TESSERACT TO HOST STUDENTS AND ADMINISTRATORS FROM CHINA’S GUILIN ZHONGSHAN MIDDLE SCHOOL
PARADISE VALLEY, ARIZONA- December 3, 2008 - Tesseract School, a non-profit,
independent private school—preschool through ninth grade, with its inaugural 10th
grade class starting fall 2009— announced today that students and administrators from
China’s Guilin Zhongshan Middle School will be visiting Tesseract the week of
December 8.
This visit comes just one and a half years after Nigel Taplin, Tesseract’s head of school,
visited China after being selected to participate in the U.S. Educator Chinese Bridge
Delegation. The objective of this delegation, organized in cooperation between the
Chinese Language Council International (Hanban) and the Chinese Language
Association for Secondary Elementary Schools (CLASS), was for educators from the
United States to make connections with Chinese schools, learn more about China and
find out about the unique challenges of starting a Mandarin program.
While in China, Taplin and the principal of Guilin Zhongshan Middle School signed an
agreement called a Memorandum of Understanding. “This memorandum notes that both
schools have agreed in principle to be international partners and to develop long-term
education programs with mutual benefits for both schools’ students,” Taplin explained.
“The benefits outlined in the memorandum will be achieved through the exchange visits
of students and teachers, English and Chinese language programs, curriculum
enrichment to language learning, development of links in specific subject areas and
expansion of opportunities for students to communicate via e-resources.”
Tesseract is the first American school with which Guilin Zhongshan Middle School has
established a partnership. Through its visit to Tesseract the students and administrators
will learn about the U.S. education system and American teaching methods. Tesseract’s
Mandarin class will be the students’ hosts on campus. Tesseract School maintains a
concentration on foreign language, which includes Spanish in its core curriculum, as
part of its dedication to provide an education that prepares students to be citizens with a
global perspective. “This developing collaboration between Tesseract and Guilin
Zhongshan will further enhance this objective,” said Taplin. Mandarin has been part of
Tesseract’s curriculum since fall of 2006. At Tesseract, all students in preschool
through middle school learn Spanish; in high school, students may choose to learn
Mandarin or to continue to learn Spanish.
In addition to learning about the American school system by joining classes at
Tesseract’s lower school campus and its middle and high school campus, Guilin
Zhongshan’s students and administrators, who are all staying with host families from
Tesseract, will learn about Arizona’s culture and history, visit the Heard and Pueblo
Grande Museums, take a tour of the Arizona State University Biodesign Institute
buildings, visit the Arizona Capitol, and take a trip to the Grand Canyon and
Montezuma’s Castle.
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