Namhan Middle School in Hanam City has launched a meaningful project in which students personally document the history and daily life of their school, preserving its memories for future generations. By participating not merely as members of the school community but as archivists who record and preserve its history, the students are also presenting a new model for expanding local archival culture.
 [The Korean Today] Students participating in Namhan Middle School’s “2026 Hanam Archive Project – Our School Archive Team: Remembering Our School” © Reporter BKim sun-zin |
Namhan Middle School announced that it was selected as a participating school for the “2026 Hanam Archive Project – Our School Archive Team: Remembering Our School,” organized by the Hanam City Library Policy Division. The school will operate the creative experiential activities club program from April through November.
Founded in 1960, Namhan Middle School is the oldest middle school in Hanam City. With its long tradition and the memories of generations of graduates, the school was selected for the project based on the order in which middle schools in the city were established. The project is particularly meaningful because it will document the school’s history and present-day life through the eyes of students and preserve them as valuable educational and cultural assets for the local community.
A total of 15 students from the creative experiential activities club are participating in the program. They will investigate and document the school’s history, spaces, people and culture, while deepening their understanding of the school community and learning about the importance of archival work. They will also learn that records are more than a simple collection of materials; they are an important cultural heritage that conveys the identity and communal values of a school to future generations.
The subjects to be documented by the students are diverse. They include school symbols such as the school motto and emblem, the school’s historical timeline, and major facilities such as the library, science laboratory and gymnasium. Students will also record club activities, school festivals, educational programs and interviews with faculty members, current students and alumni. Using various archival methods, including photography, interviews, news writing and record cards, they will vividly capture both the past and present of the school.
The program is led by instructor Baek Chang-hee, a children’s literature author and cultural archive specialist who has documented the history and culture of Hanam. Baek also participated in creating the cover illustration for a third-grade social studies textbook published by the Gwangju-Hanam Office of Education. The “2026 Hanam Archive Project – Our School Archive Team: Remembering Our School” is being held once a month in the Dodam Room on the second floor of Namhan Middle School. A total of seven 90-minute sessions will be conducted.
 [The Korean Today] Students participating in a School Archive Club class © Reporter Kim sun-zin |
The program is designed around hands-on activities rather than conventional lecture-based instruction. Students will participate in activities such as creating a school memory map, preparing record cards for school spaces, interviewing members of the school community, documenting seasonal scenes around the campus, writing news articles and practicing photography. In particular, by developing their own questions, conducting interviews and writing articles, students will strengthen both their perspective as archivists and their ability to use media effectively.
Another distinctive feature of the program is that the students will serve as honorary reporters promoting their school. They will develop a fresh perspective on the school, share the stories they have documented with others, and introduce the history and values of the school to a broader audience. Through these activities, they are expected to improve their writing and communication skills while also developing a stronger sense of community and responsibility.
The results of the students’ activities will be compiled into a publication titled Our School Archive Team: Remembering Our School. Articles, interviews, photographs and archival materials collected and produced by the students will be published in a book and permanently preserved as part of the Hanam City Archives. The publication is expected to serve not merely as a record of school events, but as a valuable archival heritage containing the history of local education and the footsteps of the school community.
The Hanam City Library Policy Division will fully support the instructor fees and printing costs required to produce the archive book. Through this support, students will receive professional archival education, while the local community will establish a foundation for systematically collecting and preserving school records.
Teacher Lee Sang-eun, who is in charge of the program, said, “We expect that students will naturally develop affection, pride and a sense of community toward their school as they personally document its history. By experiencing the role of an archivist, they will also gain opportunities to explore future career paths. We hope that the stories of the school captured through the students’ perspectives will remain as valuable archival heritage for the local community.”
Instructor Baek Chang-hee said, “With the active interest and support of Principal Jung Woon-yong and teacher Lee Sang-eun, the students have been participating sincerely and enthusiastically in the School Archive Club. I will do my utmost to help them build pride in their school and produce meaningful results by November.”
Namhan Middle School’s archive project is attracting attention as a new educational model in which students grow not simply as recipients of education, but as archivists who actively participate in creating the history of their school. The memories of the school documented through the students’ perspectives are expected to become valuable assets that convey the school’s history and culture to future generations, as well as a new starting point for the archival culture of Hanam City.
 |
THE KOREAN TODAY × WIA CODE
이 기사의 WIA Code
WIA Code 스캐너로 비추면 인터넷 없이 발행 사실과 위·변조 여부를 확인할 수 있습니다.
휴대폰 기본 카메라로 찍으면 스캐너 안내 페이지가 열립니다 — 기사 바로 열기
움직이는 코드는 스트림입니다 — WIA Code 스캐너로 약 58초 비추면 기사 전문(사진 포함)이 폰에 저장되어 인터넷 없이도 읽을 수 있습니다.
WIA Code · 코리안투데이
Leave a Reply