From 2013 to 2014, Fangfang Chen participated in the State Department’s Teachers of Critical Languages Program. Mrs. Chen taught 485 elementary school students and devoted all of her spare time towards the spread of Chinese culture. After the exchange program, Mrs. Chen went back to her home school and started her busy school year.

This August, American Councils was pleased to give an in-person welcome to a visiting Chinese delegation of students led by TCLP alumna Li Qiong (2011-2012). The group from No. 6 Middle School in Yichang, China, was in the United States to visit their sister-school in Arizona.

Qu will teach Chinese at Kolter for the 2014-2015 school year.

Kolter participated in a nation-wide competition in order to host a TCLP teacher, and Qu is one of 22 teachers who have been selected from China and Egypt for participation in TCLP. "This is a great opportunity for [the Kolter] family to learn more about the Chinese culture and for Ms. Qu to learn more about the American culture," Kolter principal Steven Shetzer says. "Receiving this grant is another example of how hard we work to place Kolter on the map, not just in Houston, but around the world!"

They are all part of a foreign exchange program.

"They are currently at Sonoran Trails Middle School taking classes that they've previously met on Skype," said Cristina Ladas, the world language coordinator for the Cave Creek School District. "It's kind of fun now that they get to meet in person and actually go through the school day together."

TCLP teacher Wang Haiyan was warmly welcomed at her new host school, Etowah High School in Georgia, where she will teach Mandarin for one school year. Click on the link below to read more about her goal to give her students with an international perspective, and the school reception that welcomed her on August 13.

TCLP Teacher Li Xiulan was met at the airport in Huntsville, Alabama by a group of excited students and educators when she arrived in her new host community. Follow the link below to read about the welcome party, and Providence Elementary School's plans to give their students new Mandarin language skills.

TCLP teacher Mohamed Fawzy Ali and his host school, Tomah High School in Wisconsin, are featured in this newscast from WKBT on News8000.com. Follow the link below to watch the video clip and hear what District Superintendent Cindy Zahrte has to say about the way Arabic language will help their students become more competitive in the global marketplace.

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TCLP teacher Mohamed Shady Mehanny has been critical in helping the program expand during the 2013-2014 school year, with a 40% increase in enrollment from the time he started to the following year. The increase in the enrollment is partially because of the engaging lessons he produced for co-teaching opportunities with other classes (in addition to his Arabic classes) both in the middle school and adjacent high school.

TCLP alumni have worked diligently to foster sister school relationships between their host schools in the U.S. and their home schools in China and Egypt. Below, we profile the work of two such alumni.

Arizona and Chinese Sister Schools Begin Student Exchanges