Jean Kim was born in Seoul, South Korea, and moved to Lawrence, Kansas, when she was six months old while her father pursued his master’s and Ph.D. at the University of Kansas. Growing up in a university town shaped much of her early life—an experience she now recognizes in the way she is raising her own children in a similar community.
Her family moved frequently during her childhood, living in Kansas, Seattle, South Korea, and Canada. She attended and graduated from the University of Toronto.
After her husband completed his studies at the University of Michigan, Kim moved to Ann Arbor about 14 years ago following their marriage. Soon afterward, the couple relocated to Japan for her husband’s work, where their first daughter was born. They later returned to Ann Arbor with their one-year-old and have since made the community their home.
Kim has two daughters, both of whom attended Dicken.
Dickens is very lucky to have Kim as the Noon Hour Coordinator, says Principal Heather Halabu.
“Jean rolls with the surprises that each day brings—from those sticky syrupy breakfast-for-lunch days to rainy days where we need to make a sudden shift to indoor recess,” says Halabu. “Jean always keeps cool and calm, and offers a warm smile to set the tone for a positive lunchtime experience for our students. Jean works closely with our team of supervisors and volunteers each day to ensure support of students’ behavioral needs and special circumstances. “
How did you decide to take on this role, and when?
After the COVID shutdowns, when students were returning to school under the hybrid model, I began working as a noon-hour supervisor. The next school year, when students returned to full-time in-person learning, I was promoted to noon-hour coordinator. When I first started working at Dicken, the current 5th graders were in Kindergarten!
What does the job entail?
As the coordinator, I do everything the lunch supervisors do. We help make lunchtime run as smoothly as possible. But mostly, I feel like we help open a lot of things: milk cartons, plastic lunch baggies, lunch boxes (actually these are harder to close), thermos, banana peels, yogurt pouches, yogurt tubes, cheese sticks, meat sticks, stuck coat zippers, etc., etc.
I also have a really good team of lunch supervisors. They all love to work with children, bring their own expertise as parents and/or grandparents, and are great at their jobs. I can’t think of another position at the school that sees so many kids at once every day. Who else sees every student at the school every single day?
The funny thing is, we start to learn what the kids like and dislike when it comes to food. A student once wanted to help me give out condiments and as she was standing next to me I told her that I can guess what condiment every student that comes through is going to ask for (eg: She’s going to ask for ranch only, he’s going to want ketchup only on the side, she’s going to ask for ketchup, bbq AND ranch etc etc) She didn’t believe me at first but at the end of that lunch I think she was in awe. She kept asking, “How’d you know?”
As the coordinator, I oversee nine lunch supervisors. I also coordinate 12-15 parent volunteers who each come about once a week to help out at lunches. I especially love and appreciate all of my parent volunteers. I could not run lunches without them. Most come straight from their jobs during their work lunch hour and go back to their own jobs right after! I am really lucky to have such dedicated volunteers at Dicken.
When there are field trips or assemblies, I also try to accommodate the necessary changes to lunch times as well.
How do you support students with diverse needs, including those with food allergies, during the noon hour?
Food allergies are taken seriously, so I cannot make up my own rules for them. We have one dedicated table for students with allergies, where they can sit with a friend. The friend cannot be a student who has a home lunch because it can contain allergens, but rather someone who takes a school lunch. Most parents give permission for their child to sit at the general tables, but if the student sees a lot of food around them that they are allergic to, the allergy table is open for them to move to for that day. I was also trained to use an epipen but I hope to never have to use it.
How would you go about building positive, trusting relationships with students who are frequently in trouble or who struggle socially during noon time?
HUGS. I’m usually not a touchy, ‘huggy’ person, but I noticed that many students who frequently get in trouble also like to give or ask for hugs. So when a student comes for a hug, I return it to let them know, ‘Hey, I know you got in trouble yesterday, but no hard feelings, I still care for you.’
Can you recall something funny a child said or did recently?
No, but can I say that students lose a tooth a lot at lunchtime, so I can’t remember them all, but I will never forget my first lost-tooth experience.
It was my first time working as a supervisor, and a Y5 student had a really loose tooth at the beginning of lunchtime. After a while, he said it was suddenly gone. Basically, he lost his tooth, then lost his tooth. I had a TA and the school nurse trying to help me find it. We couldn’t find it anywhere and concluded that he must’ve eaten it along with his lunch.
Outside of work, what do you enjoy doing — and is there anything about your personal interests or background that you think would bring something special to this role at Dicken?
As a Korean-American, I can speak both Korean and English fluently. Ever since I was a teenager, I have tutored many young Korean EL students. I wish I could use my dual language more often here, but we do not get many new Korean families at Dicken. Maybe one day! I wish I spoke more languages, though, so that I can help some of our new students who come in speaking limited English.
How do you spend your summers?
Reading a lot. I have a goal of reading 30 books a year and use my summers to get a lot of reading done. And lots of pool time, using my summer bowling pass, collecting AADL summer game codes, and playing tennis with my family. Also: spending lots of time with my two kids!
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