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Kids greet Chinese principal

by: ANDREA EGER World Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
2/24/2009 9:18:56 AM

Grimes Elementary School students gave a warm "Ni hao" to guest Principal He Yue on Monday morning.

He is one of seven Chinese school principals shadowing local school principals this week through a project of the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa's Oklahoma Institute for Teaching East Asia.

"It's very nice to meet you. I'm very glad I can be here in the United States. I come from far-away China," He said with the help of an interpreter at a special morning assembly organized in her honor. "I hope you all will come to visit us at our place, Chongqing."

The purpose of the principal shadowing project, which is sponsored in conjunction with the Confucius Institute at the University of Oklahoma's Norman campus, is to build partnerships and mutual understanding between school administrators in Oklahoma and China and to create new opportunities for professional development, said Jessica Stowell, the institute's associate director.

The other schools in the principal shadowing project are Grissom Elementary School, Metro Christian Academy and the Union 6th and 7th Grade Center in Tulsa; Bixby North Elementary School; Enid High School; and Fort Gibson Public Schools.

Grimes' fourth- and fifth-grade classes serenaded He with a song, "The Jasmine Flower," in both Mandarin and English.

"Jasmine Flower in Chinese means friendship," fourth-grader Kiersten Snodgrass explained afterward.

"Yeah, it's like a welcoming song," added her classmate, Jaliyah James.

Grimes students also demonstrated dances that American settlers enjoyed at barn dances, to the tunes of folk songs including "Cotton-Eyed Joe" and, much to He's obvious delight, "Oh! Susanna."

In thanking the students for their performance, He extemporaneously sang the song's chorus in Mandarin.

"When I hear, 'Oh! Susanna,' it made me very happy," she said through her interpreter.

Student representatives of each grade at Grimes showered He with gifts, including a Grimes school T-shirt, a DVD about Tulsa architecture, a cookbook and items to share with her students when she returns home, including books, bookmarks, and postcards.

Grimes Principal Belinda Baldwin said she scheduled a week of special activities for He, including attending the Tulsa Council of PTAs' monthly meeting, visits to the language immersion program at Eisenhower International School and the engineering program at Memorial High School, and a behind-the-scenes tour of the Tulsa Zoo.

He also will participate in professional development activities with the Grimes faculty and accompany students on a field trip to the Philbrook Museum of Art.

Baldwin, meanwhile, is set to visit He's elementary school of 1,400 students in Chongqing, in western China's Sichuan province, in March.

Andrea Eger 581-8470
andrea.eger@tulsaworld.com

Associate Images:

Grimes Elementary School students Jayden Wright (left), 6, and Oein Dicks, 5, present gifts to a visiting Chinese principal, He Yue (center), during a special welcome assembly. Next to He are Grimes Principal Belinda Baldwin and interpreter Gordon Chang. JAMES GIBBARD/Tulsa World

He Yue (left), a visiting principal from China, shows a Chinese fan to Grimes Elementary School students. She and her interpreter, Gordon Chang, were at an assembly Monday where she was welcomed to Tulsa. JAMES GIBBARD/ Tulsa World

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