The Newberg Graphic – Seth Gordon
“As one of 10 districts in the nation to receive a U.S. State Department grant through the Teachers of Critical Languages program, Newberg Public Schools are in exclusive company. Perhaps more importantly, the district and Newberg High School will become unique in the state as one of the few schools to offer Mandarin Chinese as a foreign language. The grant will pay for the district to host a teacher from China next year, hopefully laying the foundation for a permanent program. “Especially students who go into any kind of business that connects internationally, there just aren’t enough people who can speak that language,” superintendent Kym LeBlanc-Esparza said. “If we can give kids any kind of exposure, that’s a great head start for them.””(more)