Valley students prepare to go to China
By Celanie Polanick
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Pennsylvania)
December 4, 2008
While most of us only read about China's growing importance in the world, about two dozen district teens are about to discover it for themselves, thanks to the first-ever trip of a small exchange program arranged by the school district with the Chinese government.
On Friday, 25 students of Valley High School and about a dozen school staff members and chaperones will begin their long journey to the other side of the planet.
Many have already started packing -- including enough clean clothes to see and do as much as they can cram into 10 days in one of the world's fastest-growing countries.
They're also toting video cameras and laptops to record their experience, both for the Valley News Dispatch and themselves.
Three -- Alexis Claassen, 17, Klase Danko, 18, and Justin Wilson, 18, all seniors from New Kensington -- will contribute to blogs recording impressions of their visit on the Valley News Dispatch Web site.
The 25 students were chosen to go from 65 who applied with essays and letters of recommendation.
Some have already begun to learn to speak Chinese.
Leslie Deutschman, 16, a junior from Arnold, said she is interested in science and medicine, and hopes her Eastern exposure will lead to an international career.
"I think that if Iearn the Chinese language, it will help my future," she said.
The students have some fears as well as hopes.
Claassen and Danko, who have blond hair, are beginning to get antsy about the rumors they've heard that in many parts of Asia, blond hair is so uncommon that strangers will approach and touch it without permission, or ask to have their pictures taken with the blond person. The two teens are getting ready for a lot of curious attention.
The students will be visiting a variety of cultural sights, as well as attending some classes at their "sister" high school in Jilin City, which is in the northeastern corner of China and home to more than a million people.
After they return, the teens will serve as cultural ambassadors to their fellow students and their communities, according to Superintendent George Batterson.
Several students said they feel that that's very important.
"I think when a lot of people think of Chinese culture, they think of going to a Chinese restaurant," said Katy Wrona, 16, a junior from Arnold.
The trip was paid for by a federal Title V grant, Batterson said.
In total, it cost $68,000 -- $1,900 per person. But each student had to raise at least $300 through fundraisers -- selling candles, candy bars and pizzas and making deals with local restaurants -- and through "the bank of Dad," school board member Bob Pallone said.
Pallone predicts that the trip could add significantly to students' career prospects later in life, as well as their understanding of the global culture they'll be participating -- and competing -- in.
"That's the biggest point of the experience with these kids," he said. "In the real world, not everybody looks, walks, thinks like you."
Celanie Polanick can be reached at cpolanick@tribweb.com or 724-226-4702.
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