The Lesson Continues
A sketch work The Patriotic Mind by Hong Thae Sok, a student with speaking and hearing impairments, was highly appreciated at the 10th national pencil drawing festival held in February 2024. Upon hearing the news, Kim Son Ok, a fine art teacher at Taehung Senior Middle School in Songyo District, Pyongyang, was moved to tears.
She recalled those days when she had helped the student.
Four years back, she encountered a disciple on the street, who said that her disabled son liked to draw pictures. Fully aware once again of the mission of an educator that there should be no unhappy student in our socialist system, she made up her mind to help him cultivate his talent.
She is well-known throughout the district as a competent educator who has won the title of October 8 model lecturer by producing many teaching methods for over four decades. But she has never taught such a disabled student.
She did her best for him; she bought a sign language textbook and burned the midnight oil to learn sign language so as to communicate with him.
Late at night, with a view to improving his practical ability, she would explain to him the details of fine arts, writing down the theoretical contents on paper.
Still today, she continues her efforts to bring into bloom his talent.