Fall 2013
EXCHANGES The CEI Newsletter
Updates from The China Exchange Initiative Happy Holidays from the China Exchange Initiative! We are thrilled to announce the successful completion of the fall portion of the 2013-2014 Administrator Shadowing Project (ASP)! This year we focused our efforts on establishing new partnerships in Pennsylvania and Oregon. Pennsylvania was paired with schools in Hebei Province and Oregon with schools in Shaanxi Province.
In this issue: Updates from the China Exchange Initiative Review of ASP, Fall 2013 Notable Next Steps ASP 2013-2014 Program Participants
We held our hosting orientation meetings on September 12th in Pennsylvania at the Berks County Intermediary Unit and on September 27th in Oregon at the Confederation of Oregon State Administrators. At the meetings we first introduced everyone to CEI and to the education system in China. Then we prepped everyone for hosting, going over what to include in the shadowing week and dos and don't’s for hosting a foreign guest. At the end we even had time for a quick Chinese lesson! On Sept 11 we also held an ASP reunion in Pennsylvania at the BCIU. Participants traveled from all across the state to take part. Steve Gerhard, Michelle Saylor, and Joe Padasak gave presentations on the progress their schools have made since participating, and discussed future goals and plans. In addition to the Chinese administrators from Shaanxi and Hebei, we also hosted a group of administrators from Handan, Hebei this fall. These administrators were paired with American schools in Massachusetts during the 2012-2013 ASP, but were unable to travel last year due to visa difficulties. Their American partners traveled to China last April.
Review of ASP, Fall 2013 During their first week in the U.S., principals attended lectures and seminars in the Boston area to give them an overview of the U.S. education system. At the Boston College Lynch School of Education, Professor Irwin Blumer pushed the principals to expand their definition of a strong leader, while simultaneously demonstrating how American teachers lead a participation-based seminar. Principals discussed how they lead and encourage cooperation in their schools and techniques for improving their effectiveness. At the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Professor Katherine Boles talked about her research on how to create effective teacher teams in schools to improve instruction and create a school environment and culture that fosters collaboration. In order to learn more about the role the state government plays in education, the delegation attended lectures at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). Dr. Anping Shen and Dr. Julia Phelps presented on the role of the DESE and on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS), Massachusetts’s standardized Dr. Julia Phelps gives a presentation at the DESE state exam. In addition to lectures and seminars, administrators also visited local schools to learn more about the distinction between public and private schools in America. They were very impressed by the warm welcome they received at the Newton Country Day School of the Sacred Heart (NCD), a private Roman Catholic all-girls school. We drove up to the building to find that the entire middle school had lined the driveway, waving Chinese and American flags to welcome us. We were then whisked to the auditorium, where headmistress Sister Rogers gave a formal welcome followed by a student performance of scenes from the musical, The Pajama Game. NCD even prepared a translated synopsis so their Chinese guests could follow along. Principals then attended a panel where they learned about the differences between private and public schools and about the mission of NCD. Principals also visited Newton South High School, where Principal Joel Stembridge gave them an introduction to the school followed by a panel discussion with the principal, vice principal, chair of school board, a department head, and a house Students at NCD line up to welcome the delegation of Chinese principals master. Each member introduced
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Review of ASP, Fall 2013 their role in the school, giving our guests a clear understanding of the governance structure of a typical American public school. To get a taste of Boston’s history and culture principals visited various sites in the city, including Copley Square, Faneuil Hall, MIT, and the John F. Kennedy Museum. They even got to experience an American dinner party when they were welcomed into the home of CEI cofounder and Brookline local Charlotte Mason. The Chinese delegation also got a taste of Boston’s sports culture when they attended the Boston Celtics game against the Charlotte Bobcats at the TD Garden stadium. While the principals may have stood out in the crowd in their business attire, they quickly made friends with the other fans. During half time, everyone enjoyed the cheerleading performances and several principals caught token mini basketballs that were thrown to the crowd. Principal Ma and Principal Principal Cao poses at the Boston Harbor Sun even made an appearance on the JumboTron three times! By the end of the game they were quite famous and several fans asked to take their pictures. Other Boston notables were also at the game, including Red Sox player Mike Napoli. The close score kept spectators on the edge of their seats and, even though the Celtics lost 83 to 89, the principals were still thrilled to have this once in a lifetime chance to attend an Principal Yang and Principal Lu make friends with two Bostonians at a Celtics game. NBA game. The Chinese principals also had a spectacular time visiting their respective partner districts in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Oregon during the second week of the program. In Pennsylvania, guests were picked up at the airport and taken to Nudy’s Café where they had a traditional American breakfast with their partners, interpreters, and our regional partners, Connie Skipper and Beth Kozloski. Afterwards, the group split up and headed out to their respective districts.
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Review of ASP, Fall 2013 Many schools went all out with their welcome ceremonies, gathering the entire student body for speeches, student performances, and gift presentations. At the Tacony Academy Charter Schools, students sang a Chinese folk song and danced with Chinese fans at an assembly for grades first through eighth. In Oregon, Clara Brownell Middle School rolled out a red roll-paper carpet decorated with “welcome� in Chinese for their guest. Several other schools prepared performances by their a cappella groups, and at Foxborough Regional Charter School Massachusetts State A student dances at the welcome ceremony for Mr. Zhao at Tacony Representative Jay Barrows delivered a Academy Preparatory Charter Elementary School welcoming speech. Schools also made special arrangements to give their partners a comprehensive introduction to their school. In Oregon, Heather Cordie had a potluck at her home with the board of directors. The board moved their monthly meeting so that Mr. Li could attend and even presented him with a plaque. Mr. Li also had the opportunity to tour city hall and meet with the City Manager and Police Chief. On Wednesday, our regional partner Colin Cameron arranged for the group to meet in Salem and tour the capitol building, the Department of Education, and Willamette University. Dianna Veleke and Jon Mishra brought their partners to the nation’s oldest western store, where they spent the afternoon touring the facilities, trying on hats, and watching craftsmen take care of saddles made hundreds of years ago. Several administrators also used this opportunity to teach their Chinese partners a little about the Principal Sun watches a worker tend to a hundred-year-old saddle history and traditions surrounding Thanksgiving. Lee Loving in Oregon held a special early Thanksgiving dinner for his partner, Principal Ma. In Pennsylvania, Beth Ann Haas also arranged for the Culinary students at Reading Muhlenberg Career & Technology Center to prepare a Thanksgiving dinner for her guest, Principal Han. Kathy Metrick, also in Pennsylvania, held a Thanksgiving Community Potluck with 70 people attending! In Massachusetts, several administrators brought their guests to Plimoth Plantation where they learned what life was like for the Wampanoag tribe and early English settlers in the 17th century.
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Notable Next Steps
Participants in the Director Training Program ride bikes on the city wall in Xi’an
Several administrators from the 2012-2013 ASP have been very quick on their feet to establish their own exchange programs. Four participants have already made arrangements to send and/or host students during the spring of 2014. The speediest of all was Ron Griffin from Massachusetts, who had already established plans for the inaugural student trip months before his Chinese partner, Mr. Wang, had had even set foot in America! Their student exchange program will start with one Chinese student visiting Foxborough Regional Charter school in March and one American student visiting The Handan No. 1 Middle School in April. Joe Padasak, superintendent of the
Chambersburg Area School District, and Wes Foltz, an American History teacher, are planning an exchange trip for teachers in June and have invited teachers from surrounding towns to join as well. Their goal is to increase interest and understanding of China and Chinese culture among teachers, who will then pass on that exposure to their students. Chambersburg has also created a partnership with Shippensburg University, creating a China Field Studies program open to students at all levels from high school through graduate. Participants will visit several cities in China and spend time at the Shijiazhuang No. 25 High School, Chambersburg’s partner school. Several other participants
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have taken advantage of a unique opportunity CEI offered last summer, sending representatives from their schools to participate in CEI’s first U.S.-China Exchange Director Training Program. The goal of this program is to train a teacher champion in the day-today responsibilities involved in running an exchange program in an effort to jump start programs in their districts. The results have been quite fruitful. Deborah Jumpp (ASP 20122013), principal of the Bodine High School of International Affairs selected Melanie Keiper, an English teacher, to spearhead her school’s efforts. Together they have made plans for eight students and two teachers to visit their partner the Shijiazhuang No. 4 High School in April, 2014.
Notable Next Steps Janice Nuzzo (ASP 20122013), Director of Student Achievement for the Allegheny Valley School District, sent Nicholas Spehar, a teacher at Springdale Jr. and Sr. High School. They have arranged for ten students and two teachers from their partner, the Shijiazhuang No. 42 High School, to visit Springdale High in early February. Students will stay with host families and spend time shadowing students at school. They will then go on to visit Philadelphia and New York before returning Karen Krisch visits a class at her partner school home. Heidi Ondek (ASP 2011-2012), assistant Superintendent of Quaker Valley School District, selected Susan Gentile, principal of Edgeworth Elementary school to participate. Their district has just started a Chinese program, beginning with a 9-week exploratory course for 6th graders and then offering Mandarin as a year-long language option starting in 7th grade. They also have two Chinese students attending their high school this year, who will receive Quaker Valley diplomas. In the future they hope to start a two-week exchange program for students, teachers, and administrators.
Nick Spehar takes an art class with Chinese students and American administrators
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Karen Krisch, Principal of Bellefonte Area Middle School, represented the Wilson School district on the program for Michelle Saylor (ASP 2010-2011), Wilson’s Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Professional Development. They plan to host a group of teachers and administrators from their sister school, the Shijiazhuang No. 20 Middle School, in the fall of 2014 and hope to send their first student to China in either the fall of 2014 or spring of 2015.
2013-2014 U.S.-CHINA ASP MATCHING LIST Pennsylvania
Hebei
Burdette Chapel, Principal Chambersburg Area Senior High School Chambersburg Sterling Rayvon Garris, CEO and Principal Tacony Academy Charter School Philadelphia Dr. Beth Ann Haas, Supervisor of Curriculum and Professional Development Reading Muhlenberg Career and Technology Center Reading Ernest Holiday, CEO and Principal Delaware Valley Charter High School Philadelphia Katherine Metrick, Superintendent Kutztown Area School District Kutztown Barbara Wolf, Principal Grandview Elementary School Chambersburg
Xu Shaochuan, Principal Yongnian County No.1 Senior High School Handan Kuishu Zhao, Principal XunZi Middle School Handan Ergang Han, Principal Shijiazhuang Vocational Education Center Shijiazhuang
Oregon
Shaanxi
Kelly Carlisle, Director of High Schools Salem-Keizer School District Salem Heather H. Cordie, Superintendent Sherwood School District Sherwood Lee W. Loving, Principal Ridgeview High School Redmond Jon Mishra, Director of Operations and Business Services Hermiston School District 8R Hermiston Bob Stewart, Superintendent Gladstone School District Gladstone Matt Thatcher, Principal Cascade High School Turner Dianna Veleke, Principal Clara Brownell Middle School Umatilla
Geliang Yang, Principal Fengxiang Senior High School Baoji Jianhua Li, Principal Fugu County Senior High School Yulin Xin Ma, Principal Puji Senior High School Xianyang Aiping Lan, Principal Yan’an Senior High School Yan’an
Xianping Yang, Principal Shexian No.1 High School Handan Zhaotang Wang, Principal Handan No.23 Middle School Handan Wang Kuishen, Principal Experimental Primary School of Hanshan Handan
Gaoyuan Lu, Principal Xi’an No. 89 Middle School Xi’an Baikang He, Principal Mian County No. 1 Middle School Hanzhong Jianguo Sun, Vice Principal Changqing No. 2 Middle School Xi’an
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