Spring 2012

EXCHANGES The CEI Newsletter

Updates from the China Exchange Initiative Greetings from the China Exchange Initiative! Back from our annual ASP China trip, we’ve set our sights on 2012-2013. Next year we will work with a diverse group of 31 administrators from Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and Oregon. Administrators from Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania will be partnered with principals from Hebei province. On the Chinese side, the program will be administered by our colleagues in the Hebei Bureau of Education. Oregon participants will be paired with counterparts from Xi’an, in the first year of a new partnership with the Shaanxi Bureau of Education. Fall hosting dates have been set, with Chinese participants arriving on October 22nd, and Shadowing from October 27th to November 2nd. ASP 2012 marks the final year of our collaboration with the China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE). Our organizational aims, never completely aligned, are no longer compatible enough to maintain the program quality that we expect. We depart with no hard feelings, wishing them the best of luck in the future. In January, the China Exchange Initiative co-sponsored an academic conference at Boston University, entitled “Global Education Strategies: U.S.-China School Exchange.” Numerous ASP alumni participated in this special event, which included talks by Kim MacClure, Deputy Director of U.S. State Department’s 100,000 Strong Initiative, Ben Liebman, Director of the Columbia University Center for Chinese Legal Studies, and Paul Reville, Massachusetts Secretary of Education.

In this issue:

• Updates from the China Exchange Initiative

• Review of ASP China Trip 2012

• ASP 2012 Participants in the Press

• ASP 2013 Program Participants

• Alumni Updates

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Review of ASP China Trip 2012 The 2012 ASP China trip carried on with the best of the past, with all the usual jollity, enlightenment, and adventure. This year’s group included 32 participants: 7 from New England, 12 from Ohio, 9 from Wisconsin and 4 from Pennsylvania. The great majority of program participants took part in the Xi’an option, where, under the auspices of the inimitable Richard Wang, they cruised the city walls on bike, scoured the bizarre for keepsakes, met the

Paul Imhoff receiving a little love in Hubei

wonderful students and staff at the Pangliu village school and gawked at terra cotta warriors. From Xi’an, it was on to Beijing. Peihui led the delegation from Ohio and New England as it participated in the CEAIE-organized program. Ryan led the group from Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, which spent two days in Beijing and two in Shijiazhuang, the home base of our partners at the Hebei Bureau of Education. During the debriefing in Shanghai, we

heard many tales of good fellowship, discarded misconceptions and, courtesy of Shawn Rickan, the novel fact that when visiting a hot springs resort one shouldn’t expect to see Old Faithful. Everyone left the meeting teeming with ideas for how to bring more China into their schools and districts, as well as with an appreciation of the diversity of Chinese society. During the April trip, the group from Wisconsin met their Chinese partners for the first time.

Shawn Rickan, questioned by reporters the morning after

the incident at the Golden Peacock

They will be hosting their new friends in October, for the second half of the program. In the interim, they will be racking their brains how to show one-tenth of the hospitality they received in Shijiazhuang! We would like to offer a special thanks to Karel Oxley, delegation head from Ohio, and Sheila Briggs, delegation head for the Wisconsin/Pennsylvania group. Sheila was a great sport while facing the onerous chores of her celebrity. Karel,for her part, was an outstanding

team leader, and, trenchantly observing the resemblance of Lei Feng’s mad bomber hat to George Washington’s wig, a stellar exemplar of America creativity in action.

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ASP 2012 Participants in the Press In this sad era of shrinking fiscal resources, few of us wish to be in the news for participating in a project that includes two weeks in a foreign country. To their credit, some participants in this year’s Shadowing Project brooked this risk to share what they learned and promote the value of international education. While in China, Superintendent Barry Rabinovitch, for instance, Skyped with students from the Wareham High School

Susan Borden views student artwork in China.

Global Education team about his experiences. This special learning moment was covered in an April 16th article in Wareham Week. Superintendent Susan Borden was the focus of an April 30th GermantownNOW article. The piece synthesizes Susan’s observations from the trip, including how the U.S. and China are heading in opposite directions in terms of emphasis on standardized testing. Citing

China’s dispiriting experience with exam- centered education, Susan says, “We’re moving toward that pressure and they’re saying ‘we have got to get out of this.’” The same lesson was highlighted, among many other observations, by Joe Stutting, Superintendent of Sturgeon Bay School District, Wisconsin, in an interview for a May 9th article in the Green Bay Press Gazette. District Administrator Ron Welch was interviewed by a reporter at Action 2 News, a local television network, in a piece on Wisconsin’s participation in the Administrator Shadowing Project. Speaking of the benefits of taking part in such a program, Welch says, “We're pretty sheltered here in little old Algoma and even Wisconsin. We're a pretty sheltered state. To try to help people take a peak at the big wide world that's out there, that's going to be my goal."

Blogging is another means to create excitement about the world beyond our boarders. Some participants blogged during the China trip. Here is a sample of good reads: Deb Bamforth: http://debbamforth.posterous.com/ Deb Bulkley: http://trstochina.blogspot.com/ Lucille Esposito: http://espositochina2012.blogspot.com/

Joe Stutting: http://www.sturbay.k12.wi.us/china.cfm?posts=1&threadid=2 Michelle Jensen: http://www.deerfield.k12.wi.us/faculty/jensenm/chineseexchange.cfm Brian Stuckey: http://stuckeychinablog.blogspot.com/

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ASP 2013 Program Participants

Massachusetts

Name School/District

Ron Griffin, Director of Teaching & Learning Foxborough Regional Charter School, Foxborough

Walter Landberg, Executive Director Innovation Academy Charter School, Tyngsborough

Jed Lippard, Head of School Prospect Hill Charter School, Cambridge

Robert Moore, Director Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School

Nicky Noel, Assistant Head of Upper School Newton Country Day

Phillip Saisa, Principal Overlook Middle School, Ashburnham

Karmala Sherwood, Executive Director Smith Leadership Academy, Dorchester

Charmaine White, Chief Executive Officer New Leadership Charter School, Springfield

New York State

Name School/District

Michael Dardaris, Building Principal Marcellus Central School District, Marcellus

Stephen Gratto, Principal Northeastern Clinton Central High School, Champlain

John R. Gratto, Superintendent of Schools Sag Harbor Union Free School District, Sag Harbor

James Gratto, Superintendent Webutuck (Northeast) Central School District, Amenia

James L. Hoagland, Jr., Principal East Aurora High School, Aurora

David Jacob, Assistant Principal Clarkstown High School North, Clarkstown Central School District

Denise Rainey, Principal Frank Fowler Dow School No. 52/Rochester City School District, Rochester

Oregon

Name School/District

Dr. Sheldon Berman, Superintendent Eugene School District, Eugene

Gregor Dinse, Associate Principal for Curriculum and Instruction

Tualatin High School, Tualatin

Nancy Golden, Superintendent Springfield Public Schools, Springfield

Jim Golden, Superintendent Sisters School District, Sisters

Dr. Karen Fischer Gray, Superintendent Parkrose School District, Portland

Kathy Ludwig, Assistant Superintendent West Linn-Wilsonville School District, Tualatin

Brook MacNamara, Superintendent Riverdale School District, Portland

Karen Neitzel, Principal Hood River Valley High School, Hood River

Jeff Rose, Superintendent Beaverton School District, Beaverton

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Pennsylvania

Name School/District

Edward Albert, Superintendent Tulpehocken Area School District, Rehrersburg

Amy Flannery, Principal Mt. Penn Elementary Center, Reading

Jennifer Holman, Assistant Superintendent Northwestern Lehigh School District, New Tripoli

Deborah Jumpp, Principal Bodine High School for International Affairs, Philadelphia

Dr. Margaret Petit, Assistant Superintendent Pen Argyl Area School District, Pen Argyl

Janice Nuzzo, Director of Student Achievement

Allegheny Valley School District, Cheswick

Heather Piperato, Principal Brandywine Heights High School, Topton

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Alumni Updates Siri Akal Singh Khalsa (ASP 2009), President of Chapel Hill-Chauncey Hall School in Waltham, Massachusetts, writes that in the three years since participating in the program his school has increased enrolment of students from China, begun and grown a Mandarin program, and taken steps to provide exchange opportunities in Beijing. Massachusetts-based St. John’s Prep, home of Jim Stager (ASP 2008), continues it relationship with the High School Affiliated with Xi’an Jiaotong University. Headmaster Dr. Edward Hardiman visited the partner school on a recent trip to China. In January, the St. John’s Prep hosted 15

The Anshan delegation and their Discovery hosts ,

January 2012.

students and 3 teachers from Xi’an for a week. Jace Palmer (ASP 2011) sends his regards, as well as a batch of correspondence showing the close contact he still maintains with his friends from his partner school in Shijiazhuang. He and his partner are currently looking for ways to help students to connect using internet technology. In April of this year, Michelle Saylor (ASP 2011) sent a group of over a dozen students (plus one teacher) from her district to Shijiazhuang as part of delegation organized by Schuylkill Valley Superintendent

Solomon Lausch (ASP 2011). Schuylkill Valley hosted Emma Kong, a teacher from its partner school, Shijiazhuang No. 1 Middle School, during the 2011-2012 school year. Matt Gibson (ASP 2010) will retire from his district in June 2012, taking up a new post as principal at the Wisconsin International Academy, a private school affiliated with Brenda Finn’s (ASP 2005) MAIA in Marlborough, MA. Both schools cater to Chinese students with aspirations to study at universities in the U.S. MAIA recently sponsored a China trip for students, faculty and parents from Avon High School, Massachusetts. Aside from travelling to Beijing and Kunming, the group visited Wenshan, where it was warmly received by educators and students at the Wenshan No. 1 High School. Sheryll Harper (ASP 2008), principal of Discovery Middle School in Granger, Indiana, tells us that in January her school hosted 9 students and 3 teachers from her partner school at Anshan Middle School in Liaoning. Sheryll writes, “Next spring, we will travel again to one of the six middle schools we now have contracts with in Anshan. We can't wait!” John Shea (ASP 2011) was recently appointed high school principal of the K-12 American Embassy School in New Delhi, India. John looks forward to exploring Sino-Indian exchanges in the coming years. Tom Gwin (ASP 2005), principal of Winchester High School, Massachusetts, continues to send his students for service learning to the Dandelion School, a school in Beijing that educates the children of migrant workers. Mansfield Middle School in Storrs, Connecticut, recently hosted 17

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students, a teacher and an administrator from its partner school in Tai’an, Shandong. This is the fifth exchange of students between the schools, whose partnership began in 2004 under the leadership of school principal Jeff Cryan. Ted Sharp (ASP 2011), superintendent of Gorham Schools, Maine, writes that his district’s relationship with the High School Attached to Capital Normal University in Beijing continues to prosper. This summer a Gorham teacher

Chinese New Year in Jamestown, RI

will visit Beijing to study Chinese language and culture in preparation for teaching these subjects in Gorham. He will be accompanied by an administrator, another teacher and seven students. Heritage Hall of Oklahoma City has continued to grow its Mandarin programs at the middle and upper schools, under the leadership of Keith Cassell (ASP 2006). The school also maintains an annual student/teacher exchange with No. 29 Middle School in Chongqing. Bob Gay

(ASP 2006), former principal of North Attleboro High School, has since moved on to become principal of Coyle and Cassidy High School, where he has taken steps to begin offering Mandarin Chinese. This year Coyle and Cassidy hosted 11 Chinese students through the EDU-Boston Program, and plans to host 15 more students in 2012-2013. Richard Vought (ASP 2010), superintendent of North Lakeland School District in Wisconsin, recently welcomed a delegation of six teachers/students from his partner school, Daqing No. 16 Junior & Senior High School in Heilongjiang. This year Pam Culver (ASP 2009), principal of Masconomet Regional High School in Massachusetts expanded offerings of Mandarin Chinese. Pam is currently seeking out a new Chinese partner to help satisfy Masconomet’s growing appetite for US-China exchanges. Tim McIntosh (ASP 2010), principal of Helfrich Park Middle School in Evansville, Indiana, keeps in regular contact with Guan Shangmin at the Second Experimental School in Jilin and the two are currently in the process of planning a student exchange for the next year or two. Marcia Lukon (ASP 2009), superintendent of Jamestown Public Schools in Rhode Island, writes about how participation in ASP prompted her to make offering Mandarin Chinese a goal in her district’s Strategic Plan. This year her aspiration was realized, with all of Jamestown’s kindergarten students receiving instruction on Chinese language and culture from a teacher provided by the Confucius Institute at the University of Rhode Island. Bill Young (ASP 2011) writes that four teachers from United Local High School in Hanoverton, Ohio will soon be heading to China to visit their sister school in Hubei. Bill and Kevin Miller (ASP 2010) of Ottawa Hills Local Schools are currently planning a big trip for students/teachers/parents in June 2013. Leslie Ryan (ASP 2009) will head to China in September to teach for a semester at her partner school, Shijiazhuang No. 25 High School.