Arum Han's Portfolio Homepage

Student Biography

I came to the United States to attend the University of California, Davis as an undergraduate.  My K-12 education vastly differed from my peers in the U.S. because I started off in a small, rural school run by American missionaries in the outskirts of Indonesia, transferred to a boarding school in seventh grade, and ended my high school education at an international school along with children of diplomats and professionals.  I had wished to be a teacher from a young age due to the fact it was often challenging for me to receive a quality education, especially having had to live away from home for my secondary schooling.  Being a teacher of English Learners was my particular aspiration because, growing up in Indonesia, I discerned the numerous difficulties my friends, who were English Learners, had to face.  I received a multiple subject teaching credential at California State University, Sacramento with an emphasis in multicultural/multilingual education.  However, my first teaching position was in middle school, and that is where I have spent most of my 11 years teaching.  I have taught subjects varying from home economics and journalism, to a self-contained English as a Second Language class of 4^th-6^th graders; I currently teach 8^th grade English and the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) Elective.

I was always fond of teaching, but in 2005, due to inexplicable circumstances, my parents lost their job, reputation, and savings that they had worked towards for over 20 years; we became homeless within months.  This experience resulted in a paradigm shift because prior to this incident, I was a sympathetic, charitable teacher wanting to help, but more so from a superior standpoint.  Following this event, however, I became an educator who empathized with students and carried a genuine desire to empower students.

I have served on multiple curriculum development teams to aid English Learners, I co-coordinate the AVID program on campus, and I continually strive to advocate for social justice through curriculum and instruction.  I am currently working towards my administrative credential and Masters in Education at the Principal Institute Leadership of the University of California, Los Angeles.  It is my hope that I will be more equipped to promote an equitable education, not limited to a classroom, but in a leadership position, where I would be able to influence a greater number of students and establish alternate policies that better support underserved students.

School Information

Berendo Middle School

1157 S. Berendo St. 
Los Angeles, CA 90006

Berendo Middle School is an urban public school located in Korea Town of Los Angeles, California, and is a part of the Los Angeles Unified School District.  The school serves approximately 1100 students of whom 1.3% are African American, 0.1% are American Indian, 6% are Asian, 0.5% are Filipino, 90.8% are Latino, 0.1% are Pacific Islander, and 1.2% are white.

Berendo Middle School was opened in 1911 after Berkeley and Los Angeles Boards of Education authorized the first middle schools in California, and it is the only school still in operation on the same site with the very same name.  Due to its extensive history, the demographics of the student population have continuously changed.  The school has experienced phases of success and failure owing to significant historical events, such as the onset of World War II when the Japanese Americans were sent to interment camps, because there was a high Japanese American population in this area, and also the various riots and gang violence that the community has had to live through.

As of late, the community has become a low socioeconomic area where the majority of the parents do not have a college degree, or even a high school diploma, and all of the students are on free or reduced lunch.  The community also has a high population of undocumented families.  Berendo Middle School has been a Program Improvement school for over five years, but for the past three years, the API has consistently increased, going from 661 in 2009 to 737 in 2012.  It is a Quality Education Investment Act (QEIA) school, which lends itself to lower class sizes and a more supportive structure for the students.  Additionally, it offers a variety of programs such as the Korean Dual Language Program (KDLP), School for Advanced Studies (SAS), and Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID).

PLI Fieldwork Cohort 13

Tutoring for Long Term English Learners
Implementation of an after school tutoring program for 7th grade Long Term English Learners to help them reclassify before entering high school.

Grades of Green
Working with Grades of Green, a non-profit organization, to establish a recycling and composting program on the school campus.

Shared Decision-Making Council
Active member of the council to voice opinions, ensuring that the decisions made are student-centered and for the good of the school community.

Advanced Via Individual Determination (AVID) Awards
Award ceremony for 7th and 8th grade AVID students to affirm them for their hard work, improvements, and excellence in academics.

Advanced Via Individual Determination (AVID) Parent Meeting
Meeting to inform parents of the AVID elective classes and to communicate methods of supporting their child at home.  Pathway to developing relationships with parents who are stakeholders in education.

AVID Co-coordinator
Working with the AVID site team of teachers and counselors to serve the needs of the AVID students in various ways; setting goals for the AVID site team for the 2012-2013 school year, and ensuring that the team makes progress towards the goals.

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