>The National Chinese Education Conference will be held in Phoenix for the first time in December

The National Chinese Education Conference will be held in Phoenix for the first time in December. In December of this year, the warm spring city of Phoenix will welcome representatives of Chinese education from all over the United States, and...

This December, the warm spring city of Phoenix will welcome Chinese education representatives from all over the United States, as well as guests from China, Canada and other places. They will gather with local Chinese education workers, parliamentarians and dignitaries, overseas Chinese leaders, and people from all walks of life to cultivate future generations of Chinese Americans and spread Chinese culture.

The 10th National Congress of the National Association of Chinese Schools and the 20th Anniversary Celebration of the National Chinese Education Seminar will be held from December 12 to 14, 2014 at the Phoenix Airport Marriott in Arizona, USA. This is the first time that a national Chinese education conference will be held in Phoenix.

Founded in 1994, the Chinese Language Schools Association of America (CSAUS) is a national non-profit educational organization. The association consists of more than 500 Chinese schools located in nearly fifty states in the United States, covering almost all large and medium-sized cities, and as far away as Guam in the Pacific. Member schools have more than 100,000 students and more than 8,000 teachers. The association's services are provided to Chinese schools and Chinese communities across the United States. The association promotes the opening of AP Chinese courses across the United States, organizes Chinese SAT mock tests, organizes national painting, dance, martial arts, singing, composition competitions and Chinese cultural knowledge competitions, organizes Chinese literary and artistic groups to tour the United States, and organizes international cultural and art exchange activities.

Over the past twenty years, the association’s services and influence have reached thousands of Chinese families in the United States. As the largest Chinese education organization in the United States and the largest grassroots organization in the Chinese community in the United States, the National Association of Chinese Schools plays an important role in uniting the strength of Chinese people, spreading Chinese culture, and promoting U.S.-China friendship in the multicultural environment of the United States.

The National Association of Chinese Schools and its member schools have received attention and support from China and the United States with their broad and solid foundation, multi-functional social effects and huge development potential. Representatives of the National Association of Chinese Schools have been invited to attend the National Foreign Language Conference and the National Chinese Language Conference held by mainstream education departments in the United States for many times and make special reports. They have made important contributions to promoting the establishment of the Chinese AP examination by the College Board. Over the years, representatives of the National Association of Chinese Schools have been invited back to China for visits and exchanges many times, attending various conferences organized by the China Overseas Exchange Association, the China Overseas Chinese Federation, and provincial and municipal overseas exchange associations, and attending the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference; including the current president of the association, he attended the Seventh World Congress of Overseas Chinese Societies in June this year. President Xi Jinping met with representatives of the Seventh World Congress of Overseas Chinese Societies at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on June 6 and took a group photo with all delegates.

In recent years, the four largest Chinese education organizations in the United States - the National Association of Chinese Schools, the National Association of Elementary and Secondary School Chinese Teachers, the National Association of College Chinese Teachers, and the National Association of Chinese Schools (Teaching Traditional Chinese Characters) have held many meetings. The four major organizations have decided to strengthen cooperation and jointly promote the more common and higher-level development of Chinese education in the United States.

The National Association of Chinese Schools holds a national congress and Chinese education seminar every two years. Since 1994, the association has successfully held nine biennial conferences across the United States. All conferences have received strong support from relevant departments in China and the United States. Responsible persons from the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of China, Chinese education units, and Chinese embassies and consulates where the conference is located were all present. Dignitaries from relevant states and cities in the United States also attended the conference.

In addition to representatives of Chinese schools from all over the country, members of the executive committee of the association, heads of local liaison centers, and past presidents of the association, this year’s conference was also attended by relevant heads of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of China, heads of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, heads of Chinese education departments, Chinese education experts, representatives of local embassies and consulates, representatives of several major Chinese education friendship organizations in the United States, U.S. congressmen, Arizona state municipal officials, education experts, and Arizona overseas Chinese people.

The main agenda of the conference is the opening ceremony at 8:30 am on December 13 and the dinner at 6:00 pm. At the dinner, special guests from China and the United States, dignitaries, famous Chinese education experts, and representatives of Arizona overseas Chinese leaders will jointly award certificates to outstanding teachers nominated by Chinese schools in various places and approved by the association board of directors, outstanding school workers, and school leaders who actively organize association activities; there will also be a joint performance by five Chinese schools in the Phoenix area. After the dinner, representatives from all over the country and local participants got together and held a karaoke session and dance.

The general election of the Association's Board of Directors will be held at noon on December 14. People from all walks of life are welcome to attend. Representatives recommended by Chinese schools from various places will deliver campaign speeches at the venue after submitting written campaign materials and being reviewed. Representatives from each school will elect the new Board of Directors members and the President and Vice President of the Association on the spot.

In order to prepare for this national conference, the Association Council has established a conference organizing committee at the beginning of this year. The members are:

Conference Chairman: Shuai Zhiruo (President of the Association), Executive Chairman: Zheng Lianggen (Vice President of the Association)

Honorary Chairman: Ni Tao, Li Yunchen, Zheng Lianggen, He Zhenyu, Ma Jingsheng, Li Gongfu, Tang Nianfa, Liao Qihong (the above are the permanent honorary presidents of the association)

Vice Chairman of the Conference: He Zhenyu, Jiang Xinrong, Liu Shen, Ni Xiaopeng, Ren Gang, Shao Aiping, Zhang Xingyu

20 Chairman of the Anniversary Celebration Preparatory Committee: He Zhenyu

Members of the conference organizing committee: Tao Kai, Huang Ling, Gu Liqing, Xing Bin, Liu Zhiqiang, Hu Guorong, Ma Dong, Jing Jing (the above are the directors of the association’s local liaison centers)

In order to welcome this conference, the heads of seven Chinese schools in the state held a meeting in May this year. The month was dedicated to discussing the preparatory work and established an Arizona local organizing committee. The main members are the heads of each school:

Chairman: Zhu Yan (responsible for coordinating the Phoenix area), Chen Rongji (in charge of Responsible for coordinating the Tucson region)

Co-chairs: Cui Zengqi, Deng Junquan, Shen Meijing, Song Liangwu, Tian Shaowei, Tian Lin, Tian Shaowei, Cheng Xiuling, Xie Jianming, Xu Zhiping, Yang Feng, Zhou Qing.

The list of members of each working group of the state organizing committee is recommended by each Chinese school. The list of all organizing committees will be compiled and released soon.

Now, the organizing committee of the conference has begun to send invitation letters to local Arizona overseas Chinese leaders and people from all walks of life, and sincerely invites overseas Chinese leaders and people from all walks of life to attend the conference and jointly develop Chinese education in North America. People who are enthusiastic about Chinese education in this state are making suggestions and efforts to promote the success of this conference, and use this to expand the influence of Arizona in the United States, show the face of a prosperous city in a desert oasis, and showcase the spirit of the warm and simple local people. The organizing committee of the conference sincerely thanks all the advanced overseas Chinese for their strong support and will express special thanks at the conference.

The organizing committee of the conference hopes that people from all walks of life will come to the conference to learn the Chinese language for future generations of Chinese and other ethnic groups, to inherit and promote the great cause of Chinese culture overseas, and to promote the bright goal of friendly exchanges between the United States and China.

The organizing committee of the conference has opened a special registration website for Chinese school personnel, other Chinese teachers, and local overseas Chinese to count the number of people attending the conference lunch and dinner. The conference provides discounts for participants and produces an official nameplate with the conference logo for each attendee. Please see the website for details. Further information will be released at the conference in the future.

Registration website for local participants: http://smileyni.org/CSAUS/conference/RegLocal.php

For suggestions and support, volunteer registration, etc., please contact Mr. Cui Zengqi of the local organizing committee: cuizq@hotmail.com

National Association of Chinese Schools website: http://www.csaus.net/

Attached is the conference venue scenery (photography: Li Jiaying, design: Ren Gang)

(National Association of Chinese Schools draft, added by Cui Zengqi, 2014.10.9)