UPS Foundation Sponsors AIS-China Exchange
Atlanta International School began offering Chinese as a language option, starting in grade eight, in the fall of 2002. The first class of students is now in grade ten and there are two other classes, one each in grades eight and nine. Given that nearly half of the world’s population lives in Asia, it was important for AIS to include a course of study allowing students to learn in depth the culture, tradition and language of at least one Asian country.
Given the economic and population growth projections for various countries in Asia, Chinese (Mandarin) became an obvious choice. As the first AIS students to pursue Chinese prepare for the start of their two-year IB Diploma program next year, it became evident that these students, all of them non-native speakers of Chinese, needed to have an intensive immersion in Chinese language and culture. To accomplish this we needed to add something to the regular Chinese classes at AIS: an educational exchange program with a school in China.
AIS is pleased to announce the receipt of a generous grant from the UPS Foundation to sponsor this program. The grant will support a trip for our students to go to China where they will live with a Chinese family and go to a Chinese school. The grant also supports the visit of Chinese students to attend AIS and live with an AIS or a UPS family.
Several Chinese schools, both state and private, offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma program and many are interested in collaborating with AIS. During the upcoming winter break, a delegation of teachers and administrators from AIS will be visiting IB schools in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing. We intend to announce the details of the educational exchange program in January and to begin the exchange in May 2005. Many thanks to United Parcel Service – UPS – for making this possible.