Published on 03 November 2009
Hopkins, working in collaboration with two other Minnesota school districts, received a major Foreign Language Assistance (FLAP) grant from the United States Department of Education. The five-year, US$1.4 million, FLAP grant will enable Hopkins to develop a well-articulated, kindergarten through 12th grade, Mandarin Chinese immersion program that has a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) curricular focus. Hopkins, working in collaboration with two other Minnesota school districts, received a major Foreign Language Assistance (FLAP) grant from the United States Department of Education. The five-year, US$1.4 million, FLAP grant will enable Hopkins to develop a well-articulated, kindergarten through 12th grade, Mandarin Chinese immersion program that has a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) curricular focus.
Immersion collaborative
Hopkins is part of the Minnesota Mandarin Immersion Collaborative (MMIC), which includes the Minnetonka and St. Cloud school districts. The MMIC also will be working with the University of Minnesota and some of its agencies, including the Confucius Institute, the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA), and the Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI). Hopkins is the lead agency for administration of the grant. Molly Wieland, who currently is Hopkins' world language coordinator and high school French teacher, will be the project director for the grant.
The Program
All three school districts have Chinese language immersion programs. Hopkins' program—XinXing Academy—started in 2007 with full-day kindergarten. A grade level has been added each year, and it currently serves children in kindergarten through 2nd grade. XinXing will continue to expand through 6th grade.
Focus areas for grant
Focus areas of the grant include:
* developing innovative and standards-based Chinese immersion curriculum;
* offering extensive professional development and support to immersion teachers;
* building strong and lasting collaborations with local, national, and international partners; and
* supporting the articulation of Chinese immersion programming across all grade levels from elementary to secondary.
STEM focus
The FLAP grant dovetails with the Hopkins Public Schools' focus on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Hopkins is piloting STEM curriculum in its elementary schools and will be enhancing those efforts through an Engineering is Elementary grant from the Cargill Foundation with curriculum support from the Science Museum of Minnesota. Last spring, the Cargill Foundation donated nearly US$2.5 million over four years to the Science Museum of Minnesota to facilitate the introduction of the Engineering is Elementary (EiE) curriculum in all of Hopkins' and Minneapolis' elementary schools.
Interdisciplinary curriculum
In addition to developing a STEM-focused curriculum in Mandarin Chinese, the new FLAP grant will enable Hopkins to develop an interdisciplinary curriculum that also incorporates language and literacy development, social studies, and the arts. The grant also will enable Hopkins to plan for a secondary-level Chinese immersion program.
The MMIC plans to develop connections with local businesses that work in STEM fields and who may have employees that speak Chinese.
Equipping students with global literacy
"Our goal is for our students to complete high school with advanced proficiency in Chinese and highly developed skills in STEM, but with an interdisciplinary approach including social studies, language arts, and the arts," said Wieland. "We want them to really be able to use their Chinese in the workplace. A goal is to equip students with global literacy for effective participation in the world community."
Category: High School
