Global STEAM is a large emphasis for our school district. We have global units throughout the year at BH Tharrington and Language Leaders, our dual language immersion program, is so popular it requires a lottery. Jones has Spanish as a subject taught face-to-face for all children in grades 3rd through 5th. We truly believe that language is best learned when a native speaker is teaching the language and definitely stronger than online language programs.
Mount Airy Middle School will welcome our new Chinese teacher this year. Her name is Zhang Xiaowen, see her introduction video below. We believe that a partnership with China is important because they are a world leader in our global economy and our regional businesses work closely with that country. We also believe that students benefit from exposure to people who are different than they are, including those with different cultures.
Yang Bo, see his introduction video below, will be a new Chinese teacher at Mount Airy High School. He will be teaching Mandarin Chinese and Chinese culture. We will be hosting Chinese students in the fall and some of our MAHS students will be traveling to China in the coming year and experience all the sites and sounds of a country around the world. This exposure gives you an education that it is difficult to find anywhere else- the education of travel. Our strategic plan has a goal for all students to travel outside of the state and/or country before they graduate. We are excited to see all of the places they will go.
I’m excited that everyone has had so much summer fun. We can’t wait to get your students back this fall. We’ve got a lot of really great adventures on the horizon.