for cultural diversity and to meet Seung-Taek's dreams."
Lee helped choose Ambleside because the leadership at the school was open and welcoming to the
idea of educating a foreign-born student.
Ambleside students were excited by the opportunity to have the boy in class, said Randy Lemaster,
school director.
The school talked to Lee and other Korean-Americans to learn about the Korean culture in an effort
to make the transition easier on Seung-Taek and make him feel welcome, Lemaster said.
"It's a great experience and a chance for our students to learn his culture," he said. "It's a
win-win situation for everyone. Everyone has welcomed him with open arms."
The South Korean education system is good but ultra-competitive, which places stress on the students,
Lee said. Ambleside has a noncompetitive philosophy where students continually try to do to their best and better
themselves and don't compete with other students.
Speaking to Lee in Korean, Seung-Taek said he likes that his schedule is not as tight as it was in Korea.
He also likes his classes at school.
Seung-Taek said his favorite subjects so far are math and handwork, where students his age work on mosaics.
His goals right now are to develop his English, exercise more and grow tall and see more of the
United States, which he called a "big world."
"Here, he is getting out of such a competitive boundary," Lee said after talking to the boy in
Korean. "He can do more of whatever he wants to do. He fully enjoys what he is learning, and he is taking
ownership of his education."
The Oh file
* Name: Seung-Taek Oh.
* Age: 12.
* Grade: Ambleside School of San Angelo 6th-grader.
* Family: Father Beom-Seog Oh, mom Myung-Hee Jung, and sister Eun-Seo Oh.
* Hobbies: Soccer, Taekyundo (Korean Martial Art), Judo (Japanese Martial Art), and Block Assembly.
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