Committee of 100 Newsletter

Mandarin in Schools: A C-100 Southern California Region Program

Since 2006, the Committee of 100 has been the driving force behind the Mandarin in Schools (MIS) committee, which has worked to bring quality Mandarin language and Chinese cultural curriculum and programs to Southern California public schools, including the Los Angeles Unified School District. MIS was first convened by the Committee six years ago and is composed of community leaders, representatives from several Los Angeles school districts, and administrators, academic leaders and faculty from UCLA, Cal State Los Angeles and Loyola Marymount University.

Committee of 100 Receives $250,000 from Wanxiang Corporation for “100,000 Strong” Teachers Program

During Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping recent visit to the United States, the State Department announced a $250,000 grant from the Wanxiang Corporation to the Committee to send California middle and high school teachers on a study tour to China. As a component of the State Department’s “100,000 Strong” Initiative, the Committee of 100 Wanxiang Teaching Scholars Program is based on a signed memorandum of understanding between Wanxiang and C-100.

The 2012 C-100 Summer Institute on China will be an intensive four-week program from June 18 to July 14, combining a week of lectures and instructional strategy planning in San Mateo with three weeks of travel and study in China. This year, in keeping with the Wanxiang sponsorship, the theme will be “Renewable Energy—Science and Policy.” The Wanxiang Group is a multinational Chinese auto parts and electric car manufacturer.

To date, Wanxiang has pledged $4.5 million in support of the “100,000 Strong” Initiative to increase the number of Americans studying in China. Read about recent gifts to support the 100,000 Strong Initiative in this February 24 State Department fact sheet.

California science and social science middle and high school teachers are invited to apply before March 23 for the 2012 Summer Institute. For information, contact: Karen Williams, San Mateo County Office of Education, (650) 802-5554, or kwilliams@smcoe.k12.ca.us.

The Fourth C-100 Summer Institute: A “Life-changing” Experience for Northern California Teachers

This summer, sixteen Northern California middle and high school teachers participated in the Committee’s fourth Summer Teachers Institute, a five-week immersion in Chinese culture, history and language. Described by program evaluator Nancy Sato as “a life-changing event that improved their understanding and interest in China, which will continue the rest of their lives,” the Institute has had a positive impact on hundreds of students and is already reflected in Bay Area classrooms. One teacher, Manuel Lopez, from Everett Alvarez High School in Salinas, told C-100 Senior Associate for Education Karen Leong Clancy: “I am currently in the process of changing my approach to teaching economics because of the study tour. In essence, I have become a China junkie. I will forever be in debt to the many people that invested in how I think about China.”

C-100 Summer Institute participants with one of their many Chinese hosts, officials of the Jingzhou Municipal Government.

Secretary of State Clinton Hails Progress of 100,000 Strong Initiative at Inaugural Meeting of Advisory Committee

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton kicked off the first meeting of the Advisory Committee of the 100,000 Strong Initiative on May 10 by announcing that the Initiative, which receives no U.S. government funding, has already surpassed its annual fundraising target of $7 million. The Advisory Committee is charged with raising the visibility of this important State Department people-to-people Initiative in the private sector and is co-chaired by former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and former Senator Chuck Hagel (Nebraska). Members include university presidents, educators and non-profit and corporate executives.

C-100 Education Initiative: C-100-Sponsored Coalition Organizes First Annual Southern California Mandarin Teachers Conference

Chinese language teaching in Southern California schools got a big boost on June 4 with the First Annual Mandarin Teachers Conference, attracting over 130 teachers and administrators for a day of networking and workshops on Mandarin teaching strategies.

The conference, held at the Mendez Learning Center in Los Angeles, was presented by the Mandarin in Schools Committee, a coalition of educators dedicated to expanding the teaching of Mandarin in K-12 schools. The coalition was convened several years ago by the Committee of 100 Southern California Region, led by C-100 Vice Chair Stewart Kwoh. One of its first successes , as reported in Committee Bridges, was the 2008 adoption of a Los Angeles Board of Education resolution to expand Mandarin learning opportunities for Los Angeles students.

Rep. Judy Chu (in red jacket) and C-100 Vice Chair Stewart Kwoh (at far right) with educators.

In an impressive show of support for the work of the Mandarin Schools Committee, the conference was addressed by U.S. Congresswoman Judy Chu, who spoke about the importance of foreign language acquisition; California Assemblyman Mike Eng; Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Superintendent John Deasy; and LAUSD Board President Monica Garcia. East West Bank was the key financial supporter of the conference.

In Beijing, 300 Attend C-100 Leadership Scholarship Symposium, 38 Students Win Scholarships

The eminent Tsinghua University, as part of its centenary this year, co-hosted the 2011 Leadership Scholarship Symposium and Awards Dinner on April 25 in Beijing. A number of Committee of 100 members also took part in Tsinghua’s 100^th anniversary celebration at the Great Hall of the People.

2011 LSP and LSP (Art) scholarship recipients with C-100 members [middle row].

Committee Awarded Fulbright-Hays Grant To Send California Teachers to China for Summer Institute

The 2009 San Mateo Country China Summer Institute at the Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan.

For the fourth summer, the Committee of 100 Education Initiative, under the leadership of Leslie Tang Schilling and C-100 Education Consultant Karen Leong Clancy, will be organizing “Silk Roads to the Silicon Highways,” a comprehensive program for middle and high school teachers to study Chinese culture and history and bring lessons and tools for teaching about China to their classrooms. Seventeen teachers will attend the five-week program from June 20 to July 23.

This time, however, will be different. The U.S. Department of Education has awarded a grant of $83,200 under its Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Program to the Committee for the Summer Institute, making possible for teachers from all over California to participate in the expanded program, which now includes a full month of China experience.

Committee of 100 Joins One Hundred Thousand Strong: U.S. State Department Initiative to Boost Numbers of Americans Studying in China

The Committee is a partner in an ambitious educational initiative of the U.S. State Department to significantly increase the numbers of Americans students in China by helping educational institutions expand China study programs.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is greeted by Chinese-speaking American student ambassadors at the USA Pavilion, Shanghai World Expo, last year.

Carola McGiffert, Director of the 100,000 Strong Initiative, described the Initiative as “a public-private partnership that will have exponential impact”:

The Changing Landscape of Chinese Language Education in America

April-June 2010| By Karen Leong Clancy and Jane Leung Larson

A panel of Chinese language education experts concluded the San Francisco conference with a call for audience members to form more community support groups like the Mandarin in the Schools Committee in Los Angeles organized by C-100 Regional Vice Chair Stewart Kwoh, President and Executive Director, Asian Pacific American Legal Center. These groups advocate increased Chinese language education at the K-12 level and are coalitions of Chinese American community leaders, academics, and politicians who build community support and work closely with educators.

The panel was moderated by Leslie Tang Schilling, Founder, Union Square Investment Company, who was the original driving force behind the Committee’s Education Initiative, which seeks to boost the teaching of Chinese language, history and culture in the schools.

Teaching about China Evokes Creativity in Bay Area Classrooms Thanks to C100 Summer Institute

February 2010| By Karen Leong Clancy

Last summer, seventeen teachers spent three weeks learning about and experiencing China as part of the third Committee of 100-sponsored San Mateo County Summer Institute. In exchange for this opportunity, teachers are required to develop lesson plans and be observed teaching a sample lesson related to China. The exciting results show how exposure to the history and culture of China can bring fresh ideas to teachers of subjects from geography to ceramics to music. Hundreds of students are benefiting from this inspired teaching and learning more about China in the process.

In October, group leaders from the Institute began visiting schools to observe the classroom impact of the Summer Institute, which incorporates a week of lectures and field trips led by academic China specialists and two weeks of travel and study in China.