Delegates from Dongyang, China, walked through Central Middle School classrooms Thursday morning teaching kids how to write Chinese characters.
That “authentic cultural experience” is one of the benefits of forging relationships with schools across the world, said CMS Principal Mike Sargent.
On Thursday, Central Middle School officials and delegates from Dongyang Foreign Language School signed an agreement to develop a working relationship that would benefit students at both schools.
Central Middle School, which adopted an international baccalaureate curriculum last year, now has ties to schools in three countries — England, Costa Rica and China.
“Exchanges of culture, history and language are important,” Dongyang Foreign Language School Headmaster Wu Haiyao said Thursday through a translator.
Sargent said the schools want to allow students to correspond with each other, but he’s not sure how to make that happen yet.
“We have some challenges with time differences,” he said.
When school is in session in Kokomo, it’s nighttime in Dongyang.
The students may be able to exchange emails or record video messages they can send to each other.
Sargent said he wants his students to develop an understanding of other cultures, especially cultures that are so different from their own.
“Part of our mission is to help students understand that people with differences can still be right,” he said. “You don’t have to agree with them, but you still have to respect them.”
That’s more important in an increasingly global society, he said. Students may find themselves working with people in other countries.
“It’s a skill set they really need to have,” the principal said.
Haiyao said the foreign language school also places added emphasis on communicating with students outside of China.
Students there already have exchange programs set up in England, Australia and the United States.
The Chinese dignitaries said they were interested in learning more about Kokomo’s schools.
They were impressed with what they saw Thursday.
“The teachers seemed very experienced and enthusiastic,” Haiyao said.
The Central Middle School students showed that they are also interested in learning about China.
The dignitaries were touring the classrooms and stopped in one for a few minutes.
A girl immediately searched the Internet on her computer to find a map of China. She then asked the dignitaries to show her where Dongyang was, said Dave Barnes, director of communications for Kokomo-Center Schools.
“They were so excited to show her,” he said.
The Chinese officials played ping pong with a student, sampled some American food, toured Central Middle School, and offered the students some lessons before leaving.
They have high hopes for their relationship with the Kokomo middle school.
“This will promote a more harmonious and peaceful society,” Haiyao said.
Local News
School forges international partnership
Delegates sign sister school agreement.
- Local News
-
-
Bullying reporting now required
Oliver Jackson — known in the music world as DjBigO317 — remembers being bullied by the kids on his high school football team for being small.
He told his coaches about it, but they brushed it off and told him to do the same.
Now, his 6-year-old daughter is battling issues with bullies at her school in Indianapolis, and he won’t let it go.
He is on a crusade to end bullying, and he’s taking the message beyond his daughter’s school. -
The bully bashers speak out
Nineteen-year-old Trenton Lewis wants to change the message hip-hop music is sending to kids across the country.
The Kokomo High School graduate envisions songs that inspire change and songs that promote safer schools instead of ones that glorify drugs and violence. He wants to push the negativity out of music. - Bullying statistics - May 19, 2013
-
State to spend $2 million to clean up voter rolls
Indiana’s bloated voter registration rolls, which officials say make elections more susceptible to fraud, will soon come under more scrutiny by the state.
- Public Eye - May 19, 2013
-
Fallen comrades remembered
In the 148-year history of the Kokomo Police Department, two officers have died in the line of duty. Members of the department took part in a ceremony Friday to honor not only those two, but all fallen police officers.
-
Local deputies play key role in arrest
A mother and her infant son are now safe, thanks in part to the determination of deputies with the Howard County Sheriff’s Department. The officers worked from the time Kristy Redenbaugh was reported missing in September 2012 until the man police allege was her captor was arrested Thursday.
-
Charter school to open in August
Goodwill Education Initiatives will unveil the area’s first charter school for high school dropouts Aug. 15 in downtown Kokomo.
-
Districts call special board meetings
Northwestern School Corp. will likely reduce the hours of about a dozen instructional assistants to avoid having to provide them with insurance.
-
Windy debates
At least two central Indiana counties have established setbacks that are essentially prohibitive of wind farm developments. Counties between Indianapolis and Fort Wayne have debated whether to allow wind farms and how to regulate them. In Howard County, wind farm opponents are trying to reopen the discussion to increase setback requirements established in the county’s code.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Bullying reporting now required
Probe Begins After Conn. Commuter Trains Crash
NTSB Begins Investigation Into Conn. Train Crash
Lotto Fever Sweeps the Country
Conn. Commuter Trains Collide; 60 Go to Hospital
Coffee Run Leads to Hatchet Hitchhiker Arrest
Fmr. IRS Head Insists No Politics in Targeting
CDC: Fecal Bacteria Common in Swimming Pools
$1 Million in Jewels Stolen at Cannes Film Fest
NM Mom Chases Down Child Abductor
Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool
Raw: Obama Sits Down With Elementary Kids
Raw: Bear Falls From Tampa Tree
Ousted IRS Chief: Errors Not Caused by Politics
Terror Suspect Due in Court in Idaho Friday
Raw: Driver Ejected From Truck, Over Bridge
Could Tobacco Be the Next Biofuel?
Wash. State Releases Draft Rules for Legal Pot
Dying Man's Blinks Lead to Murder Conviction
Officials: Texas Tornado Likely Had 200 Mph Wind
Brothers Arrested in NOLA Parade Shooting
