An agricultural student who decided to raise students, not trees.
The story of a Korean teacher's struggles, never knowing he would be teaching in public schools.

Things that would be difficult to experience at other schools
Kids I would never have met in my life if I hadn't come to the announcement.
The story of public notices and their students in this era, where they are everywhere but no one respects them.
Above all, it's the story of students who have lived as our neighbors for a long time.

“Some people call children who attend public high schools ‘problem children’ or ‘dropouts.’
Regardless of this harsh discrimination, when the new semester begins in March, I start classes again from the beginning as if nothing had happened.
It's only natural that if there's a model student, there's a troublemaker, if there's a first-class student, there's a last-class student, and if there's a non-disabled student, there's a disabled student.
“School is a place where they come together to study, play, laugh, chat, sometimes fight, conflict, and then reconcile.”
- In the book

“Kyungsoo, let’s talk to the teacher.”
I was worried that he would ignore my suggestion, but Kyungsoo raised his head with sleepy eyes.
The guy accepted my invitation.
When we sat awkwardly facing each other in the counseling room, I didn't ask Kyungsoo any questions.
Instead, he said, “I really hate you for sleeping face down every day,” and confessed, “I’m sorry as a teacher for hating you and not even asking about your circumstances.”
I then opened up about the anger I experienced as a poor youth and the difficulties and discrimination I experienced as a Korean language teacher with an agricultural background.
Kyungsoo just listened to my story without saying anything.
When I finished speaking, the guy opened his mouth just once.
“If you’re finished speaking, can I leave?”
--- p.16~17

I remember Taeyoung passing through the school gate well past 9 a.m. a few years ago.
The guy's face already looked tired, as if it were 9 o'clock at night.
A fellow teacher asked why he was late.
“My parents hadn’t been home for several days, and all I had left was 1,000 won.
I gave that to my younger sibling who was in middle school for transportation and walked.
sorry."
The guy's house was about ten kilometers from the school.
It's a distance that takes about two hours at an adult's pace.
What would people think when they saw a student in a public high school uniform walking down the street long after school hours?
--- p.18~19

The announcement also shows that there are many students and parents who are actively seeking employment.
There are also good businesses that welcome excellent graduates.
The problem is that even if we combine all those good things, we can never reach the '70 percent employment rate'.
Irrational numbers come from that gap.
“What did you say?”
“…….”
“Teacher, can’t you hear me? What did you say?”
“Gwanghoon’s finger was cut off.
There are four.
“It’s pressed down by the press and can’t even be pasted.”
For a while I was speechless.
All the children in the classroom looked at me in silence.
No one said anything out loud, but it seemed like everyone was criticizing me and the school.
The numbers written and erased on the blackboard in the teacher's office every day, the temptation of decreasing class hours, persistent persuasion of students, filling in the blanks under the guise of class, competition among teachers...
The kids seemed to be asking all of those questions.
"Sam, why were you so enthusiastic? Are you really doing it for us?"
--- p.25~26

Since there are very few cases of students entering vocational high schools on their own, children in technical high schools want to get out of school as quickly as possible.
I understand how you feel, having gone to school with the school uniform branded as a stigma and hearing countless insulting comments like “idiot” and “student.”
But for some reason, after graduation, the children miss the announcement and always come back to school at least once.

--- p.37

“I found it boring and unbearable to do simple work in the factory every day.
“The thought of doing this for the rest of my life made me feel dizzy.”
I decided not to be disappointed anymore.
Why would a public high school student not have interests and aptitudes?
Just because a large company is big doesn't mean it's good for everyone.
Jeonghoon said he wanted to cook.

--- p.46

The student department selected the so-called 'high-risk students' from 1st to 20th with the highest penalty points among the entire school.
Most of these children had over 40 demerit points, and some had over 60 points and were about to be expelled.
The student affairs teachers decided to proactively manage these students and try to save them somehow.
As part of this, each student affairs teacher was assigned to two students and they were to somehow graduate.

--- p.67~68

“Teacher, the kids sniff around whenever they come near me.
“I think it’s because my body smells.”
I comforted Yang Hoon again by telling him that there was no smell.
He promised to take action if there was any bullying from his classmates.
Anger began to dance in Yang Hoon's eyes.
“Teacher, you sniffed at me yesterday too!”
“Teacher? I’ve never done anything like that.”
"Sam was definitely sniffing! Yesterday, as soon as I entered the classroom, he immediately covered his nose!"
The eyes of the teachers in the teachers' office were focused on me.
Yang Hoon-i glared at me sharply for a while and then returned to the classroom.

--- p.80

Our children are very different.
It's hard to come to school or stay at school.
One class I taught started the semester with 23 students, but by the end of the year, only 16 remained in the classroom.
Seven people left school in one year.
Why do children struggle with school life? Each child has their own reasons and circumstances, and we can't blame everything on the student and their parents.
The problem is that schools are unable to capture children's interest and attention.
How should schools change?
--- p.89~90

“Teacher, I’m dying.
“No matter what I do, the fat won’t go away.”
That's what I wanted to say more than anyone else.
The belly fat that had accumulated over 40 years just wouldn't go away.
There have been more than a few times when I've looked at my sagging belly at school and then put on my tracksuit and ran out to the playground.
There were times when I was confused as to whether I was a Korean language teacher or an athlete who had entered the Taereung Athletes' Village.
Thanks to the support of many children and fellow teachers at school, I didn't lose strength.

--- p.97

It would be nice to have a dramatically beautiful body, but at 185 centimeters tall and 74 kilograms, it just didn't look right for a man in his 40s.
The face is thinner and the cheekbones are more prominent.
As the amount of time I exercised increased, the number of wrinkles around my eyes also increased.
People I met after a long time all asked the same question.
"Where does it hurt? Are you getting regular checkups? Take care.
“Your 40s are an age that passes by in an instant.”
--- p.98

A self-growth project started to somehow bring children who hate school to school and keep them there.
Perhaps my love for school grew as much as my visible muscles? In any case, both students and teachers in our fitness class won awards in our first competition.
Dongyeon took first place in the high school bodybuilding division.
I placed 3rd in the Masters Sports Model.
Trophies were awarded for 1st to 3rd place, and medals for 4th to 7th place, and we each received a gold and bronze trophy, which was nice to see.
The organizers called us up on stage and gave us a big round of applause, saying, “The challenge of teachers and students is beautiful.”
It was truly the first applause I'd heard for our high school students in a long time.

--- p.99~100

Seongsu doesn't say a word at school.
Is he a special child? In some ways, yes, but in the job market where I work, it's not that surprising.
We have a really diverse group of kids attending our school.
There are children with borderline intellectual disability, and there are also children who have not acquired much knowledge other than Korean.
While some children grow up to be troublemakers with wealthy parents, others don't even know their parents, don't know what their parents do, or even try to avoid finding out.
Every year, when the new semester begins in March, there is inevitably talk about the 'most unique' students entering the school.
Children who rarely attended classes in middle school, children who were involved in various incidents and accidents, children who had difficulty learning due to depression, etc.

--- p.121~122

The school-age population is decreasing every year, and the aversion to public high schools is increasing even faster.
If a class is reduced by one student, two or three teachers will have to leave the school.
Notice of dismissal is given to temporary teachers first.
I also heard other voices from within.
'What are you doing? We need to give children rational information and let them make their own choices.
Who are you to interfere with children's choices? Can you advise your own child to do the same thing you just said to that middle schooler?
It was painful.
The day I convinced a student who objectively could go to a better school than ours to apply to our school, I put him in the car and drove him to our school's principal's office.
The school gave him a warm welcome, as if he had met a noble person, and he decided to apply to our school.

--- p.129

Many of the children labeled as problem children come from socially vulnerable groups.
If the school gates are closed to children who have not been properly cared for due to difficult family circumstances, where on earth will they spend their time?
But when I come to school, I have friends, teachers, and a warm meal.
How fortunate it is that South Korean schools, which fail to provide holistic education and are outpaced by private academies in entrance exam preparation, are playing even this role.
When I suggested that he return to school, Jeongmin turned away, saying, “I don’t have the confidence to go back to first grade.”
I called Jeongmin again.

--- p.141~142

As the empty classroom suggests, the situation at the high school where I work is quite different.
The after-school Korean language class I teach is a mandatory class that children who fail the basic academic ability diagnostic test must take.
In fact, ‘basic skills class’ is a more accurate expression than ‘after-school class’.
I came to the public high school with relatively low academic achievement, and here too, I have to do what is called 'remaining studies'.
Some mischievous students even tease them by calling them “the idiot class.”
Children in basic education classes with low self-esteem often resort to various methods to avoid class.

--- p.144

“Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“What am I?”
I remembered Jeong-hee's appearance during the first class.
At that time, neither I nor the other children in the classroom noticed that Jeong-hee did not understand Korean well and that she was from Vietnam.
Jeong-hee's continued silence and quiet, unobtrusive behavior after that were all instinctive choices made by Jeong-hee, who had long since realized how children from immigrant families were treated in Korean society.

--- p.170

I made a short video to help students learn English, but it's going downhill now, and I think it would be a great help to the students if you, IU, could help us in this situation, and I spouted off some random stuff like that.
I asked as earnestly as I could, as it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
After finishing what I wanted to say, I looked at IU's expression.
IU smiled happily and allowed us to film her so that our teachers wouldn't feel embarrassed.
IU shouted while looking at the camera.
“You can do it.
You can do it!”
--- p.182~183

My students, who used to echo “You can do it!” and “I can do it!” in the public high school classrooms back then, are now all in their 30s.
I'm not sure how much memorizing that one sentence helped me in life.
However, whenever you face a huge wall in life that is difficult to overcome alone, I hope you will quietly repeat to yourself, "I can do it."

--- p.185

It's July.
News reached our local bodybuilding association that our school had established a formal fitness club.
I received a call inviting me to participate in the National Sports Festival Bodybuilding High School Preliminary Round.
I told the kids the news.
“The Bodybuilding Association told me to compete in the National Sports Festival preliminaries. What are your thoughts on that?”
“How many people are you picking?”
“Three in our area.”
Dongyeon, excited, jumped up from her seat.
"Sam, wow! Are you saying we can advance to the preliminary round of the National Sports Festival? Of course we should."
--- p.205

Our school achieved great results at the 2024 Fitness Korea Competition.
In addition to winning the beginner category, Seongjin also took first place in the novice category.
Dongyeon placed 3rd in the elite division.
The winner of the 1 million won prize money awarded to the 'best player' was Hyeongjun.
A few days later, a banner like this was hung at our school gate.
“Health Club, standing on the stage of dreams.”
Why would a humanities high school hang a banner announcing how many students went to Seoul National University? Every time I saw the banner on my commute, my heart swelled with pride.

--- p.209

A health club activity started to prevent children from dropping out of school.
There were times when I was at a loss as to whether to laugh or cry.
Two first-year students from the gym club who I used to work out with left our school.
It's not a dropout.
The two transferred to a humanities high school.
My heart was infinitely divided as to whether I should congratulate my child for leaving the public high school on his own initiative and through hard work, or if I applauded him as a teacher and wondered how the children remaining in the school would view me.
I thought it would be good if everyone supported each other's path and did their best in their own place, but I couldn't help but feel a sense of emptiness in my heart.
In 2025, I was in charge of the health department again.
It remains my responsibility to keep the announcement and strengthen the bodies and minds of the remaining children.
What will happen in the health department this year? The future is uncertain, but I plan to try and fail to my heart's content.

--- p.210~211

"Even if you don't study now, you'll be fine! They say that if you just know how to use the machines at our school, you can succeed!"
It means that even if you are not good at studying, if you are good at handling machines, you can be successful at anything.
What beautiful words.
But now, no adult in our society tells children this.
It has become a word that is difficult to hear at school, in the village, and in the media.
It's not just the parade that we've relegated to the past.
I think what we've truly lost is a world where you can succeed just by being good at mechanics, a society where you can make a living by working hard even if you're not very good at studying.

--- p.219