Post by wvhsparent on Jul 10, 2007 7:27:24 GMT -6
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/461823,6_1_NA10_204BOARD_S1.article
July 10, 2007
By BRITT CARSON Staff Writer
This fall, 152 students are taking advantage of a new foreign language being offered in Indian Prairie School District 204.
The students at Waubonsie Valley and Neuqua Valley high schools, as well as the new Frontier Campus, will get a chance to learn to speak Chinese.
"We are excited," said Pat Hitt, curriculum director in District 204. "We are offering the first level and we have freshman through seniors enrolled."
French, German and Spanish are already offered to high school students. Naperville School District 203 began offering Chinese to students in 2006.
Hitt said District 204 has hired two instructors, one male, one female, to teach the classes and they are currently working on the curriculum for the class. Hitt said both teachers have ties to the local Chinese schools, one with a Taiwanese background and the other from mainland China.
On Monday, the school board unanimously approved the textbook for the class. Hitt said the course is not comparable to learning French or Spanish and moves at a different pace when it comes to learning everything from the sounds to writing the characters.
Hitt said as interest grows, the program will grow.
"I see this as a heritage course for children of Asian parents and also for students who are interested in the international business world," Hitt said. "I think students see this as something that is new and exciting."
July 10, 2007
By BRITT CARSON Staff Writer
This fall, 152 students are taking advantage of a new foreign language being offered in Indian Prairie School District 204.
The students at Waubonsie Valley and Neuqua Valley high schools, as well as the new Frontier Campus, will get a chance to learn to speak Chinese.
"We are excited," said Pat Hitt, curriculum director in District 204. "We are offering the first level and we have freshman through seniors enrolled."
French, German and Spanish are already offered to high school students. Naperville School District 203 began offering Chinese to students in 2006.
Hitt said District 204 has hired two instructors, one male, one female, to teach the classes and they are currently working on the curriculum for the class. Hitt said both teachers have ties to the local Chinese schools, one with a Taiwanese background and the other from mainland China.
On Monday, the school board unanimously approved the textbook for the class. Hitt said the course is not comparable to learning French or Spanish and moves at a different pace when it comes to learning everything from the sounds to writing the characters.
Hitt said as interest grows, the program will grow.
"I see this as a heritage course for children of Asian parents and also for students who are interested in the international business world," Hitt said. "I think students see this as something that is new and exciting."
