CHINESE IMMERSION IN NASELLE

Mandarin makes its mark

• Chinese Immersion

• 

  Damian Mulinix

  Naselle School kindergarteners go over Mandarin characters on a worksheet as part of a Chinese immersion class.

Damian Mulinix

First-graders names are spelled out in Mandarin above their backpacks in a Chinese immersion class at Naselle School.

Posted: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 6:00 pm

By KATIE WILSON

kwilson@chinookobserver.com

NASELLE — It’s nearly recess and the students in Qian Xiao’s kindergarten class are restless. They start to ask her questions — in English. But Xiao, who goes by the name “Tina,” responds in Mandarin. Her students listen intently. One girl twists in her seat and a boy, at Xiao’s prompting, looks out the window to see if there is any snow on the ground.

In Mandarin, he tells her there isn’t any.

It’s been one year since the Naselle School, grades K-8, introduced a Mandarin immersion program for kindergarten and first grade. With 37 students enrolled in the immersion program and the majority of students performing well on state tests, Principal Karen Wirkkala hopes the program will continue.

The school has reapplied for the grants that currently fund the classes and provide the native Chinese-speaking teachers, and school officials should know next month whether or not the grant applications were successful.

Please read more here.

Trustees with the Natrona County School District have unanimously approved a recommendation establishing a second dual language immersion program at a Casper elementary school.

Trustees approved the new Spanish immersion program at Park Elementary School during Monday night’s regular meeting. Trustees also approved an expanded 20-1 class size radio for the program.

Mark Mathern, the district’s associate superintendent of curriculum and instruction, says the approved recommendation will open up 20 immersion seats at Park next year. He also says Spanish immersion interest has been high since trustees established a pilot Mandarin program at Paradise Valley Elementary School last year.

Read More: Spanish Immersion Program Approved for Park Elementary | http://k2radio.com/spanish-immersion-program-approved-for-park-elementary/?trackback=tsmclip

Tarwater Elementary school in the Chandler Unified School District will begin a Mandarin immersion program next year. They’re doing an excellent job of getting the word out.

And they’ve put together one of the most comprehensive overviews of a Mandarin immersion program, what it offers students and why the district is creating the program that I’ve ever seen.

You can find it here.

I encourage programs to borrow liberally from the document they created, it’s really well done and thorough.

For the 2014  list, please go to the web page of

金山中文教育协会/ Jinshan Mandarin Education Council

This is the parent-run non-profit that supports Mandarin immersion programs in the San Francisco Public Schools at Starr King Elementary, José Ortega Elementary and Aptos Middle school.

[This is from the Broadway Elementary School Social Media/PR coordinator, which just shows you what a powerhouse school it is that they even have a parent volunteer who does that. Here’s the page for their parent group, Dragon Sprouts.–Beth]

ENROLLMENT OPENS AT BROADWAY

Enrollment applications for the Mandarin Immersion 2014–15 Kindergarten cohort are now available in the Main Office at Broadway Elementary School. The one-page application can be picked up Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

It’s a conundrum all Chinese immersion programs face. An upcoming conference will help teachers with tools to do just that.

The website is here. The agenda is here.