The origins of this China trip...

The origins for this trip to China began with a telephone call from Dr. Gaeton F. Stella, superintendent of the Woodbridge School District, on Friday, October 26, 2007. Dr. Stella informed me that a visiting group of Chinese teachers had just arrived in Woodbridge to visit the elementary schools. One member of the Chinese delegation, Han Xianghe, was a secondary mathematics teacher from the Shandong Experimental Middle School in the province of Jinan. He wanted to visit a secondary school and, if possible, stay with an American family. I volunteered to have "Mr. Han" visit the Amity Middle School in Bethany and stay with me and my family. I was also quite sure that I could have him visit Amity High School in Woodbridge, the high school for our district, the Amity Regional School District #5. Mr. Han arrived at the Amity Middle school in Bethany on Monday, October 29. Several of our Chinese students volunteered to assist him and serve as interpreters. (Mr. Han is pictured above along with several of the students who assisted him.) He also visited the high school on two separate occasions. Soon after this I received information about the upcoming Connecticut-Shandong Principal Shadowing Project (PSP) scheduled for April 8-21, 2008. The superintendent of our school district, Dr. John Brady, was interested in offering Chinese in the middle schools, and supported my interest in applying for this unique exchange program. I applied and in November, 2007, I was notified that I was accepted into the program. More information about the PSP program, a collaboration between the Connecticut Association of Schools (CAS) and the Connecticut State Department of Education, can be obtained by contacting Dan Gregg, Social Studies Consultant, at the Connecticut State Department of Education. His email address is: daniel.gregg@ct.gov