Passport to FCS: A visit to Korea – News

The Illinois State University Department of Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) hosted its second annual summer camp for middle schoolers this June. Camp attendees consisted of 30 students from the Western Avenue Community Center (WACC) in Bloomington. These students participated as part of WACC’s month-long Willie Brown Leadership Program.

“Our overall objective for Passport to FCS is to educate young people and the community about FCS majors and careers,” explained Jenna Kirkwood, academic advisor for FCS.

While the inaugural summer camp highlighted Italy, this year’s participants focused on Seoul, Korea. Korean culture came to life through a variety of projects. “The campers participated in hands-on activities to learn about Korean family dynamics by reading a Korean children’s story and then creating a short film about the book, which is related to our Human Development and Family Science major,” said Kirkwood. “They also learned about Korean cuisine (similar to our food and beverage management major) by making their own boba and a Korean-style pancake, in addition to projects that featured fashion design and merchandising, and interior design.”

This immersive curriculum would not be possible without the camp counselors who helped to develop it. Christina Dababneh is a graduate student in art education and is also completing her online FCS teacher education graduate certificate. She was responsible for developing the curriculum for the fashion, design, and merchandising and the interior design portions of the camp. Raegan Vaughan is a senior FCS teacher education student, and this is her second year serving as a counselor. She was responsible for developing the human development and family sciences and the interior design portions of the curriculum.

“Planning for the camp, creating the curriculum, and designing the activities is all worth it when you see it come to life,” said Vaughan.

For the fashion project, students created bucket hats inspired by traditional Korean headwear. This project gave them an understanding of cultural headwear. They were able to create patches and artwork to represent themselves. “I’m really big on choice-based projects in general, and letting the students make choices through their art,” said Dababneh. “Everything shows through in their art. I get to know the students and their personalities so quickly.”

The interior design project had students focus on applying Korean interior design principles to a shoebox. “Pangsu incorporates elements of nature in design, such as air, fire, and water,” explained Vaughan. “Students could choose to design a bedroom, living room, or kitchen. They were able to use their imaginations to create their own spin on the project.”

“One of the biggest challenges of creating curriculum for camp was to make sure that we were appreciating the Korean culture,” said Dababneh. “We made sure that we were teaching the difference between appreciation and appropriation. We sincerely wanted to be respectful of the culture.”

Both counselors hope to find themselves in front of a classroom full-time one day: Dababneh as an art or FCS teacher, and Vaughn as an FCS teacher. “I have always loved FCS,” said Vaughan. “I am glad to help future students try new things and gain more interest in FCS career areas.”

“I hope the students see that they have creativity within them, and that they can always fall back on it for expression,” said Dababneh. “The world is tough enough; creativity can be an escape.”

On the final day of camp, campers’ parents/guardians were invited to see a showcase of the work the campers had done. They were also able to eat lunch at Watterson Dining Center for a literal taste of what college life is like. 

Learn more about studying the majors within the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences on their website.