A Cultural Exchange

By JO-ANN JOHNSTON The Tampa Tribune

Published: Jul 5, 2007

DADE CITY - In two days, a team of teachers, students and parents from Pasco Middle School will embark on a journey that literally will open a new world to this neighborhood school.

The team leaves Saturday for a two-week trip to Nanjing, an industrial city in eastern China. The Pasco Middle School group will spend most of its time at an academic summer camp at Nanjing Shuren International Junior High School, which began an exchange program with Pasco Middle this year.

Even after teacher Holly Mickler started outlining the team's English-language program, she still found herself in shock about the trip.

"I'm 24 years old. How many people my age get a chance to do something like this?" she said.

"It came out of the blue."

The two schools, with the help of international teaching advocates at the University of South Florida, started a partnership to expose the middle school students to one another's cultures. Students from Nanjing and Dade City have been e-mailed and held videoconferences for months.

"Everyone had these dreams of what could happen with the program, but they were thinking any trips would be years away," Mickler said.

"Certainly, not in the first year did we anticipate something this monumental."

As far as anyone in the Pasco school district knows, this is the first time such as large group has made an educational exchange trip, said Tina Tiede, the district's assistant superintendent for middle schools. Teachers have traveled in small groups or as individuals. Pasco Middle technology teacher Steve Zoni, who helped start the exchange program, has traveled to China and visited the Nanjing school.

Now, though, 10 teachers, two students and the students' moms will represent Pasco County schools abroad.

"This is a big deal," Tiede said.

The trip has a practical benefit for the Nanjing school, which is paying the Pasco Middle School team's travel expenses: Their students will learn conversational English from Americans. Chinese school systems like to invite English speakers to visit and help their students improve their language skills, Tiede said. The goal is to prepare Chinese students to compete in the global economy.

"You can't learn everything by rote," said Natalie Brock, who is making the trip with her son Carson. A certified teacher, she is planning lessons in which students will be asked to give spontaneous descriptions of what they see happening in a soccer game or at an event. That way, they'll have the chance to work with slang, jokes and other expressions likely not covered in the classroom.

Mickler said she plans to focus on expression and drama in her presentations. Another team member will talk about American traditions and games. That fits with the emphasis of the trip: language and culture, not politics, government or religion

Tomatoes will be on the table, too. Agrisciences teacher Ric Roberts was invited to talk about creating urban and patio gardens in a big city. The Chinese students seemed interested to learn during their videoconferences that many Pasco Middle students study agriculture among their academic subjects. So it made sense to ask the gregarious, well-traveled Roberts to come along.

The two students will help bridge the age gap. Mary Kassabaum, who is entering ninth grade, said she plans to answer questions about what American teenagers do. Carson Brock, who is entering eighth grade, wants to talk about soccer and fishing and will produce podcasts - digital audio reports, similar to radio broadcasts - of the trip.

The team members will have new groups of students rotating through every two days. The Pasco group will teach for 10 days and use off-hours to explore local shops and restaurants.

At least, that's the plan. But team members know they'll have to be flexible with their expectations and lesson plans.

"We've got all our bases covered, but I'm guessing I'm pretty much going to have to abort the plan when I get there and come up with something new," Mickler said.

The group returns the weekend of July 21, about a month before school resumes in Pasco. School administrators are eager to see how the team's experiences shape the next school year and the global exchange program.

For instance, Zoni, the technology teacher, said he hopes to see more countries added to Pasco Middle's global exchange program and more frequent videoconferences with Nanjing, in particular.

To help, Pasco Middle School is getting Mandarin Chinese language instruction software for the next school year. No Pasco schools teach Mandarin Chinese, but the school district is considering new language programs to better prepare students for the global economy, said Jeff Morgenstein, who directs world languages instruction.

Mickler said she anticipates return to the classroom in August with "a renewed passion."

"You're doing something fresh."

Keyword: China Trip, for updates on the school trip. Reporter Jo-Ann Johnston can be reached at (352) 521-3062 or jfjohnston@tampatrib.com.