{"id":4814,"date":"2016-02-24T18:47:00","date_gmt":"2016-02-24T22:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=4814"},"modified":"2016-05-18T16:35:16","modified_gmt":"2016-05-18T20:35:16","slug":"compass-keepers-club-jae-lee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/compass-keepers-club-jae-lee\/","title":{"rendered":"Compass Keepers Club: Jae Lee"},"content":{"rendered":"

It has been close to 40 years – almost four decades – since she was a high school student, walking through Princess Anne\u2019s doors and making her way to classes each morning. She cannot immediately recall the last name of the friend she used to eat lunch with or the names of all her teachers.<\/p>\n

But, she vividly remembers the hallways.<\/p>\n

And, for good reason.<\/p>\n

Each week, when Jae Lee was in English class, her teacher would pull her to the side. She would quietly lead Lee out of room, grab two metal desks and put them in the hallway – one for Lee and one to put directly in front of her.<\/p>\n

Then, Lee would wait.<\/p>\n

She knew someone would come and join her, but she didn\u2019t know who. It was always someone new. Someone different to come sit across from her.<\/p>\n

Make no mistake, Lee never acted out of line. These hallway sessions were not an act of discipline; they were, in actuality, an act of grace.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_5767\"<\/a>Lee was just 16-years-old when her family immigrated to America from South Korea. She came to the country knowing no one and no part of the English language. Though she was high school age, when she first registered for school, she was sent to Independence Middle to work on her English.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really hard for me,\u201d Lee said. \u201cI cried every day. People were different. The food was different. The language was different. Everything was different.\u201d<\/p>\n

At home each night, Lee would break open her copy of the dictionary, desperately scanning each page.<\/p>\n

\u201cI memorized as many words as I possibly could \u2013 not even knowing what they meant,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

After a few months, administrators allowed Lee to go back to high school. However, her English had only marginally improved, which meant she was just as lost in class most days and felt even more isolated from her classmates. In her isolation, she said, she became very shy and would not interact much with others.<\/p>\n

Enter the hallway.<\/p>\n

Her teachers had an idea. Once a week, for an hour, they would pull Lee out of class and partner her with a classmate. They did not have a lesson to go over or an assignment to complete.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey would talk and I would listen,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n

Being able to follow the conversation not only aided her English, it helped her make some friends at school.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always say they wanted to get me out of my shell,\u201d Lee said with a laugh.<\/p>\n

High school was never easy \u2013 \u201cI was never popular,\u201d Lee points out – but it was made more bearable with friends and great teachers. She would be in English as a Second Language (ESL) classes for the rest of her high school career. She credits those classes with teaching her the language (today, Lee speaks fluent English and even does interpreting work at her church).<\/p>\n

All the while in high school, she blossomed in her math courses.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was always good with numbers,\u201d Lee said. \u201cEven though I didn\u2019t speak English well, I was good at math because I didn\u2019t have to talk. I knew I wanted to do something with numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n

She graduated from Princess Anne and went into the workforce. By 1999, she came back to the school division, but this time working as a school bookkeeper. Now at Kempsville Middle School, she previously worked at the division\u2019s benefits office, Salem Middle, Plaza Middle and Landstown High.<\/p>\n

While working at Salem Middle, Lee was approached with a special opportunity. There had recently been a student who transferred into the city and only spoke Korean. She was asked if she could serve as an interpreter to help the student get registered.<\/p>\n

Lee agreed.<\/p>\n

Since that time, she has helped as an interpreter and tutor for a number of students \u2013 including those in the Kempsville community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been instances in which neither parent has been able to communicate without Jae,\u201d said Kempsville Middle Principal Dr. Patti Jenkins. \u201cHer willingness to assist is always met with gratitude and overwhelming appreciation. Jae has stated that she believes she has a purpose in helping others. She is a woman of great faith and aims to live a life that reflects her beliefs. It is obvious how caring Jae is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her caring nature has led Jae to extend her efforts beyond interpreting. While it’s not an exact replica of her own hallway lessons, she sets time aside each week to serve as a mentor for other students who have transferred in from other countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know exactly what they are going through,\u201d Lee said. \u201cThey feel that no one understands how they feel. Even though it was long ago, I still remember. It makes me feel good because I didn\u2019t have that when I was here. That\u2019s why I (mentor), so they don\u2019t feel like they\u2019re alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

As it turns out, Lee\u2019s own story is inspiring enough for today’s students.<\/p>\n

One day, one of Lee\u2019s mentees was meeting with her, a little overwhelmed at all that she was facing. Lee said she just tried her best to assure her that things do get easier. It was hard at first for her too, she shared, and she went through the same struggles, but now she is here with a great job, circle of friends and family.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh,\u201d her mentee replied. \u201cI\u2019m so glad it\u2019s going to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It has been close to 40 years – almost four decades – since she was a high school student, walking through Princess Anne\u2019s doors and making her way to classes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":4819,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4814"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4857,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4814\/revisions\/4857"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}