Zhang Yong uses a panda puppet to teach Brighton School students how to say hello in Mandarin Chinese.
Zhang Yong, a elementary school teacher from China, visited with fifth through eighth grade students at Brighton School Friday morning.
Zhang is in the U.S. via a grant by the State Department through the Teachers of Critical Language Program. He is teaching Chinese at Roosevelt School in Kenosha. His visit to Brighton was part of an outreach effort to other area schools, said Camille Schroeder, Zhang’s mentor from the Kenosha Unifed School District.
Zhang spoke to Brighton fifth and sixth graders and then seven and eighth grades about his family, China’s culture and other interesting facts about his country. In the session with fifth and sixth graders, perhaps among the most relatable facts might have been about what school is like in China. For example, Zhang told the students his school in Changchun has 4,000 students (Brighton School has about 200) and individual class sizes of about 40 students. Going to school on weekends is not unusual.
Like Kenosha was until recently, Changchun is known for car manufacturing, Zhang said.
Here is some video of Zhang answering questions from the fifth and sixth grades after his presentation:
