The 2013 "China Roots Journey" summer camp came to a successful conclusion – Modern Chinese School Lu Ping won the award

The 2013 "China Roots Journey" summer camp came to a successful conclusion – Modern Chinese School Lu Ping won the award &#8…

– Modern Chinese School teacher Lu Ping won the "Excellent Team Leader Award" Summary of the "Large Project Department" of the National Association of Chinese Schools

On August 15, 2013, the "China Roots Journey" summer camp hosted by the China Overseas Exchange Association and the "Overseas Exchange Associations" of various provinces and cities came to a successful conclusion. The National Association of Chinese Schools undertook the registration and organization of summer camps in the United States. This year, the association selected ten summer camps among hundreds of "China Roots Journey" summer camps, which are Shanghai Camp, Shanghai Dance Camp, Changzhou Camp, Nanjing-Beijing Camp, Sichuan Camp, Sichuan-Beijing Camp, Liaoning-Beijing Camp, two Beijing camps and the "Chinese Culture Knowledge Competition" Winners' Camp in Beijing. Under the leadership of 10 leading teachers selected by the association, a total of 122 students participated in these ten summer camps. The oldest among them is 18 years old and the youngest is 10 years old.

In February 2013, the National Association of Chinese Schools began preparations to organize students from Chinese schools within the association to participate in the "China Roots Journey" summer camp. The president, Ms. Shuai Zhiruo, and the vice president, Mr. Zheng Lianggen, began to coordinate and communicate with relevant summer camp organizers respectively, and obtained a variety of summer camp registration opportunities. What is particularly important is that the association contacted the relevant departments of the China Overseas Exchange Association to organize the summer camps of the winners of the "Chinese Culture Knowledge Competition" in the previous two years to be held in Beijing, which became a highlight of various summer camp projects this year.

Accordingly, the association's "Large Project Department" immediately formed a summer camp working group, including association director Mr. Zhang Xingyu, association executive committee members Mr. Jiang Jiang and Mr. Ni Lisong. The working group continues to contact relevant departments across the country to implement the registration procedures for each camp, each school and each student. Processed registration applications from more than 200 students from more than 40 Chinese schools across the United States. Before the start of the summer camp, Director Zhang Xingyu of the "Large Project Department" presided over a pre-departure preparation meeting attended by all team leaders. Vice President Zheng Lianggen shared his previous team leadership experience with the team leaders, and everyone discussed relevant issues at the meeting. The working group also hopes that the leading teachers can report the situation of summer camps in various places in real time or in a timely manner through the association’s Facebook.

The "China Roots Journey" summer camp has been held continuously in China for many years. It is first-class in terms of teaching and activity content, as well as safety measures and living arrangements. Most of the leading teachers and students of the association team participated in this summer camp for the first time. The classroom teaching of rich and colorful culture and languages; the handicraft practice of unique traditional arts and crafts; the visits to famous scenic spots and historic sites and the ever-changing modern cities; the dazzling array of traditional delicacies and the tasting of various delicacies brought them wonder, joy and satisfaction one by one.

Our team leaders shoulder the heavy responsibility. They must not only manage their team carefully and take good care of the children's study and daily life, but also report the situation to the association, school, and parents in a timely manner. Some team leaders keep diaries every day, some send emails to Chinese schools and campers’ parents every day, and some promptly post diaries and photos to the association’s Facebook page. The parents of the campers were very satisfied with this, and they expressed their gratitude to the team leaders through emails and other forms. Members of the association's board of directors, members of the summer camp working group, school leaders and parents of campers all spoke positively of the team leaders' serious, responsible, meticulous and hard-working attitude and expressed their sincere gratitude. The list of team leaders is as follows: Nanjing-Beijing camp: Yi Hui (also the general leader of the association’s summer camp), Shanghai camp 1: Zhang Ting, Jiang Hong, Changzhou camp: Lu Ping, Sichuan camp: Xie Weihua, Deng Hong, Sichuan-Beijing camp: Lu Jiang, Beijing camp: Tang Weike, “Chinese Culture Competition” winning camp (Beijing): Xie Dunxian, Chen Xia.

It is worth mentioning that in the process of selecting camper speech representatives from each summer camp, after being recommended by the association and the Jiangsu Overseas Exchange Association, Vice President Zheng Lianggen guided the application throughout the process and assisted Siyi's speech. Yinka, a student from Chapel Hill Chinese School in North Carolina, stood out from more than 10 candidates and was finally selected. During the summer camp, under the careful guidance of the team leader Yi Hui, Yin Ka, as a representative of more than 4,000 campers, spoke at the opening ceremony of the large-scale camp held in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Student Siyuan won the Outstanding Camper Award in Shanghai First Camp; classmate Zheng Fangda spoke on behalf of the campers at the closing ceremony of the winning camp in Beijing; student Guo Lingfeng (Asia Modern Chinese School) won the second prize in the Changzhou First Camp Essay Competition; and student Guo Siyuan (Alia Modern Chinese School) won the second prize in the Changzhou First Camp Photography Competition. First prize; Guo Siyuan was also selected as the host of the closing ceremony of the Changzhou Summer Camp; Teacher Yi Hui spoke as the leader representative at the Jiangsu Summer Camp; Teacher Lu Ping (Asia Modern Chinese School) spoke as the leader representative at the opening ceremony of the Changzhou First Camp, and won the Changzhou First Camp Outstanding Leader Award at the end of the camp. Team leader Deng Hong, as the team leader’s representative, spoke at the closing ceremony of a camp in Sichuan.

The winning camp of the "Chinese Culture Knowledge Competition" also conducted a Chinese oral proficiency test. All 19 campers from the association participated, 7 achieved advanced results, 12 achieved intermediate results, and no one failed. After the results were announced, everyone was happy. Everyone got a certificate issued by the organizer, which truly showed the Chinese listening and speaking skills of the campers of the association

The team leaders and all the campers of the association gained a lot from the summer camp. They represented the team of the National Association of Chinese Schools and achieved excellent results in various activities, showing the style of Chinese teenagers. We have received many letters of commendation and thanks from the organizers and organizers, and they have given good comments and praise to the team leaders and campers of the association’s summer camps.

For more summer camp activities and pictures, please visit the association’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CSAUS.connect.

(Written by Jiang Jiang, pictures are provided by the team leaders unless otherwise noted)