Jennie K. Kolter Elementary School
         

SPEAKING CHINESE A VALUABLE COMMODITY

By Bryna Kennedy

   “Ni Hao Ma?  Wo Hen Hao.  Xie Xie.”  A chorus of perfectly pronounced Chinese drifts out of a classroom.  The teacher, Ms. Liling Yu, is from Shanghai.  Her students are Houstonians, and they are 5 years old.  Ms. Yu and her fellow educators at Kolter Elementary School are blazing the trails of language learning in Houston.  Last year, for the first time, Kolter began teaching Mandarin Chinese to kindergarteners.

   Why Chinese?  With 1.3 billion citizens, China is the most populous nation in the world.   

    Beginning this fall, Kolter is offering Chinese classes not only for kindergarteners, but also for first, second and third graders.  Besides learning how to sing, play, and converse in Chinese, children are gaining an invaluable asset—something that was missing from their parents’ education.   

    In fact, this year President Bush launched a national campaign to expand language learning for America’s youth.  “We're going to teach our kids how to speak important languages.  We'll welcome teachers here to help teach our kids how to speak languages,” Bush said.  The National Security Language Initiative, sponsored by the State Department and the Department of Education, is aimed at creating fluency among young learners in what they identified as “critical-need” languages:  Arabic, Russian, Japanese, and Chinese, among others. 

   On September 20, Sen . John Cornyn contacted Kolter Elementary to announce the school's selection for a Foreign Language Assistance Program grant.  Kolter will be awarded $165,000 a year for the next three years as a tool for enhancing its Japanese and Chinese programs.  The grant is just one of the initiatives the President has established to boost language learning throughout the nation.

   Kolter Elementary School has lofty plans for the next three years.  The FLAP grant will enable Kolter to develop a comprehensive Chinese curriculum and to enhance the Japanese program that is already in place.  Teachers will be trained at national conferences.  After school programs such as martial arts, ping pong and dance will reinforce what students learn in the classroom.  Connections will be created between students and local groups such as Houston’s Chinese Community Center.  And the project’s culminating event is Family Kite Day, a celebration of kites from around the world.    

   Of course, world language education is nothing new to Kolter Elementary School.  The school's language program began more than 20 years ago.  For over two decades, Kolter has been providing quality instruction in Spanish, French, and Japanese to children in kindergarten through fifth grade.  The addition of the Chinese program proves that Kolter is continuing to forge ahead, producing students who are citizens not just of Texas, but of the world, and who are ready to compete in the global economy of tomorrow.