Outrageous firings at OCHS
Hello,
Mr. Karl Hwang is an overqualified, inspirational, and generally amazing teacher that is being fired by Oconee County High School without a reasonable explanation. A coach that is currently in the P.E. department is being forced to go into the math department to make room for an assistant of the incoming football coach, Nick Saltaformaggio (“Coach Salt” for short). And there are several other questionable firings happening this year at the high school such as the only woman in the physical education department.
Originally Mr. Hwang, a graduate of Georgia Tech, worked as a civil engineer and tutored physics and calculus on the side. Soon he grew tired of Engineering and decided to pursue teaching. He earned a Masters in Mathematics Education from the University of Georgia and began student teaching at Oconee County High School.
A few months ago, two years after he began teaching full time at Oconee, Mr. Hwang confirmed rumors that he was being let go. Apparently, the administration considers Mr. Hwang to, “not be what [we were] expecting, professionally”.
A day or so after the protests began; two administrators threatened Mr. Hwang with termination if the protests did not stop. They claimed that he started the protests and that he wanted the uproar. Even though the principal denied having talked to Mr. Hwang, several teachers confirmed that the confrontation took place. Let me be clear, this protest was solely the idea of my friends and me.
Apparently the protests were to no avail. The BOE and the administration ignored the public demands and declined to offer an explanation for the firing. And Mr. Hwang is taking his impressive qualifications to Hawaii in the fall.
We have established a scholarship in Mr. Hwang’s name. The criteria are as follows.
* The student must exhibit honor and integrity (two letters of
recommendation from teachers and/or previous employers must be
submitted)
* The student must be accepted into either a technical college or a
4-year university
* The student’s intended College Major must be something to benefit
the community (education, law, social work, fine arts, music, etc…)
* Student must contribute a brief account of his/her toughest
challenge and how they overcame it.
In addition to getting donations from businesses, on May 13^th there will be a concert at Nuci’s Space in downtown Athens
Thank you,
Jared Smith
Mr. Karl Hwang is an overqualified, inspirational, and generally amazing teacher that is being fired by Oconee County High School without a reasonable explanation. A coach that is currently in the P.E. department is being forced to go into the math department to make room for an assistant of the incoming football coach, Nick Saltaformaggio (“Coach Salt” for short). And there are several other questionable firings happening this year at the high school such as the only woman in the physical education department.
Originally Mr. Hwang, a graduate of Georgia Tech, worked as a civil engineer and tutored physics and calculus on the side. Soon he grew tired of Engineering and decided to pursue teaching. He earned a Masters in Mathematics Education from the University of Georgia and began student teaching at Oconee County High School.
A few months ago, two years after he began teaching full time at Oconee, Mr. Hwang confirmed rumors that he was being let go. Apparently, the administration considers Mr. Hwang to, “not be what [we were] expecting, professionally”.
A day or so after the protests began; two administrators threatened Mr. Hwang with termination if the protests did not stop. They claimed that he started the protests and that he wanted the uproar. Even though the principal denied having talked to Mr. Hwang, several teachers confirmed that the confrontation took place. Let me be clear, this protest was solely the idea of my friends and me.
Apparently the protests were to no avail. The BOE and the administration ignored the public demands and declined to offer an explanation for the firing. And Mr. Hwang is taking his impressive qualifications to Hawaii in the fall.
We have established a scholarship in Mr. Hwang’s name. The criteria are as follows.
* The student must exhibit honor and integrity (two letters of
recommendation from teachers and/or previous employers must be
submitted)
* The student must be accepted into either a technical college or a
4-year university
* The student’s intended College Major must be something to benefit
the community (education, law, social work, fine arts, music, etc…)
* Student must contribute a brief account of his/her toughest
challenge and how they overcame it.
In addition to getting donations from businesses, on May 13^th there will be a concert at Nuci’s Space in downtown Athens
Thank you,
Jared Smith
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