Riverwood Charter Students Gain Knowledge of Chinese Customs

Staff Report

Over the summer, three Riverwood International Charter School students got a small taste of Chinese customs at home and abroad.

Sophomore Justin White participated in Chinese Bridge Summer Camp 2014, which was funded by Hanban, a non-profit organization in China. The program, which has been running for the past eight to 10 years, invites high school students from the United States to experience China for two weeks.

Justin, who has been studying Chinese for the past two years, stayed on the campus of Luoyang Senior High School. While there they visited the Great Wall, Shaolin Temple, The Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square the White Horse Temple. Each day they studied martial arts and Chinese language lessons. They also participated in traditional tea ceremonies and learned Chinese paper cutting.

And a little closer to home, junior Tannisa Lestari and senior Taylor Robinson participated in STARTALK Summer Camp 2014 at Troy University in Troy, Alabama. A two-week language and culture immersion program, STARTALK is a national, federally funded program for critical languages. They studied Chinese language daily, and the program integrated cultural activities throughout the day allowing students to choose between learning Fan Dance, Ribbon Dance, Taichi, Lion Dance, Dragon Dance, Chinese arts and Kungfu.

Every day the students sang songs in Chinese. The whole class learned four poems written in the Tang Dynasty and the poems were converted into a song. The program also offered field trips including one to a local Chinese restaurant allowing the students to apply their skills as though they were in China. Another field trip to Camp Butter and Egg offered various camp activities like archery, hang gliding, kayaking, mini golf, human foose ball, tubing, paddle boating and more.

(Photo: Riverwood’s Justin White — second to last row on the right — participated in the Chinese Bridge Summer Camp 2014 program. Credit: Riverwood International Charter School)