Rehearsal photos courtesy of Erin Spector and Yinghua Academy

While most schools might have ended their week celebrating Valentine’s Day or President’s Day, the students at Yinghua Academy were busy putting on a dazzling Chinese New Year’s performance for their families. The Chinese immersion charter public school welcomed the Year of the Tiger on Friday with dances, skits, and musical performances involving all 300-plus students.

Every seat of the gym-turned-auditorium was filled, and many parents were left crowded in the back against the wall. Big red paper banners hung from the ceiling and a large painting of a dragon served as a stage backdrop, while loud chants of “gōng xǐ fā cái!”, the traditional Chinese New Year greeting of congratulations and prosperity, rang out all through the show.

Yinghua Academy Executive Director Betsy Lueth said this was the school’s fourth annual Chinese New Year celebration and their biggest event of the year. She says the school focuses a lot of energy and resources on this celebration because the lunar new year is considered the most important holiday in Chinese culture.

Read more here.

Here’s an article from Duval, Florida…

Mandarin language immersion program coming to K-8 Duval school this fall

Zoey Clontz, 6, practices her dance in preparation for the Chinese New Year.

JOHN PEMBERTON/The Times-Union

Bryan and Kim Clontz hold their two children, Zoey, 6, (left) and Olivia, 2. They are advocates of Chinese language training in school. Parents gathered Sunday for a Chinese dance practice.

JOHN PEMBERTON/The Times-Union

By JOHN PEMBERTON

Duval County Public Schools’ first Chinese immersion program is scheduled to open this fall at an existing charter school that focuses on foreign languages.

Global Outreach Charter School, a K-8 school in its first year of operation, agreed to add the Mandarin language program after a group of parents with adopted children from China approached Duval schools seeking an immersion experience.

Carol Mackoul, whose 5-year-old daughter is Chinese, helped spearhead the program and intends to enroll her daughter next school year.

“Having that language, the first language that she heard, I think is going to be a gift for her, whether she uses it just for herself or for the business world 20 years from now,” Mackoul said.

Mackoul is among about 250 members of First Coast Families with Children from China. About 150 of those members are adopted children.

Global Principal Ralph Della Crosse said the Mandarin program fits the school’s mission.

Read more here.

Ruch Elementary School student Robert Starchivick, 12, left, breaks up while practicing a conversation in Mandarin with Erika Adams, 12. Mail Tribune / Jim CravenJim Craven

From a projector screen in a classroom at Ruch School in rural Jackson County, Mandarin teacher Zhagang Frisbee, who moved here from China, instructs a group of 20 seventh- and eighth-graders to ask her how old she is.

“Ni duo dá?” the students respond.

“Wo  sanshiqi sui,” Frisbee replies. That translates to “I’m 37 years old.”

Frisbee explains that in China, it’s not considered impolite to ask someone their age.

“I know in America some old people don’t like to be asked how old they are,” she says.

A Mandarin Chinese program for grades 3 through 8 offered by the Southern Oregon Education Service District began late last month in 15 public school classrooms in Jackson, Josephine and Klamath counties, most of which are in remote locations, including Ruch, Prospect and Pinehurst. In Jackson County, two classes also are held at the Talent Elementary Outdoor Discovery Program.

Read the rest of the story here.

Lafayette, Louisiana’s World Languages Academy, at Alice Coucher Elementary school, added Mandarin this year. There are 14 students in the first Mandarin Kindergarten class.   Here’s an AP article about the program…

Apple for teacher is manzana, pomme or ping guo

LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) — In some classrooms at Alice Boucher Elementary, students who bring their favorite teacher a red, shiny apple have to call it a manzana, pomme or ping guo.

The school’s World Languages Academy offers immersion programs in Spanish, French or Mandarin Chinese. About 150 students are enrolled in the academy, one of the schools of choice in the Lafayette Parish School System. Parents must apply to enroll their child in the program, which begins at PreK for Spanish immersion and kindergarten for the French and Mandarin Chinese. A computerized lottery decides which children get open spots. Students learn their core subjects — all except English language arts — in their chosen foreign language. Some enrichment activities — physical education, music, art — may also be taught in English.

Read more here.

Here’s some interesting background on Mandarin immersion programs in British Columbia.

Vancouver (arguably the most beautiful city in North America, but I digress…) is about 17% Chinese. But it’s only now getting a Mandarin immersion program in its public schools, along with suburbs Coquitlam (see previous article) and Burnaby.

Interestingly, Vancouver and Burnaby are contemplating not taking advantage of all those Mandarin-speaking kids and instead making  their programs open only to children who already speak English. That’s one-way immersion, as opposed to two-way immersion. It’s a little controversial, as you can read here in an opinion piece in the Vancouver Sun by Henry Yu, a University of British Columbia history professor.

Another piece, by Ryuko Kubota, an education professor at the same University, also speaks for the need for two-way immersion and some of the reasons Chinese families may not embrace it.

There’s one tidbit in Yu’s piece, which I’d love to know more about – he says that Edmonton, Alberta schools have had Mandarin-English bilingual programs for 26 years, “with 13 schools and thousands of children learning Mandarin and English on a 50/50 basis.”

An article in the Canadian magazine Today’s Parent notes:

In Edmonton “the local board of education – has adopted one of the most radically decentralized programs in the country. Students are offered French immersion, but they can also sign up for bilingual elementary education in Mandarin, German, Ukrainian, Hebrew or Arabic. Among other options are a native education program featuring part-time instruction in Cree.”

Any Canadian readers who can tell us more about what’s going on up North?