Mandarin immersion thriving in Tucson
Chinese immersion programs aim to give students cultural, academic, job advantages

Kindergarten teacher Lucy Lin asks Greta Reyerson, left, a question in Mandarin during a half-day kindergarten class at Sunrise Drive Elementary School, one of two schools in the Tucson area with Chinese immersion programs. Diana Urtaza work on her project.
About a dozen kindergartners gathered around tiny tables, each grabbing at crayons, scissors or glue, on a recent Monday morning at Sunrise Drive Elementary School.
The children were learning how to use the color green in a sentence using those items on a worksheet. Only, they were learning that in Chinese.
Sunrise Drive Elementary is one of two schools in the Tucson area providing Chinese immersion programs, which educators say are gaining popularity in the Tucson area. Mesquite Elementary in the Vail district is another one.
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