School News Network – Morgan Jarema
“Chinese New Year fell on Feb. 8 this year, the lunar year of the monkey. Also called Spring Festival, the holiday is celebrated in a number of Asian countries. The district goes far beyond celebrating Chinese New Year. Forest Hills Public Schools began a Mandarin Chinese Immersion Magnet Program in 2008. Those who started as kindergartners that year are now in seventh grade. “Immersion” means that many subjects besides language are taught in Mandarin Chinese. FHPS also has a Spanish Language Immersion Program. “We recognized the value of foreign language immersion in terms of global markets and our own growing Chinese community, but also in facilitating brain development,” said Northern Trails Principal Sue Gutierrez. “Through an immersion language experience, the students develop a second language center in their brain and with it, a more robust system of wiring that allows the brain to be a critical and creative thinker.””(more)