Some school board members in the Allegany County Public Schools don’t support the district’s Mandarin immersion program. The local newspaper looked into whether it’s worthwhile…

From The Cumberland Times-News

Cumberland native ‘understands the huge advantages of speaking Chinese’

By Teresa McMinn

CUMBERLAND — The Allegany County Public Schools Chinese Immersion Program will provide students virtually unlimited opportunities at home and abroad, said Adam Moessinger.

And he would know.

Moessinger, a 1999 Fort Hill graduate, last year was sworn in as a United States diplomat and sent to Shanghai, where he lives and speaks Chinese at work for at least four hours each day.

Recently, he read that ACPS parents are concerned the education board’s voting majority will abolish the Chinese language program.

As candidates, current board members Wayne Foote, vice president David Bohn and president Bob Farrell expressed concerns about the program. Bohn said the program’s source is “a soft power arm of the Chinese government.”

Moessinger said the immersion program is an asset for the school system.

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