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Students Get Taste Of China's Culture

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By MEGAN HUSSEY

Tribune correspondent

Published: August 1, 2008

DADE CITY - About 25 Pasco Middle School students have been learning Chinese language and culture this week.

Two of their teachers came from China for the Chinese Culture camp, which started Monday and ends today.

"This is the first time anything like this has been done in Pasco County schools and in Pasco County," said camp coordinator Holly Mickler.

During the school year, Mickler teaches Global Learning Connection classes at Pasco Middle. Students not only learn about other cultures in these classes but correspond with students from China through videoconferences and e-mail.

Mickler was also part of the Pasco Middle delegation that taught English last summer at a sister school in Nanjing.

Mickler said this type of camp is vital to the learning process of today's students.

"We live in a changing world, and students will be working with people from other cultures," she said. "They have to understand and learn how to get along with them."

At Monday's convocation, Mickler told students, "You're not just an American. You're a global citizen. It's your responsibility to learn as much as you can about other cultures."

Teachers From China Lend A Hand

Pasco Middle School welcomed two teachers from Shuren International School to lead the camp. Liu Hongtou and Zhou Li designed a curriculum that would teach students basic Chinese language, customs, culture, literature and cooking. Students are studying phonics and handwriting, Chinese poems and songs, and learning to prepare Chinese-style dumplings.

"We want to give students a walking stick to learn Chinese," Hongtou said. "When we're away from them, they'll be able to read Chinese and spell the words and characters easily."

On the first day of camp, Li and Hongtou reviewed common words and numbers with students, teaching them their Chinese translations. The kids learned to say "hello, everybody," "good morning" and "thanks," and were shown how to spell those words in Chinese.

Students also learned about a typical day in the life of Chinese students: Students there rise about 6 a.m., study English before breakfast, eat bread, milk and eggs for their morning meal, and take 40-minute naps during the school day.

Those are the kinds of details seventh-grader Reid Auvil wanted to know.

"I want to learn Chinese and learn about the culture," said Reid, 12. "I also want to know what it's like to live there and compare it to America. I want to communicate with Chinese people and know what life is like for them."

Coleman Brock agrees. The Brocks are hosting the Chinese teachers during their visit, and older brother Carson and their mother, Natalie, were on the Pasco Middle trip to China last year.

"My brother went to China last year, and after hearing about his trip I wanted to learn more about the culture, the government, things they do," said Coleman, who attended the camp with brother Connor and sister Ashton. "And while the teachers are staying with us, I want to show them downtown Dade City and the countryside. I think they'll love that."

'There Is More Than One Culture'

Carson, Pasco Middle's outgoing student body president, talked about his trip at Monday's convocation, which drew Dade City Mayor Scott Black, Pasco school board member Alan Altman and Tina Tiede, assistant superintendent for middle schools in Pasco.

"In the world that we live in, we as students need to realize there is more than one culture," 15-year-old Carson said. "We must build bridges between cultures to prepare for the business and personal relationships we're going to have with people of those cultures."

Keyword: China Trip,

to see photos from and read about Pasco

Middle School's trip to China last year.

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