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. The accompanying teachers' guide will be posted on the KCIES website at this time to help educators teach about China and its cultures. If you would like to help introduce The Fastest Pig in the West to your school, please contact Randi Hacker at rhacker@ku.edu.

There's a world of opportunity out there. Download the Kansas In The World brochure Adobe Acrobat PDF- 430 Kb

Surveys conducted by the Asia Society and the National Geographic Society show a huge gap in most students’ knowledge about the growing importance of Asia and other world regions to our nation's economic prosperity and national security. The surveys find that 25 percent of American college-bound high school students cannot name the ocean between California and Asia. Only about one-half of today's high school students study a foreign language, and most of that is late in process and perfunctory. The good news, however, is that 97 percent of students say they want to know more about the world and do not get enough information in school. The Progressive Policy Institute has released a paper detailing the challenges and solutions, including examples of state responses. To see the full text of the report, “Putting the World into Our Classrooms: A New Vision for 21st Century Education,” by Michael H. Levine, see http://www.ppionline.org/documents/intledu_0413.pdf.