Oregon Chinese Flagship Program

• Immersion Elementary
• Middle School
• High School
• Curriculum Assessment
• Study Abroad
• Parent Group

It has long been a goal of the parents and staff of the PPS Mandarin Immersion Program (MIP) to enhance classroom instruction for our students with the real life experience of going to China. An overseas academic trip ?or "Research Residency", in which students are immersed in the culture and language they study and conduct research for a year-end school project ?is a cornerstone of other language immersion programs here in Portland (such as the PPS Japanese Immersion Program and private language schools) and throughout the United States. Fluency doesn't develop through classroom instruction alone.

The K-16 Flagship Grant that supports our program emphasizes the benefits of learning through real life experiences ?or "experiential learning" ?as a critical part of immersion education, and provides resources for developing an annual middle school trip, or a "Research Residency". The grant operates on three basic educational principles:

• Explicit Language Instruction
• Content-based Instruction
• Experiential Learning

Many public and private schools involve students in planning and fundraising for an academic trip and related project as a "capstone" to their elementary or middle school education before entering high school. As 13-15-year-olds, 8th graders are relatively independent and able to manage the trip's academic focus (a research project), as well as the cultural differences and economic disparities they will find in China. Parents may feel more comfortable sending their 8th grader to China, as opposed to a younger child. Other immersion programs have done 5th grade trips, too, which are wonderful for launching students into middle school. The Japanese Immersion Program, for example, does a parent -sponsored 5th grade trip and a school-sponsored 8th-grade trip every year. A 5th grade trip is a possibility for the MIP in the future, but until the program matures to the point where our resources and fundraising can support two annual trips, the focus will be on the 8th grade.

The trip / Research Residency would be a school-sponsored, academic trip for all MIP students who continue through to the 8th grade. The trip is for students who demonstrate a commitment to an overseas travel experience through their academic performance and behavior, as determined by PPS staff. The trip is voluntary. No student has to go, but all the 8th graders must participate in the research project since it's integrated into the 8th grade curriculum. Students will be accompanied by PPS staff and parent chaperones. The trip would take place in the spring and last about two weeks. The first trip, tentatively scheduled for early May 2008, would be for all students in the current (and only) mixed-grade MIP class at Hosford. (This class has 28 students: including 24 6th-graders, three 7th-graders, and one 8th-grader. The current 7th and 8th graders who stay with the program and will be in high school in 2008 are included in all planning and related curriculum development.)

One itinerary under consideration involves travel to Beijing, and on to the Golden Triangle region of eastern China. Suzhou, Portland's sister city, Nanjing, the ancient capital, the busy port of Hangzhou and bustling Shanghai are all in this region. The itinerary is wide open at this point and may be dictated in part by available funds and the grant. The itinerary could include home stays with Chinese families, classroom instruction in Chinese schools, cultural events and performances, cooking and shopping, side trips on public transportation, etc. During the months preceding the trip, the students will be involved in trip planning, cultural preparedness, and designing a class research project (or capstone project) that they will conduct in China. The trip will be woven into the year-long 8th grade immersion curriculum, culminating in a major presentation in June.

• bring relevance to classroom instruction
• explore daily life in China
• conduct a research project that's integrated into the 8th grade curriculum
• empower the students and build their language and cultural competence
• reward the students for their years of hard work and launch them into the high school program

There are three sources for funding: the K-16 Flagship Grant, the annual Shu Ren Gala, and individual family contributions. The Flagship grant provides money for trip planning and development, and possibly for PPS staff travel expenses in the initial years. The grant will not cover plane tickets, visa and passport fees and other costs for the students and parent chaperones. To make the trip affordable and sustainable, private fundraising by immersion parents must continue. Families will also need to pay a percentage of their child's trip expenses, anticipated to be in the range of $300-$600/student, depending on costs. Parent escorts will need to pay their own way. Children/families are encouraged to start saving now, and individual classes can always conduct their own trip fundraisers to reduce the per-family cost. Scholarships will also be available through Shu Ren.

For the past two years, the annual Shu Ren Gala/Auction has raised money for a China Trip. Gala income has been divided this way: 25 percent goes to the Shu Ren general fund to benefit all MIP students (with classroom materials, cultural enrichment, exchange teacher sponsorship and other program support) and 75 percent goes into the China Trip Fund. Currently, the China Trip Fund balance is about $26,000, which is income from the 2004 and 2005 Galas. The Fund is a single pot of money that the Shu Ren board has invested in short-term Certificates of Deposit.

The China Trip Committee of Shu Ren met over winter break to draft a proposal ?open to review, comment and revision ?for equitably dividing Gala income. Several committee members also met with PPS immersion coordinator, Michael Bacon, who has planned and escorted middle school trips to Japan and will assist in planning the China Research Residency. In drafting the proposal, committee members considered trip funding formulas used by other schools and parent groups, identified our primary goals and attempted to balance these goals, which are:

• To ensure that the trip is sustainable and affordable for all students committed to going
• To ensure that each child who takes the 8th grade trip is funded equally (not including scholarships)
• To ensure that each class fund is large enough to support the trip

Under the Gala income distribution proposal (see graphic on the next page), each K-6 th grade class builds its own individual class fund each year, and each 7th grade class gets a large lump sum payment that meets the needs of that class, which will travel the following year. This way, when the 7th grade class moves into 8th grade, they will know how much Shu Ren money they have to work with and can plan accordingly. The Gala from the year preceding the trip will be the last Gala to benefit the 8th grade. (Because there's no distinct 7th grade class yet at Hosford, the lump sum payment from the 2006 and 2007 Galas will go to the current 6th - 8th grade blend class.)

Because class sizes fluctuate, especially from elementary to middle school, the committee decided to base the proposal on individual classes rather than students. The proposal assumes that Gala income will grow each year as classes grow and more parents get involved. As the program moves into high school, Cleveland MIP families will also contribute to the Gala, even though they won't receive a direct benefit.