Fall 2012/Winter 2013 - Glenelg Country School

When I received a call in lateOctober, offering an all-expense paidtrip to China, it didn’t take long forme to accept the offer. This call camefrom Mindy Wanat, a representativeof North American Education &Culture. NAEC is an agency based inRockville, Maryland, that works withChinese students and their parentswho wish to study in America. I metMindy earlier this fall, when shevisited Glenelg Country School tolearn more about our Middle andUpper Schools in hopes of finding afew Chinese students who would besuitable for the GCS program. Mindyhad been planning a November tripto China, and she was planning toshare information about GCS andsome other local schools with thefamilies she met there. In late October,she had been asked to invite a coupleof school representatives to join heron this trip.I was honored and excited to havethis opportunity, both for professionaland personal reasons. Over thepast couple of years, I have assistedseveral Chinese students with theadmission process to become studentsat GCS (currently we have nine inour Upper School). I knew that thisopportunity would help me to betterunderstand the educational andcultural reasons for families wishingto send their only child (in mostcases) halfway around the worldfor a strong education. One ofthe challenges with internationalstudent admission is that I rarelyTrip ToCHINABy Karen Wootton, Director of Admission and Financial Aidhave the opportunity to meet thecandidates in person. This trip wouldallow me to meet several, and conductreal face-to-face interviews ratherthan try to Skype through whatis often a shaky connection. On apersonal level, I felt ready to broadenmy horizons!The trip was from November 8th –14th, and we travelled from Baltimoreto Chicago, and then to Hong Kong.My travel companions includedMindy and Joanna Hoad, the Headof Middle and Upper School at theBarrie School in Silver Spring. Noneof us had ever travelled to China,and none of us could speak Chinese.(How I wish I had attended a few ofHong Ding’s classes!) Our destinationwas the city of Shenzhen, just north ofHong Kong. Shenzhen is now a majorcity in southern China’s GuangdongProvince, which has experienced rapidgrowth and development over thepast 30 years. In 1979, it was only asmall fishing village, but today it is aseemingly endless expanse of modernskyscrapers and high-rise apartmentbuildings with a population of over 10million.There are many young families inShenzhen who have the means toprovide an American education fortheir children. NAEC is affiliatedwith an agency in Shenzhen calledSeadragon Education, which offerstutoring, student exchange activities,and immigration services along with“study abroad” services. Seadragonconnects with local families from Shenzhen, and NAECthen helps to educate those students and parents aboutAmerican education and culture, complete the applicationand testing process, screen the applicants, and findhost families for students enrolled in day schools in theBaltimore-Washington area. NAEC produced a bookletentitled “American Top Private Day School Programs,”highlighting 16 schools in our area. In addition to GCS,some of those schools include Archbishop Curley, Park,Pallotti, AACS, Bullis, Barrie, Gilman, Stone Ridge, GoodCounsel, and Seton Keough.The staff of Seadragon kept us on a very tight andbusy schedule during the four full days of our stay inShenzhen. We gave four presentations in different locationsthroughout the city, each to a roomful of approximately50 people. Following the presentations, the three of uswere each assigned to a private office space where weconducted student interviews. In four days, I interviewed28 prospective students. I estimated that about half ofthose students had strong enough English and social skills totransition successfully to GCS. Of course, ISEE and TOEFLtesting results will likely further eliminate some of thosecandidates from the pool of possibilities. I hope to enroll 4– 6 of the students I interviewed in various grade levels inour Middle and Upper Schools next year.In addition to presentations and interviews, we had theopportunity to visit three Middle Schools in Shenzhen.Each had a guarded and gated entry, a courtyard andbasketball/play area, and 4 – 5 story buildings withoutdoor balcony-type walkways to get to classrooms.In each school, we were greeted by administrators andEnglish teachers who led us to a conference room with alarge table decorated with flowers and fresh fruit. Theyasked questions about our schools, shared informationabout their schools, and expressed interest in establishingsome sort of school partnership. On average, their classsize is about 50 students. Students in every school inShenzhen wear the same uniform – a black and whitesweatsuit with sneakers. The schools seemed welldisciplined,clean, and safe. One school allowed us theopportunity to pop into a classroom, where the studentsappeared engaged and happy. Most students walk toschool, as they live in neighboring apartment buildings. Atthe end of Middle School, students must pass a rigorousexam to earn the privilege of continuing their education inhigh school. Thus, a high school education is a privilege inChina.Aside from the time we were working during this trip, ourhosts from Seadragon planned some time for us to do alittle sightseeing and shopping. Unfortunately, Shenzhenis not a tourist destination as there is not much historyor culture there (after all it is only 30 years old!). Oursightseeing experience was a visit to the Splendid ChinaFolk Culture Village, a theme park that contains smallscalereplicas of many of the famous tourist attractionsthroughout China. Highlights included the Giant BuddhaStatue, many famous pagodas and temples, the YunnanStone Forest, the Quadrangle of Beijing, and of coursethe Great Wall. Our shopping expedition was limited to acouple of hours on our last day, and we had our personalshopping escort, Grace, along with us to help translate andbargain for us.Overall, this was a very successful trip. Although myexperiences in China were limited to the city of Shenzhen,it was still quite a thrill to travel so far away to experiencea new culture. Our Chinese hosts at Seadragon wereextremely gracious and considerate. They worked longdays to accommodate us, drive us to our various locations,and ensure that we were well-fed and rested. I am sograteful to Mindy and the NAEC agency for providing mewith this wonderful opportunity to share information aboutGlenelg Country School and to gain a better understandingof the Chinese way of life. I am also grateful to GCS forallowing me to leave my responsibilities in the AdmissionOffice for one week to have this unique experience – onethat I will certainly never forget.42 Spiortad an Dràgoin Fall 2012/Winter 201343