The opening ceremony of three Confucius Classrooms at the Confucius Institute at Arizona State University

The opening ceremony of three Confucius Classrooms at the Confucius Institute at Arizona State University May 6, 2011, The three Confucius Classrooms of the Confucius Institute at Arizona State University are in...

The opening ceremony of the three Confucius Classrooms of the Confucius Institute at Arizona State University On May 6, 2011, the three Confucius Classrooms of the Confucius Institute at Arizona State University jointly held the opening ceremony of the Confucius Classroom in the Deer Valley School District in the auditorium of Little Rock Creek High School. The three Confucius Classrooms in the Deer Valley School District in Arizona are Gavilan Peak School, Diamond Canyon School and Boulder Creek High School. Guests attending the opening ceremony included Professor Madelin Sham, Director of the Confucius Institute at Arizona State University, Dr. John Kriekard, Superintendent of the Deer Valley School District, Ms. Ann Ordway, Chairperson of the Deer Valley School District Board of Trustees, Dr. Lauren Sheahan, Principal of Little Rock Brook High School, Dr. Mark Oesterle and Ms. Tara LeCount, Principals of Diamond Valley School, and Dr. Mai-Lon Wong, Principal of Gavilan Peak School. The opening ceremony officially started at 7 p.m. and was hosted by Scott Laurence, director of the Chinese language program of the Deer Valley School District. About 400 people attended the event. Teachers and students from the three Confucius Classrooms prepared rich and exciting performances for the guests, students and parents who came to attend the opening ceremony of the Confucius Classrooms. The entire opening ceremony was linked together by exciting programs prepared by students and speeches by guests. Students from the Chinese Club of the Confucius Classroom at Little Rock Creek High School presented a cheerful and festive lion dance performance to the audience, heralding the grand start of the opening ceremony of the Confucius Classroom. The first person to deliver a speech was Deer Valley School District Superintendent Dr. John Kriekard, who expressed his gratitude to parents for their support. He also proposed how to prepare children to face the challenges of the 21st century, a topic of common concern to school districts, schools, teachers and parents. They will work tirelessly for this. Then, students in grades 5, 6 and 7 and 8 from the Confucius Classroom at Gavilan Peak School took the stage to perform dialogues and role plays they had learned in Chinese classes, including buying and selling things, playing teachers and students, etc. After that, Ms. Ann Ordway, chairperson of the Deer Valley School District Board of Trustees, took the stage to speak. She recalled the details of Diamond Valley School Principal Dr. Mark Oesterle’s proposal to the board of directors to open a Confucius Classroom in the school district to carry out Chinese language projects. She said it was one of the best decisions they've ever made for the children of the Deer Valley School District. The most exciting aspect of the show was the collective performance of the first-grade children of the Gavilan Peak Chinese Immersion Program. They all appeared on the stage dressed in cute little Tang suits. As soon as they appeared on the stage, they immediately aroused the warmest applause from the audience. The audience was deeply attracted by the children's innocent and cute appearance and manners. These blond and blue-eyed first-grade children read the story "The Butterfly Flies" to the audience in standard Chinese and eloquently, and also sang a nursery rhyme "Looking for Friends". These children spend two and a half hours every day learning math and science classes in an all-Chinese environment. In this way, they not only mastered the knowledge of these subjects, but also learned Chinese. It can be seen from the children's performances that although the Chinese immersion program has only started for half a year, the children's Chinese proficiency has already reached a considerable level. After the performances by these lovely children, Professor Smadelin, Director of the Confucius Institute at Arizona State University, took the stage to deliver a speech. Professor Sima Delin said that this was the second Confucius Classroom opening ceremony she had attended after the opening ceremony of the Confucius Classroom at Rhodes Middle School. She congratulated the three schools in the Deer Valley School District for their achievements in Chinese teaching. He also encouraged schools to not only teach Chinese well, but also bring Chinese culture into the community to strengthen the friendship between the people of China and the United States. She also encouraged the Confucius Classroom to deepen exchanges with sister schools in China and carry out more and better exchange and cooperation projects between Chinese and American schools. After Professor Smadelin’s speech, Dr. Lauren Sheahan, principal of Little Rock Creek Confucius Classroom, Dr. Mark Oesterle and Ms. Tara LeCount, principals of Diamond Valley School, and Dr. Mai-Lon Wong, principal of Gavilan Peak School, took the stage to speak respectively, played the highlights of their schools’ Chinese projects for the audience, and officially signed the Confucius Classroom Agreement with Professor Smadelin. Finally, students from the Confucius Classroom at Diamond Valley School and students from the Confucius Classroom at Mount Gavilan School performed diabolo and band dance. The cheerful music pushed the opening ceremony to the final climax. All the guests took the stage for a group photo, marking the successful conclusion of the opening ceremony of the three Confucius Classrooms at Gavilan Peak School, Diamond Valley School and Little Stony Brook High School in Deer Valley School District, Arizona! After the opening ceremony, the three Confucius Classrooms at Gavilan Peak School, Diamond Valley School and Little Rock Creek High School prepared a rich Chinese buffet for the guests. Everyone had a fun and unforgettable evening.