The adventure begins. We are heading to the airport for flight to Denver & a drive to Yellowstone Natl Park
Lisa and I are headed to Big Sky country for camping and backpacking in Yellowstone National Park. We head back to Denver at the end of the trip for a school conference. Stay tuned for pics & updates.
School Vouchers In TN-Are we any closer & who can use them?
According to a Commercial Appeal article: http://tinyurl.com/bwcegtb
Gov. Haslam’s Task Force on School Choice will make a long-awaited recommendation on the use of vouchers in Tennessee.
The vouchers would allow students to attend private schools using public school funds to pay for their tuition. It appears that the task force may recommend that the vouchers be for low-income students only and that the amount the state provides be the only tuition that a private school can charge. Stay tuned. Report should come out this week.
No. 5 Middle School in Suzhou, China looking for its Christian roots and why an American teacher would come to their city 120 years ago.
Meeting Mr. Shen Zhong Principal and Mrs. “Sophie” Wang You, the English teacher at No. 5 Middle School was quite the providential encounter. Their school is trying to look back further into their founding history and why they have this large bell that was manufactured in Baltimore, MA in 1895 by the Henry McShane Bell Co. And who are their first 2 Head masters Dr. R.N. Hayes and Ralph White. Apparently they were both sent by the American Presbyterian denomination to establish a school in Sozhuo. The school was originally named the Cuiying Academy. The No. 5 Middle school has an extensive history and maintains a school museum but they have very little information of their founder and his purpose in beginning the school.
They took us to the school and showed us all of their facility which really was first rate even the original building built around the turn of the century by the school. Their enrollment is about 1268 students and place the majority of their graduates into the university system. They gave us a book on the extensive history of the school but it was lacking information regarding the Church and Dr. Hayes. After a long conversation and about 4 hours learning about each others schools I told Mr. Zhong and Mrs. Sophie that FCA would be honored to help them research their history and we would consider it as a research project for
students from our school. I also indicated that we would be interested in possibly beginning a sister school relationship with No. 5. I told them I would take this important idea back to our board of directors for their consideration. They were very excited about the sister school idea and would take this idea to their authorities.
I have already begun some initial research into the McShane Bell Co. and found that they are still in business in the Baltimore area! There’s is no telling what their bell may be worth. Please see the pictures to come of the bell, the original building and the school tree that is over 400 years old that sits in the center of the campus along with the bell and a large bust honoring Dr. Hayes and Mr. White.
Why was I in China? I think there are several reasons but there is one significant one – here it is:
After leaving Nanjing we went to our second “smaller city” Suzhou (only 6 million) and visited Suzhou High School-SIP a very prestigious 9-12 program. It has a boarding school but only during the week. We were presented a lecture on the educational system in China and it became even more clear why the Hanban Institute wanted relations with US schools. They stated that 20 years ago the government wanted to change their system to a “market related educational system” meaning that students should learn how to function in a economic driven society and be able to conduct business in a global setting. They understand that English is the language of business and so they are eager to learn and teach Chinese to as many as will learn.
After this introductory meeting with many schools from the Suzhou we had lunch and then broke up in to random groups in the SIP library. There was no control over who met who they just put us in this room and said introduce yourselves and meet. I just “randomly” sat down with another US private educator and a man and lady Chinese educators from No. 5 Middle School (thats their name for high school) and the first question out of their mouth was “can you help us find the Presbyterian Church and the family of the first American Missionary Headmaster Dr. R.N. Hayes who founded the school in 1892?” Right then I knew why I was in China.
Back in USA but only for a short time. Sorry for the lack of posts but internet was not very reliable while in China & would not post from blogs or Facebook. More to come.
Watch for more posts about my trip to China. You will not believe the school we are considering partnering with. More to come.
In Nanjing and doing well. Visited primary school yesterday and toured the city.
Internet is rare and not very stable so the posts are slow and spotty. We visited the largest primary school (2000+) in Nanjing yesterday. It was a beautiful school with very bright students. Certainly the showcase school in the area. Played a little volleyball in the gym with the students and the hoops broke out. Couldn’t resist. We made paper flowers n the traditional Chinese style and met the principal of the school.
There are 43 in our group here in Nanjing which is only 10% of the entire delegation. Maggie our tour guide and Master Wei our bus driver have done a wonderful job hosting us in one of the “smaller” cities, Nanjing has only 8.3 million people (that’s bigger than New York City) but is rich in history. Our hosts The Hanban organization treated us to a formal dinner last night that was quite the spread..
Today we visited the burial grounds of the ancient Ming dynasty and walked up the 392 steps of Dr. Sun Yay Sam’s mausoleum who was the first President of China and had overthrown the Ming dynasty. We also toured the Nanjing city wall which once fortified the entire city 1000 Yeats ago and took 200,000 workers to construct.
We had dinner near the local market and did a little shopping later. Everyone is quite tired but certainly a great group. For some this is their first trip out of the country and certainly their first experience with an eastern toilet. Fun and games! More later.
They say we are leaving.
After de icing about 3 times. It looks like we are leaving.
40 mins late and the snow is getting heavier.
We are sitting on the runway with engines running but the snow is coming down harder. Not looking good. If they send us back to the terminal it’s going to get ugly.
Winter wonderland starting in New York
Made it to JFK with very little problems but it was rainy & now is snowing. Place is packed. Checked my bag which I usually don’t do but since this is non-stop to Beijing and with a large group I’m not going anywhere until everyone gets their stuff.
Good news is I got exit row for the 12+ hour flight.
Bad news the Tablet I brought on an experiment is now not connecting to the Boingohotspot piece of junk Internet. And discovered that entertainment that been downloaded before hand will not play unless you are connected to the Internet. Who am I to think that “downloaded” meant it was actually on the tablet! These are rented movies thinking that wifi might not be available but apparently Google Play wants to be connected to the Internet to play “downloaded” content. So, the trusty iPhone may have to do.
Technology – I’ll live.
About
Headmaster, Franklin Christian Academy. 1978 Baylor Univ. BBA, 08 M.Ed TSU
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Recent
- FCA training for Music City 1/2 Marathon Begins!
- On the train headed to Zurich from Salzburg.
- “The Hills Are Alive With the Sound of Music.”
- Dachau-a visit to horror past. Moving experience & prompting questions.
- Tour of Disney inspired castle, Mad King Ludwig of Bavaria & other sites of Munich
- We made it to Munich & Pension Lindner
- Can you sleep on an international overnight flight? Here’s what I do.
- A long walk home as a 3rd grader in Waco, TX. 50 yrs ago today.
- On our way! Early flight to NY & then on to Munich, Germany
- AdvancED (SACS) Accreditation Conference
- A hike in the Grand Tetons is well… Grand! Cascade Canyon was spectacular.
- 9 Mile Hike to Fairy Falls and a visit to the Grand Prismatic Spring. It was HOT!
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HughHarris 