[BAREUM CNB Publisher Alex Kim] - A contest for naming schools in our native language, where students and teachers work together, adds special meaning to school spaces -
Cheonan Dong Junior High School held a contest titled 'Naming Spaces Near Us in Our Language' for students and school staff on October 14 (Wednesday) afternoon. This contest was organized to encourage students and school staff to view school spaces from a new perspective, express the characteristics and meaning of the spaces using Korean names, and reflect on the beauty and value of the Korean language.
This competition was conducted in two categories: student and staff. A total of 32 works were submitted, 16 in each category. Participants selected school spaces they were familiar with and proposed Korean names suitable for those spaces along with the meanings behind the names. Excellent works were then selected through an online preference vote involving staff members.
In the teacher and staff category, 'Dideomoreum,' a name attached to the school's hill path, was selected as first place. The name, combining 'dideum' from 'to step' and 'oreum' from 'to climb a hill,' embodies the wish that every step students take while climbing the hill path each day becomes a stepping stone toward their dreams and future.
The second-place winner was 'Doran-tteul,' a name attached to the lawn in front of the auditorium. Combining 'Dorandoran' and 'tteul,' the name conveys the meaning of a space where students gather on the lawn to share stories, rest together, and build precious memories. Its distinctive feature is that it expresses students' everyday communication and moments of rest in our warm native language.
The third place was taken by 'Semter', the name attached to the math room. This name, a combination of 'Sem' and 'ter', embodies the meaning of a learning space where students explore and solve problems based on mathematical thinking and cultivate wisdom. It expresses the characteristics of the curriculum and the role of the space in concise and familiar Korean.
This competition provided an opportunity to imbue school spaces used daily by students and school staff with new meanings and to creatively express those meanings using our language. Especially through the process of directly deliberating and proposing names for the spaces, we were able to reflect on the precious experiences of school life and examine together the rich expressive potential of our language.
Oh Eun-yeong said, "I hope that students and school staff could feel the beauty and value of our language in the process of directly naming school spaces," and added, "We will continue to carry out various educational activities so that students can creatively use our language and cultivate affection and a sense of belonging for school spaces."
Cheonan Dong Junior High School plans to create a school culture that enhances students' and staff's affection for and sense of belonging to the school space, and to promote the value of our language, through various language and cultural activities in which students and staff participate together in the future.
