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Professional Development Opportunity for Educators:
Educators to Saudi Arabia Program

DEADLINE: JULY 7, 2008

We are pleased to announce that applications are now available for the Educators to Saudi Arabia Program! The program is open to full-time elementary and secondary school (grades 1-12) Social Studies Teachers and Library Media Specialists.

We hope Social Studies Teachers and Library Media Specialists will take advantage of the opportunity to apply to the program for travel to Saudi Arabia in December 2008.

For more information, please access our website at www.iie.org/esap or contact Allison Deines at esap@iie.org
 

Putting the World Into World-Class Education Forum

Asia Society announces its Putting the World Into World-Class Education Forum , a unique conference dedicated to building international knowledge and skills among American students, individually and system-wide. The forum will take place in Washington, DC on July 10 - 12.

For more information, including the draft agenda and registration links please visit : http://www.asiasociety.org/education/announcements/forum/

Early bird registration deadline is May 17. Space is limited so we encourage you to register as soon as possible.

2008 Goldman Sachs Foundation Youth Prizes for Excellence in International Education

Asia Society and The Goldman Sachs Foundation are pleased to announce the 2008 Youth Prizes for Excellence in International Education. Up to five winners will be selected to receive up to $10,000 each as well as an all-expense paid trip to New York City in November 2008 to receive their prize.

The 2008 competition asks students to create an in-depth written essay or multimedia feature examining a social or economic issue that has relevance to them in a global context. In the essay category, students will compare and contrast how the issue affects their community and a community abroad, as well as create recommendations for what lessons the two communities could learn from each other. In the multimedia category, students will explore how a global problem or challenge affects their life as an individual, as a member of their local community, and/or as a global citizen.

Please visit http://askasia.org/students/gsfprizes.html for the contest questions, eligibility rules, guidelines and helpful hints, and submission instructions. The deadline for applications for the Youth Prizes is Thursday, June 12, 2008.

The 2007 winners of The Goldman Sachs Foundation Prizes for Elementary/Middle Schools, High Schools, States, and Media/Technology Organizations have been announced! Please visit http://www.internationaled.org/prizes/ for more information about the 2007 winners and for the announcement of the 2008 cycle of prizes in early autumn.

Chinese Spoken Here: A Post-Workshop Report

More than 50 people attended “Chinese Spoken Here”, a workshop on implementing Mandarin Chinese language programs which was held on December 4, 2007 at Washburn University’s Bradley Thompson Center in Topeka, Kansas. Educators and administrators from Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Massachusetts offered tips and strategies for starting – and maintaining – Chinese language programs primarily at the elementary and secondary level. Kansas Commissioner of Education, Dr. Alexa Posny, gave the welcome address. To access her text, click here.

Other speakers and panelists included Dr. Jessica Stowell from the Confucius Institute at Oklahoma University (to view her PowerPoint, click here); Carol Woolbright, Director Interactive Distance Learning Southeast Kansas Education Service Center (to view her PowerPoint, click here); Nancy Hope, Associate Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Kansas and the Kansas Consortium for Teaching About Asia (to view her PowerPoints, click here and here) and Gary Price, Superintendent of the Pittsburg School District. A highlight of the workshop were the presentations by students from Marysville, Washburn, White City and Winfield who are taking Chinese through interactive distance learning (IDL) classes in their high school.

To see the agenda, click here.

To view the slide show of the workshop, click here.

For more information about the workshop, contact Nancy Hope at nfhope@ku.edu.

New Video on Global Education

Asia Society and the George Lucas Educational Foundation are pleased to release A World-Class Education: Volume 2. This DVD, the second in the series, features Thomas Friedman in an updated film on the importance of international knowledge and skills in the 21st century. The film outlines steps that schools, communities and policy makers can take and is a useful communications tool. Short films highlight exceptional school models in action:

• Success Spoken Here: John Stanford International School (A Seattle elementary language immersion school).

• The Global Dimension: Walter Payton College Prep High School (An inner-city Chicago high school featuring exchanges and distance learning)

• A Night in the Global Village: Heifer Ranch (Students experience conditions in developing countries firsthand)

• Learning Without Borders: International School of the Americas (A Texas high school that integrates international content throughout the curriculum)

For more information or to order, please visit: http://www.internationaled.org/worldclassed.htm

To find out about the latest international education news, resources, and grant opportunities, subscribe to the International Education in the Schools monthly newsletter: http://www.internationaled.org/digest.htm

Chinese Language in Kansas 2007
More schools offering, more students learning Chinese

In October 2006, the Kansas Task Force on Chinese Language Training, a statewide group of policymakers, educators, and business leaders, released a report surveying Chinese language programs in Kansas and offering a series of policy recommendations. With only two school districts offering Chinese in 2005-2006 (and a total of just 24 students and one certified K-12 teacher in the state), the challenges facing the development of Chinese language programs in Kansas seemed substantial.

But just one year later, the change has been dramatic: the list of school districts, colleges, and universities offering Chinese has grown dramatically and the number of students taking Chinese classes has increased almost ten-fold. An update to the Report of the Kansas Task Force on Chinese Language Training, covering the 2006-2007 academic year, is now available. To read more about the growth of Chinese programs in Kansas, click here.

The Fastest Pig in the West
The Fastest Pig in the West

KCIES is proud to announce the publication of The Fastest Pig in the West, its first chapter book aimed at 3rd – 5th graders. It is the story of Jimmy Lin, a boy whose family came from China to a small town in Kansas called Buffalo Grove. The book alternates between the fictional story of Jimmy and his adjustment to life in small town America and factual chapters that will acquaint readers with Chinese history, culture and tradition.

This fall, each elementary school in Kansas will receive a complementary copy of this book. To get a taste of what the book is like, click on Publications and check out the preview.

To access the on-line teachers' guide click here or click on Educational Materials and select The Fastest Pig Teachers' Guide from the drop down menu.

We hope you enjoy the story of Jimmy Lin and find it useful in introducing your students to the fascinating Chinese culture.

Postcards from Asia

Travel to China, Japan and Korea without leaving your radio thanks to the Center for East Asian Studies' new radio series "Postcards from Asia". The :60 program is a collaboration between KPR and the Center. Each "Postcard" gives listeners a brief and enticing glimpse of Korean, Japanese or Chinese culture from the contemporary to the ancient, from the exotic to the familiar. Dr. Bill Tsutsui, associate professor of history at KU, is the voice of "Postcards from Asia".

To hear "Postcards from Asia" tune in to KPR on Wednesdays at 9:59 PM and Saturdays at 1:04 PM or click here.

"Postcards from Asia" is supported by the Kansas Asia Community Connection, www.AsiaKan.org.