Naselle students immerse in Mandarin

A Mandarin immersion program at Naselle/Grays River School District will face an uphill battle for funding as supporters and students continue to prove that the benefits of the program far outweigh the risk.

"People are floored that we have this opportunity for our kids," Superintendent Lisa Nelson said on Tuesday.

Three years ago, students in the kindergarten and first grade classes were asked if they wanted to participate in the educational program in which they spend half the school day speaking Mandarin. Thirty-seven signed up. Each year, students in the incoming kindergarten class are given the choice to opt into the program. The idea is that eventually, students will be able to study Mandarin from the time they begin kindergarten until they graduate from high school.

Today there are 59 enrolled, about 51 percent of the students in kindergarten through third grade, according to Nelson, who inherited the program from her predecessor, Rick Pass, and Jon Tienhaara.

The participating students spend half of their day studying subjects in English with the rest of their class. The other half of the day, they move to another classroom where they are taught math and social studies while fully immersed in the Mandarin language.

As Nelson points out, they aren't focused on learning Mandarin, they are learning math and social studies while speaking Mandarin. It's very little like high school Spanish or French, where students spend an hour each day speaking English to learn vocabulary or how to conjugate verbs in another language.

With the classes splitting between the students who opt in and the students who don't, there is another benefit.

"It shrinks class sizes," Nelson said. "With 51 percent of the students opting in, that means 49 percent are opting out. The class has been split into two, improving student/teacher time in each classroom."

Some of the program's initial controversy stemmed from the choice of languages. "Why not Spanish?" some asked.

"Mandarin is one of the most spoken languages in the world," Nelson said. "Maybe it means job opportunities. We're located on the water here pretty much, there are jobs with ports and trade with China. It's about that and world study and world culture, but it's also about brain development. The Mandarin language is a lot of symbols. It's different than our language so typically it taxes the other side of the brain a little more.

"Think of the bodybuilder who lifts weights to build capacity," she continued. "It doesn't mean he's going to compete in world competition. You are exercising your brain, using both sides of your brain when you learn this language. That's what we were really looking at in terms of the benefits academically. Plus the exposure is obviously a good thing."

It's also one of two languages sponsored by College Board, which gave the district a partial grant. The other option was Arabic.

Students, or their parents, have to decide pretty early if they want to be involved. For instance, if a family moves to the area and sends their third grader to the school district, it's really too late to sign their child up for the program. Still, up to a certain point, a child may attempt to test in to the program.

"Kids at a young age are so amenable and they can learn so quickly," Nelson said, "we don't want to say no if they really want to. We've had kids move in mid-year and pick it up so fast. It's amazing what young minds can do."

Three students from Oregon pay a $5,000 tuition to come to Naselle every day and take part in the program. Not all that money goes to the program, as they still spend half their days in English speaking classes, like everyone else.

Some local residents who were initially against the program changed their minds after students did well in competition, according to Nelson.

"Our kids have gone up to OSPI and competed against Mandarin speakers and performed well," Nelson said. "They came home with certificates and trophies. It's pretty neat for a small rural school to have this opportunity."

The program's biggest challenge remains funding. As they progress each year, more Mandarin teachers will be needed. Currently they need 1.5 Mandarin teachers on staff, but next year they will likely need one more. Every year after that, they will have one more class in the program, and with it, the need for more Mandarin teaching staff.

"I'm not blind to say that this is going to cost money if we don't land a significant grant or have parents sharing in the cost of it," Nelson said. "The challenge is finding a way to keep it flowing financially. So far we've been able to do that with minimal costs. We have the grants and a funding partner that's been able to provide a great deal of support."

One grant was for two years and is gone now.

"The grant was seed money to build the program," Nelson said. "Our goal is to see how we can keep it going. For a small school it is challenging. These immersion programs are in bigger cities. They have some school districts that are Mandarin only and they have waiting lists to get in. You have to apply and be accepted. Here, if you want it, you got it."

There is a parent support group called Liu Xing that has been working hard to contribute funds to the program. So far they have raised $33,000.

"We have to work within the parameters that we have and we are always looking for funding partners and grant opportunities," she continued. "I think the district is also responsible for the commitment of multiple ways to learn."

"I think it would be short sighted at this point to say, well, we're not going to have the program because we don't know what it looks like down the road."

The pressure to find funding for the program will likely remain a constant, but Nelson remains hopeful.

"Looking at it in the short term," she said, "If we're not able to sustain this going forward, have we harmed these kids any?"

"I say the answer is no," Nelson continued. "They've gotten exposure and an extra workout for the brain. Test scores have already shown that they are scoring equally or better than the students who have opted out of the program."

"We don't have any data telling us that we shouldn't be doing it," she added. "We don't want to cut something short now for something that maybe in two years may not be affordable. We don't know yet. We haven't turned over every stone, we don't know what grants are out there."