Manatee School District Welcomes Guest Teachers from China

BRADENTON – The Manatee County School District is excited to host two native Mandarin-speaking teachers from China for the 2012-2013 school year. The two teachers came to Manatee County earlier this month as part of the Chinese Guest Teacher Program, a collaboration of the College Board and China’s Hanban/Confucius Institute Headquarters.

Zhou Rong (Alicia) will serve as a guest teacher at Southeast High School, while Xin Dong (Cathy) will spend this school year teaching at Wakeland Elementary School of International Studies. Both teachers will teach Mandarin, the official language of China which is spoken by over 1.3 billion people around the world.

“It is a wonderful opportunity for our students to have Alicia and Cathy teaching in our schools this year,” said Linda Guilfoyle, the Manatee District’s Director of Curriculum. “We hope this cultural exchange will be as beneficial for them as they learn about our country, state and educational system.”

The Manatee District previously hosted two Mandarin teachers from China during the 2010-2011 school year. One of those teachers taught at Southeast High, the other at Johnson Middle School.

The Chinese Guest Teacher Program places visiting teachers from China in U.S. elementary, middle and high schools for one to three years, in order to jump-start or expand school Chinese language and culture programs. For the 2012-13 school year, the two guest teachers now in Manatee County are among 172 Chinese guest teachers who will be teaching at approximately 246 elementary and secondary schools across 31 states.

Prior to their selection, guest teachers underwent a rigorous screening process and were interviewed by a team from the College Board and the National Council of State Supervisors for Languages (NCSSFL) to assess teaching skills, adaptability and English proficiency.

Hanban organizes a six-week training before the teachers leave China, provides the teachers with international transportation and partially subsidizes the guest teachers’ salaries to lessen the costs to host schools and districts. NCSSFL collaborates with the College Board to provide training and support for the teachers, and the Institute of International Education serves as the visa sponsor for the program.