About Us
“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.” — Booker T. Washington
Our main goal is to give afflicted students opportunities to develop an in-depth understanding of academic concepts they are interested in. We hope to promote additional opportunities by reaching more potential interns, advocates, and students.
Our mentors achieve these results by teaching courses both virtually and in-person, with interactive elements.
Executive Board Members
President
Sihyun (Jennifer) Park, Founder
Jennifer is a second-year who is currently double-majoring in Biology (Pre-Med Track) and Statistics at the University of Virginia. She is a Student Research Associate for the UVA Institute for Engagement and Negotiation and a surgical volunteer at the Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital. Jennifer was selected to join the USOAR Program and work with Professor Franklin Dukes on the Africatown Heritage Preservation Foundation Research Project at UVA. She received a Maryland Merit Scholastic Award in 2022 due to earning a cumulative grade point average (GPA) within the top five percent (16 students) of her graduating class. She also received the Kevin George Scholarship Award in 2022 due to her orchestral achievements and the AP Scholar with Distinction Award in both 2021 and 2022. Along with her academic achievements, she is an internationally recognized cellist who had a solo debut at Carnegie Hall as a sophomore in high school, appearing in multiple newspapers, including the Baltimore Sun. She is the first-place winner of several international competitions, including the Golden Classical Music Awards in 2019 and the Grand Prize Virtuoso International Music Competition in 2021, which provided her with an opportunity to perform a solo recital at Solitär Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. Jennifer was appointed as the principal (first-chair) cellist of the Maryland All State Senior Orchestra in 2021 after participating in the orchestra for five years and participated in the Howard County GT Orchestras for nine years, where she was seated principal cellist of the Middle School GT Orchestra in 2017-18 and first chair of the High School GT Orchestra continuously from 2019 to 2022. She was a student at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University for seven years, where she participated in the Performance Academy for Strings, Performance Academy Festival Orchestra, and the Peabody Youth Orchestra, where she was seated principal cellist for both orchestras in 2021-2022. Jennifer was also the recipient of the Peabody Preparatory Scholarship in 2021-2022 and was nominated to play at the Peabody Vella Silver Recital in 2018, which enabled her to receive an achievement award at the Peabody Conservatory. Jennifer received the Gold Presidential Volunteer Service Award in 2021 for her community service throughout the years, including her long-standing work at the APPA House of Peace in Washington, D.C. from 2008 to now, her services as the founder of the T&T Mentoring Program, and as an in-person volunteer at the BridgingLife Hospice. Being a Korean-American herself, she started the mentoring program in order to help students who hope to come to the United States to further their education. She teaches a wide range of topics to a variety of students, including English grammar and vocabulary, English literature, biology, chemistry, algebra, geometry, Spanish, history, and speech to students of all ages and backgrounds.
Contact Information: sihyunjennifer@gmail.com
Vice President
Olivia Roh
Olivia Roh is a senior at Centennial High School. The numerous opportunities Olivia has been able to face enabled her to enjoy several programs and activities. By practicing the flute
regularly and auditioning for various bands/orchestras, Olivia was able to be admitted into bands such as Howard County’s GT/Honor’s band, Peabody Wind Band, and Maryland’s All State band. Some orchestras she has been in includes the Baltimore Symphony’s Concert
Orchestra and as of now she is playing in Peabody’s Wind Orchestra. Being a student at a Korean school has also enabled her to join in for competitions such as the “‘Spelling Bee Competition,” and “Korean Writing Composition Contest,” which was held by the Washington
Association for Korean Schools. Olivia enjoys helping and teaching others. She hopes to try her best in leading others with patience and generosity and become someone others can rely on.
Advisory Committee Chairs
Taewan Chung
Univerity of Michigan
Chemistry, Advisory Committee Chair
Taewon Chung is a neuroscience major at Northwestern University. In 2021, he was awarded a scholarship by the National Science Foundation and the American Chemical Society to conduct chemistry research as a DAAD RISE intern at the University of Freiburg in Germany. He was also a chemistry olympiad semifinalist in 2018.
Sieun (Angela) Park
UC College- Conservatory of Music
Flute Performance
Sieun Park is an undergraduate student at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music and is currently a bachelor's student under Professor Demarre McGill. Park participated in the orchestras, Peabody Wind Orchestra (2016-20), Howard County High School GT Orchestra (2017-19) with TwoSetViolin (2018-19) and with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, and the Peabody Youth Orchestra (2019-20),
among several others involving her current school. In 2019, Park won the Peabody Wind Orchestra Concerto Competition and was accompanied by the orchestra during
her performance of the Ibert Concerto in 2020. As for her achievements, Park was the recipient of the Peabody Preparatory’s Performance Academy Full Scholarship from 2016 to 2020 and the first-place winner in the senior division of the Flute Society of Washington Student Honors Competition and the Washington National Youth Music Young Artist competition in 2017. She was selected to perform in the 2018 Marina Piccinini International Masterclass, won the 2018-19 Fran G. Zarubick Honors Competition at the Peabody Conservatory, was accepted to the 2019 MPulse Summer Performing
Arts Institutes - Flute Institute, attended the Oberlin Flute Academy in 2019 with the Robert Willoughby Scholarship, and officially received The President’s Volunteer Service Award in 2019.
Sieun Park also teaches private music lessons and has been involved with volunteer work at the APPA since 2008.
Sophie Kang
University of Maryland, Psychology
Sophie Kang is a freshman at the University of Maryland. She has been a part of the Howard County GT Orchestra for 8 years since 2014 and was seated assistant principal violist of the High School GT Orchestra in 2021-2022. She has also participated in the Maryland All State Orchestra since sophomore year, which consisted of a difficult audition process that, nonetheless, specifically selected and invited Sophie to the orchestra. She plays Academy soccer and has been involved with outstanding environmental community service throughout her life. Sophie is a high-marking student who enjoys challenging herself with difficult and intensive courses as a part of her academic career. She wants to help kids learn in an enjoyable, but effective way, which has been proven to be possible with her captivating teaching style. Sophie teaches English and aids the students with their pronounciation and understanding of complex literature and vocabulary.
Mentors
Sungwon Chung
Rice University, Computer Science (freshman)
-Biology, Science, Math, and English
Jei Kim
Senior High, Eastern Mennonite High School, Virginia
-English and Math
Kyubi Kim
My name is Kyubi Kim, a senior at Korean Kent Foreign School in Seoul. I've already taken five natural science courses, including AP courses which shows my great interest in science. As saying goes, my motivation was to use my skills and knowledge to help people, which leads to my goal of working in the medical industry. Thus, I'm currently looking forward to majoring in biomedicine or any natural science undergraduate degree. Not only do I have an interest in science, I consider computer science/robotics heavily too, as it's an important field that would assist my goal in the future. If I were to tutor teens, I'm confident in high school-level Biology and Environmental Science. Though I'm a student who is still in the learning stage in high school, I would try my best to inspire and tutor them!
Minjae Kim
Minjae Kim is a senior at Mount Hebron High School. He has been part of the Movement competition climbing team for less than a year but has still qualified for the Sport and Speed Open National Climbing Competition. He has also achieved a climbing grade of v10 in his first year, estimated to take around an entire decade of steady climbing. As a past student of Bethel Korean School, he has scored a level 4 on the TOPIC Test of Proficiency in Korean, which measures proficiency in reading, writing, and listening comprehension in the Korean language. As part of Bethel Korean School's SAT group, he participated in several Korean Writing Composition Contests, Spelling Bee Competitions, and Story Telling Competitions held by The NAKS (National Association for Korean Schools) Washington Association. His most significant accomplishments were the 2014 National Korean Writing Competition (1st place overall), the 2017 National Korean Writing Competition (2nd place), the 2014 National Story Telling Competition (3rd overall), and the 2019 National Spelling Bee Competition placing (3rd overall). Minjae is a high-achieving individual who views learning as fun and constantly challenges himself to work above and beyond. He can take the initiative and focus on honing skills and habits so that others may benefit from his actions. He is considerate of those around him, which creates a more efficient learning space through trust in others.
Kayla Cooperstock
Dance Company Member, Maryland
-Modern Dance, Pop Dance, and English
Jennifer Shin
Jennifer Shin is a junior at Mount Hebron High School. In school, she is a member of the volleyball team and makes opportunities to spread deaf awareness through a sign language club. As an assistant teacher at Bethel Korean School, she won the President’s volunteer service award (Gold medal), which shows her engagement with the community. She also joined the Salam center to help Islamic refugees and displaced people in the Baltimore area. In the summer, she used to participate in the VBS Program as a teacher which was purposed to teach children bible learning with fun activities every summer break. She is very interested in art and digital illustration using drawing programs such as Procreate, Adobe Illustrator, and Photoshop to reach a professional level. Also, she likes to learn various topics in science, especially chemistry and biology, as she is currently doing an internship at NeuroICE, Johns Hopkins SOM.
Grace Kang
Grace Kang
Grace is a sophomore at Marriottes Ridge High School. She plays soccer for a high level program called Baltimore Armour, and also has experience in various sports including basketball and volleyball. She sings and does chorus for her middle school program, and volunteers at local churches to teach kids Korean and the gospel. Grace also babysits kids, and enjoys working with them. To conclude, she loves to work with others, and creates friendly relationships to maintain a kind community.
Jessica Cooperstock
Musical Company Actress, Maryland
-Musical, Play, and English
Sanghyun Park
Georgemason University, Computer Science, Fairfax, Virginia
-Computer and Coding
Austin Park
My name is Austin Park and I am looking for a job in the STEM field. I am currently 17 years old. I am a junior at Panther Creek High School in Cary, North Carolina. Through this opportunity, I would like to aid people. I would also like to improve my speaking and communication skills. While also improving my listening skills. I love to stay active with sports and go outside to the gym, park, etc.
Ashley Park
My name is Ashley Park and I am currently a junior student attending Panther Creek High School in Cary, North Carolina. I am also currently 17 years old. My educational aspirations consist of acquiring a Bachelor of Science or Biological Science degree in any biological or health science. These visions would assist me in pursuing a medical career as a doctor. During my undergrad years, my goal is to attend UNC-Chapel Hill and undergo pre-medicine. I would also like to continue my graduate years at the UNC Adams School of Dentistry. My career vision is to one day attain a career in which I am able to use my knowledge and skills in order to assist others, improve their quality of life, and provide diverse health services in the United States. Considering the Teen Mentor Summer Volunteer Program, I am most confident in assisting in middle-school math and chemistry.
Nancy Bok
Senior High, Eastern Mennonite High School, Virginia
-English and Math