Visiting Teacher Brings Chinese Culture to CCS
by Rowan Beck,
November 17, 2011, page 7.....

During the month of October, CCS had the opportunity to have a visiting teacher, Yao Te, from Lijang, China. Yao Te arrived in Vermont August 21 and began her teaching in Hinesburg. Every month she will rotate to a new school in the CSSU district. She is part of the statewide program for Asian Studies in schools and will spend the school year here. She has now moved on to Shelburne.
The Program for Asian Studies in Schools was initiated by the Asian Studies Outreach Program (ASOP) of the University of Vermont (UVM), run by Bill Williams, and is funded by the Freeman Foundation. The statewide initiative promotes teaching and learning about Asia in Vermont schools at levels K-12. The goal of the statewide program is to introduce content about Asia into the curricula of all Vermont schools, kindergarten through grade 12. ASOP cooperates with schools, supervisory unions and the State Department of Education to implement the statewide program. Instructors arrive prepared to teach through the arts, cooking, dance – in addition to whatever specialty they have – and must teach at all levels. At home Yao Te is an English teacher.
While she was at CCS, she educated students on costume, language, tradition and Chinese culture from her village, Lijang. One of the classes she taught was Chinese brush painting to grades 3-8. While at CCS most teachers have fully taken advantage of the opportunity. The chart of her availability posted on the door to the mailboxes in the office was nearly full after her first week here.
Yao Te comes from the village of Lijang, located northwest of Yunnan Province. It is listed among the UNESCO World Heritage Sites as having special cultural significance. It has the “only living pictograph language in the world.” The village is 500 years old and considered a “little Venice.” There are no cars allowed in the village but, like Venice there are small canals for boats. The residents have their own spoken language; however, many use Mandarin to communicate. For example, Yao and her husband both speak different minority languages, so she cannot communicate with her in-laws in their own language.
Students were excited with the opportunity to learn about a new culture and way of life. Jane Hardy went home saying, “I learned how to write my name in Chinese today.” Yao Te appears to be as excited as the students. While in Charlotte, she stayed with Tom and Ebeth Scatchard. When Tom’s cousin, David Shear, was appointed ambassador to Viet Nam, Yao Te traveled with them to Washington, D.C., where she saw Hillary Clinton. She experienced another piece of American culture when she attended the Monster Bash at the Old Lantern for Halloween.
It has been a cultural exchange all the way around. Yao Te provided an incredible opportunity for the students at CCS to learn about Chinese culture.