Computers will enhance Chinese program

Although the Mandarin Chinese program at USD 250 schools is in its final year, the district is still finding ways to improve it.
Earlier this week, the Board of Education approved the purchase of 30 MacBook computers to further enhance the Mandarin Chinese program at the kindergarten through fifth-grade level.
The computers, which cost a little more than $36,000, were purchased with funds from the Foreign Language Acquisition Program.
Robin Dexter, interim superintendent, said the MacBooks, which will be part of a mobile computer lab, will help the Chinese teachers expand on what and how they teach.
"Our Chinese teacher at the elementary level uses technology extensively to teach some of the cultural outcomes and some of the language programs," Dexter said. "These new computers would be a big help."
Dexter said the new computers will continue to be used as instructional tools even after the Mandarin Chinese program officially ends after this school year.
"We will definitely be using them for other things," she said.
The school district is in its last year of a three-year, $300,000 grant that allowed them to fund Chinese teachers. Dexter said the school district cannot afford to continue to fund those teachers' salaries after the grant runs out. She said the school district faces more pressing needs, such as adding six new kindergarten teachers to accommodate the upcoming all-day kindergarten program.
"We just cannot commit to the funds for one to three new (Chinese) positions," Dexter said.
However, USD 250 students won't be completely without some lessons in Chinese culture after this year. Dexter said next summer will mark the third during which regular education teachers attend a workshop conducted by the Chinese teachers. The purpose of the workshop is for the Chinese teachers to instruct the regular education teachers how to teach Chinese culture. Dexter said approximately 40 teachers have already gone through the workshop and 20 more are expected to attend next summer.
Dexter said it is important for students to continue to learn about China and its culture.
"Students really need to be learning about other communities on the global stage and how they operate," she said. "The importance of Chinese is that it is a fast-growing culture. The Chinese are learning to speak English much faster than we're learning Chinese. So to compete, they need to learn at least one other critical language."