Sejong Academy Board of Director Members
Da In Beck, Lower School Teacher Board Member
Contact Da In Beck at da-inbeck@sejongacademy.org
Thomas Caron, Community Board Member
Thomas is a former Sejong Academy teacher, now community board member. Contact Thomas at tcaron@sejongacademy.org
Emily Choi, Upper School Teacher Board Member
Contact Emily Choi at eychoi@sejongacademy.org
Karen Hong, Teacher Board Member
Karen is a second-generation Korean American from the Chicagoland area of Illinois. She has been with our school since its establishment in 2014. Karen holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from DePaul University, specializing in Management Information Systems and Marketing. Her career began as a business and financial analyst at a Fortune 500 company. She played a pivotal role in launching a 5000 sq. ft Japanese Restaurant, utilizing her expertise in small businesses, marketing, and her Illinois real estate license. Karen then oversaw operations as General Manager.
Following the birth of her three children, Karen's classroom experiences and insights into cultural and generational gaps, shaped by her upbringing with immigrant-refugee parents in the U.S., ignited a passion for education. She has served as a substitute teacher across St. Paul and Minneapolis schools, spent three years as Sejong’s PTO President, and contributed as an Americorp alumni, then Reading Corps program supervisor for seven years. For the past eight years, Karen has been dedicated to Sejong as a licensed Library Media Specialist, and she is currently pursuing a master's degree in educational leadership.
Grace Lee, Board Chair and Community Board Member
Grace is a second generation Korean American, born and raised in Dallas, Texas. She has a Bachelor’s of Business Administration from The University of Texas at Austin and a Masters of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary. She has 30 years of experience in both for-profit and non-profit organizations - Fortune 500 companies, the local church, local schools, government, community groups and social service organizations. She was appointed by Governors Dayton and Walz to serve on the Council of Asian Pacific Minnesotans. Grace is proud to be one of the founding board members of Sejong Academy and is grateful that her kids got to attend. Contact Grace at glee@sejongacademy.org
VACANCY, Lower School Parent Board Member
We have a vacancy for a parent board member. If you are interested, please email glee@sejongacademy.org.
Hoonseok Oh, Head of School, Ex-Officio Board Member
Mr. Oh is a middle school/high school science teacher at Sejong. He spent 5 years of his childhood in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan and moved back to South Korea at the age of 10. He studied science education in his undergraduate courses and learned physics, chemistry, biology, earth science, and instructional methods in science. He spent 2 years doing research during undergrad studies. He made two sky-blue phosphorescent iridium compounds and successfully received publication of his research paper in Bulletin of the KCS (Korean Chemical Society), which is one of SCI (Science Citation Index) in Korea. His paper can be found here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/bkcs.11334 . Mr. Oh was a soldier in the Republic of Korea Army and rose to a sergeant by the end of his military service. He worked in a public middle school in South Korea as a homeroom teacher and science teacher. He designed a lot of experiments to help his students understand scientific concepts. He likes to collaborate with his students and encourage them to share their thoughts. Contact Hoonseok at hoh1@sejongacademy.org