In Liaocheng, China—

NHS Is Forging Further Ties With Its Sister School

By Eliza Hallabeck

Newtown High School Assistant Principal Jason Hiruo said he is excited for the continuing relationship between the high school and its sister school in Liaocheng, China.

“We’ve really come very far very quickly,” said Mr Hiruo on Friday, November 20.

Once a month 28 teachers and administrators have been meeting to prepare themselves for a scheduled trip to Liaocheng over the district’s April break. The teachers are funding their own trips to go, and will have been practicing the language, among other things, with the assistance of NHS guest teacher Ding Hong.

The relationship between NHS and its sister school, Liaocheng Middle School No. 3, is comparatively three years in advance of schools in similar situations, according to Mr Hiruo.

Last year a group from Liaocheng visited Newtown, and this year another group is expected to visit the school at some point between February 17 and March 1. This group will include the principal of Liaocheng Middle School No. 3, and Mr Hiruo said the visiting group will be called The Principal’s Delegation. The group will consist of 10 to 15 students, four to six educators, and the school’s principal.

By email earlier in the week, Mr Hiruo wrote, “The principal of our sister school in Liaocheng is one of the most influential men in the city of 5.5 million people. Based on their first visit to Newtown last year, the success of their experience has warranted the next step for the principal to demonstrate his investment and support in our partnership.”

The 28 administrators and NHS teachers visiting China over their April break will have the ability to meet the delegates they will be visiting before going abroad.

“These teachers possess very high degrees of merit in China as they are considered experts as they influence the Ministry of Education at a national level,” said Mr Hiruo, regarding the teachers coming to Newtown between February and March.

“We will again develop a schedule, similar to last year’s experience,” said Mr Hiruo. “We will be looking for host families that would like to host student or teacher delegates, and will again look for volunteers that are interested in helping us with ceremony, travel, and gift planning.”

If interested in hosting a student or teacher from the visiting Principal’s Delegation, or to help the partnership between NHS and Liaocheng Middle School No. 3, contact Mr Hiruo at hiruoj@newtown.k12ct.us, or Audrey Greenwood with the PTSA if interested in helping any other way by contacting the NHS PTSA at NewtownCTPTSA@yahoo.com.

“The program is being recognized not only by the State Department, but also by the Hanban Foundation and Asia Society,” said Mr Hiruo during the November 20 interview. “So they have taken some great interest in us. It has reached the US Embassy in Beijing, so when we go there we have been invited to meet the ambassador and tour the embassy.”

The expected visit by the Principals Delegation in February, Mr Hiruo said, is unprecedented in Connecticut. As he told teachers and administrators gathered on Monday, November 23, for their monthly delegates meeting, NHS will essentially be representing the state in February during the visitors’ stay.

“I’m really proud of the support from the students, teachers, families of our students, the community support, and from the PTSA,” said Mr Hiruo. “It is just really incredible, and the more support we gain it is because more people are recognizing the importance of establishing these opportunities for our students. A language program in a cultural initiative, what better way to support a student’s understanding of the globe? So I am really impressed and proud of how far we have come.”

The work has come to fruition, Mr Hiruo said, due to communication and dedication.

“The fact that we are able to send 28 of our own teachers from the high school to Liaocheng is incredible,” Mr Hiruo said. “And the teachers are funding their own trips. That is another phenomenal thing. They are taking time out of their April break to travel to China with me to further the partnership.”

During their stay in China the teachers and administrators from NHS will be visiting classrooms, they will be adopted by those classrooms of 70 or more students and a teacher, and they will have professional meetings with their colleagues in Liaocheng. While this is taking place, Mr Hiruo said NHS Principal Charles Dumais, Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson, Assistant Superintendent of Schools Linda Gejda and himself will be meeting with school administrators there to further the partnership and decide how to progress the relationship next year.

By next year, Mr Hiruo said he anticipates talking about a student exchange program with the school.

He said the recognition the partnership has already received demonstrates the need for a diverse culture and language program, and the high school’s commitment to 21st Century language skills. He said it is helpful to demonstrate to students the world is much bigger than the community of Newtown.

“I have designed this whole preparation program,” said Mr Hiruo. “So we meet once a month [to discuss the program and upcoming trip]. I am creating a book, almost like a cookbook, of guidelines for etiquette, cultural awareness, food and dining and language. [NHS guest teacher] Ding Hong is very important in this. He plays the role of language instructor.”

Everyone is excited at the meetings, said Mr Hiruo. Lesson plans and attire are just some of the topics covered during the meetings.

“There are a large number of people who have never traveled this far,” Mr Hiruo said. “So it is also just making simple preparations in terms of sleep, being hydrated, and travel tips.”

He said it is important for the group to stick together when traveling through the Beijing Airport.

“We have to focus on this so we communicate as one, move as one to make the trip very successful,” said Mr Hiruo.

Monday’s meeting, he said, focused on “The Nevers,” the things not to do. As one example of a never, he said, Americans usually talk with their hands, and the never is to never talk with chopsticks in hand, or to play with chopsticks.

“There are some things that just aren’t appropriate for the partnership conversations, because then we could be mixing politics,” said Mr Hiruo. “We do not need to mix politics. It is strictly dedicated to furthering our students opportunities at both schools.”

Mr Hiruo said he and his counterpart in Liaocheng, Tian Fengkui, the lead assistant principal of NHS’s sister school, have developed an open relationship, and they communicate rules and expectations needed for both schools. Mr Tian was one of the visitors to NHS last year, when a delegation of administrators, teachers and students visited from Liaocheng.

Schools from around the state have contacted Mr Hiruo since last year when the first delegation from Liaocheng visited the high school, and, he said, he has been contacted for his advice.

“And that is why the Asia Society and Hanban Foundation are looking at us as a possible hub,” said Mr Hiruo. “We do not know if that is going to happen yet, but they are definitely interested in how I have designed the program. It is successful. They report to me that with a lot of these programs, they visit the school, then it does not go anywhere. So the fact that we even have a second visit, we are sending teachers over already, and we are talking about a student exchange already is leaps and bounds.”