Effectively engaging adolescents and nurturing their academic, cognitive, and social development is a challenge for any educational program. Doing so in a bilingual program can even be more challenging.

With over 200 Mandarin immersion programs emerging in elementary schools over the past decade in a variety of contexts (Weise, 2018; also see CELIN Online Directory of Student Programs, https://asiasociety.org/china- learning-initiatives/find-or-document- program), a virtual tidal wave of Mandarin immersion students are moving into the secondary school grades (6-12).

During this transitional time, many Chinese immersion programs are struggling to retain students, keep them focused on school, and continue to develop a high level of language proficiency, cultural knowledge, and ability to grapple with more abstract and rigorous content in both languages (Chinese and English).