Print version:

Words to live by

Chineses students visit with Pasadena counterparts studying Mandarin

By Justin Chapman, Pasadena Weekly, 2/2/2012

A delegation from China recently provided area students enrolled in a popular dual-language immersion program with a rare opportunity to test their fluency in Mandarin by interacting with their counterparts from Beijing.

The 70-teacher and 62-student delegation from Huangchenggen Elementary School in the Xicheng District of Beijing, Pasadena's sister city, last week visited Eugene Field Elementary, which has more than 100 students taking part in the school's growing English-Mandarin dual-language immersion program. The program--one of two offered by the Pasadena Unified School District, the other conducted in Spanish at San Rafael Elementary--has nearly quadrupled in size since it began more than two years ago.

Over two days, guests visited classrooms and observed the future bi-literate students in action--from kindergarteners taking turns counting in Mandarin to first-graders learning about and tasting food with a nutritionist, and from second-graders working on a video newscast in English to third-graders learning multiplication in Chinese.

The total number of students in the Mandarin program has grown from 28 when it first started at Altadena's Burbank Elementary School in 2009 to its current level of 110. The grant-funded program moved to Field Elementary last year after the PUSD shuttered Burbank due to declining enrollments and budget cuts.

The program is expected to continue growing next year if future grant applications with the US Department of Education's Foreign Language Assistance Program are approved. There appears to be no shortage of interest in the program, based on applications submitted during Pasadena Unified School District's open enrollment process, which ended last week. According to district Communications Director Adam Wolfson, students from Arcadia and other nearby school districts are applying to get in the program.

"We're happy to have them, but students within PUSD come first," Wolfson said.

"At this time, we have two programs which are thriving," said Kathy Onoye, PUSD's executive director of elementary schools, referring to both the Mandarin program at Field and the English-Spanish immersion program at San Rafael.

"Due to budget constraints, we really haven't been talking about moving beyond that," Onoye said. "Programs like this are fantastic. We'd love to do more, but because of the budget situation, it's just not feasible."


Longer web version:

Life learners

Field Elementary’s dual-language immersion program allows more students to become bi-literate at a young age

By Justin Chapman, Pasadena Weekly, 2/2/2012

Last Friday and Tuesday, right in the middle of the Chinese New Year celebration, dozens of representatives from Pasadena’s sister city in China, the Xicheng District of Beijing, visited Pasadena Unified School District’s Eugene Field Elementary. The group of Chinese teachers’ and students’ two-day tours of the school’s growing English-Mandarin dual language immersion program (DLIP) gave Field students a rare and unparalleled opportunity to test their fluency by speaking and interacting with their counterparts from China.

The program has become very popular since it began in 2009 at Burbank Elementary in Altadena. The total number of students has grown from 28 when it first started to its current level of 110 and is expected to continue to grow next year now that PUSD’s open enrollment process is underway. According to Adam Wolfson, the district’s communications director, students from Arcadia and other nearby school districts are applying to the program.

“We’re happy to have them, but students within PUSD come first,” said Wolfson.

The Chinese guests visited each classroom and witnessed the future bi-literate students in action, from kindergarteners taking turns counting in Mandarin to first-graders learning about and tasting food with a Chinese nutritionist, and second-graders working on a video newscast in English to third-graders learning multiplication in Mandarin.

Students who participate in the program learn core academic content, such as language arts, math and science, in both languages, spending 10 percent of the day learning in English and 90 percent in Mandarin their first year. The next year is split 80/20 and so on until it is 50/50. This allows them to become proficient and fluent in both languages at an early age.

“By that time, the students are pretty literate in the target language,” said Wolfson. “Students who are bi-literate when they graduate high school will have a seal on their diplomas and receive PUSD’s Certificate of Bi-Literacy.”

As the students get older the program will continue to expand to the next grade. As for expanding it to other schools, however, the focus right now remains fixed on the existing dual language immersion programs.

“At this time we have two programs which are thriving,” said Kathy Onoye, PUSD’s executive director of elementary schools, referring to both the Mandarin program at Field and the very similar English-Spanish dual language immersion program at San Rafael Elementary School. “Due to budget constraints we really haven’t been talking about moving beyond that. Programs like this are fantastic. We’d love to do more, but because of the budget situation it’s just not feasible.”

Each class is taught by certified bilingual teachers. In the classroom students are only allowed to speak whichever language that part of the day is set aside for.

“This year we have put a new rule in place that the Mandarin program classroom teacher only addresses the children in Mandarin so the kids cannot see them speaking English,” said Field principal Ana Maria Apodaca.

An English teacher from Beijing explained during the tour that they have the same rule at Field’s sister school in China.

“The teachers have said that it is encouraging the kids and prompting them to use more Mandarin,” said Apodaca. “It’s a different approach than the English-Spanish dual language immersion program at San Rafael Elementary. Most students here are not using Mandarin in a comfortable, natural way. We don’t see the language being used student to student, so we try our best to encourage them to use it in an informal way outside the classroom.”

Those efforts include classroom programs such as “Harvest of the Month,” where the students learn about a different vegetable or fruit in Mandarin and get to taste it. During the visit by Chinese representatives the citrusy smell of grapefruit wafted out of the science room. There are two nutritionists on staff who help teach the kids to use the language in such creative ways as the monthly harvest program.

“I don’t speak Mandarin so I can’t communicate with the teacher in front of the children, so I’ll write notes and communicate in other ways,” said Apodaca. “It’s been a challenge for me and some parents to communicate with the teachers and students in Mandarin, so sometimes we use physical gestures.”

When the Board of Education voted to shutter Burbank last year, the Mandarin dual language immersion program, which is funded in part by a federal Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) grant, moved to Field Elementary in Pasadena for the 2011-12 school year, where it is managed by the Mandarin Parent Advisory Committee. The grant lasts for three years, and the committee is currently in the process of applying for another grant to continue the program next year.

Although the grant has helped provide personnel and support curriculum development, the program itself is funded by the district, according to Onoye.

“Every year we expand to the next grade level, so it’s a growing program,” she said. “It would survive without the grant, however. As long as we have students, the program will be able to expand.”

This year, the school has a total of five Mandarin dual language immersion classes: two for kindergarten and one each for first- through third-grades. Although there are a few more Asian students than other ethnicities, Onoye said, there is a very diverse cross section of Pasadena represented in the program. About 50 percent of the students are Asian and the other 50 percent is a mix of African-American, Caucasian and Latino children.

The Mandarin Parent Advisory Committee consists of two parent representatives at each grade level, a project coordinator, one dual language immersion program teacher, principal Apodaca, and Mandarin community assistant Dr. Cathy Wei, who teaches at Pasadena City College and heads that school’s Chinese language program. Wei helped organize the tours for the Beijing sister city teachers and students. The committee meets monthly to address concerns and ensure the program’s smooth implementation.

The next meeting will take place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 15 at Field Elementary, located at 3600 Sierra Madre Blvd., Pasadena. Call (626) 396-5860 or visit field.pasadenausd.org for more information.


Original brief version:

Fast learners

Field Elementary’s dual language immersion program allows more students to become bi-literate at a young age

By Justin Chapman

With the Pasadena Unified School District’s Open Enrollment process now underway, more students are expected to participate in the district’s English-Mandarin dual language immersion program held at Eugene Field Elementary School.

The program, which has been growing in popularity across LA County, began in 2009 at Burbank Elementary in Altadena when the district received a federal Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) grant. After the school board voted to shutter Burbank last year, the program moved to Field Elementary in Pasadena for the 2011-12 school year, where it is managed by the Mandarin Parent Advisory Committee. The grant lasts for three years and the committee is currently in the process of applying for another grant to continue the program next year.

Although the grant has helped provide personnel and support curriculum development, the program is funded by the district, according to Kathy Onoye, PUSD’s Executive Director of Elementary Schools.

“Every year we expand to the next grade level, so it’s a growing program,” she said. “It would survive without the grant, however. As long as we have students the program will be able to expand.”

This year the school has two Mandarin dual language classes for kindergarten and one each for first through third grades. The number of students has grown from 28 to 110 since it started nearly two and a half years ago and is expected to continue that trend. Although there are a few more Asian students than other ethnicities, Onoye said there is a very diverse cross section of Pasadena represented in the program.

Students who participate in the program learn core academic content, such as language arts, math and science, in both languages, spending 10 percent of the day learning in English and 90 percent in Mandarin their first year. The next year is split 80/20 and so on until it is 50/50. This allows them to become proficient and fluent in both languages at an early age.

“By that time the students are pretty literate in the target language,” said Adam Wolfson, Director of Communications at PUSD.

On Jan. 31, just a week after Chinese New Year, representatives from Pasadena’s sister city in China, the Xicheng District of Beijing, will be visiting Crown City. They will be making a stop at Field Elementary, giving the dual language immersion program students an unparalleled opportunity to test their fluency.

The Mandarin Parent Advisory Committee consists of two parent representatives at each grade level, a Mandarin community assistant, Field’s principal Ana Maria Apodaca, a project coordinator, and one dual language program teacher. It meets monthly to address concerns and ensure the program’s smooth implementation.