Six years after originally forming, the Chinese Language Initiative Group is stepping up its efforts to bring Mandarin Chinese to Cherry Hill schools. The group plans to make its voice heard at the Cherry Hill Board of Education curriculum and instruction committee meeting on April 3.
Six years ago, a group of Cherry Hill community members banded together to get the world’s most spoken language added to Cherry Hill Public Schools curriculum.
Members of the community formed the Chinese Language Initiative Group in 2011 with the purpose of adding Mandarin Chinese as a world language option for students.
Six years after its initial formation, CLIG has not yet achieved its goal of adding Mandarin to the curriculum. The group plans to make their voices heard on April 3 at the board’s curriculum and instruction meeting, where the district’s director of curriculum, Farrah Mahan, will give a presentation on the district’s world language program.
Lisa Stanwyck and Sophia Li are two parents who have been advocating for the addition of Mandarin Chinese for a number of years. Both feel adding Mandarin is necessary so the school district can compete with other top districts in New Jersey.
According to www.ethnologue.com, Mandarin Chinese is the world’s most spoken language, with nearly 900 million people around the world speaking it. According to U.S. Census data, more than 2.8 million people in the United States speak Chinese, making it the third-most spoken language in the country behind English and Spanish.
“In the world we live in today, there so many Mandarin-speaking people,” Li said.
Li feels the biggest reason Mandarin Chinese should be added to the curriculum is its increasing importance in the business world. China is the largest trading partner with the United States, according to the Office of Economic Complexity. Li feels high school students who learn Chinese will be better equipped for a future career.
Mandarin Chinese is also being taught in more New Jersey school districts with each passing year. A 2012 presentation from the Chinese Language Initiative Group said 38 districts in New Jersey offered Chinese in their world language curriculum, including Washington Township, Princeton and West Windsor. Li said that number has now increased to more than 40.
“There’s a trend that a lot of schools are adopting Chinese,” Li said.
The Chinese Initiative Group’s goal is to give high school students the choice of taking Chinese. Some in the group feel the district’s current world language program is sub-standard. Stanwyck said Cherry Hill’s curriculum is too Euro-centric and does not accurately reflect the world’s most spoken languages.
In the Cherry Hill high school course selection guide for the 2017–18 school year, the five world languages offered as courses were Spanish, French, German, Italian and Latin.
“We’ve pointed out to them numerous times that we don’t have a world language group in Cherry Hill, we have a European language program,” Stanwyck said.
“This (proposal) gives the kids a choice,” Li added.
Currently, students who want to learn Chinese either study the language at home or go to courses outside of school hours. The Hua Xia Chinese School holds Chinese as a second language classes on Saturdays at Beck Middle School, and the Chinese School of South Jersey holds Sunday classes at Carusi Middle School.
District officials acknowledged there has been an ongoing discussion on including Mandarin Chinese in the world language curriculum since 2011. Mahan said the district has surveyed students to measure interest in the language, connected with the Confucius Institute at Rutgers University, created a basic curriculum outline and more.
A number of hurdles remain for adding Chinese. The cost of the program, impact on the high school schedule and teacher certifications are all areas the district needs to address.
Members of CLIG are offering a number of resources to help bring Chinese to the school district. Stanwyck said there are more certified teachers available than before, and the group has found a few teachers over the past few months who’d be willing to help start Cherry Hill’s program.
“Now that we’re sitting six years later, there are many teaching schools that certify teachers in Mandarin,” she said.
CLIG has stepped up its efforts over the last few weeks. Over the last month, a number of residents have appeared at recent board meetings to speak in support of adding Chinese to the curriculum. Members of the group are expected to attend Monday’s curriculum and instruction committee to discuss the prospect of adding Mandarin Chinese to the curriculum.
In an email, district public information officer Barbara Wilson said Chinese would be part of the discussion in Mahan’s presentation on the world language program Monday night. Though high school course selection for the 2017–18 school year has already been completed, Mandarin Chinese could be added as a language as early as 2018–19. A determination on adding Chinese to the curriculum will be made by the fall.
