Staff Reports
On June 17, Amy Huffman Oliver, a social studies teacher at Brown County Junior High School, will travel to Hangzhou, China, to share American culture, language and instructional strategies with teachers and young students.
Oliver is one of 14 teachers from around the country chosen through a competitive process through the Sino-American Bridge for Education and Health program sponsored by Bryant University in Rhode Island.
Oliver’s team will spend one week teaching beginning English skills to elementary-age children and one week teaching American instructional strategies to Chinese teachers at the Hangzhou Greentown Yuhaua School. They will live on the campus of the private boarding school. The other team will teach similar strategies at a school in Beijing.
Chinese students are typically taught through rote memorization and sitting in silent rows during class time. The strategies that Oliver will teach include ways to include art, drama, problem solving and collaboration into a liberal arts classroom to increase student engagement and learning for Chinese students.
Oliver teaches seventh-grade social studies and a curriculum that focuses on the Eastern Hemisphere. She is excited for the opportunity to share her experiences with her students in Brown County next year.
“I love teaching about China, but have never had a chance to visit,” Oliver said. “This opportunity allows me to interact with Chinese kids and teachers and really feel what it would be like to live in China as a citizen instead of just being a tourist. I’m also interested in learning to teach English as a second language, which will be completely new for me.”
Laura Hammack, superintendent of Brown County Schools, said that Oliver “is an extraordinary educator and will add great value to the educational experience of her students and colleagues while abroad. We are so proud of her being selected by this highly competitive program and are honored to have her representing Brown County Schools on a global platform. Our students will benefit greatly by this experience, and for that we are deeply thankful.”
The teachers also will have the opportunity for one week of travel as a group in southern China near Shanghai. Oliver plans to extend her trip an additional week to visit sites that she teaches in class, such as Tiananmen Square, the Palace Museum and the Great Wall. She also will travel by overnight train to Xi’an to visit the Terracotta Warriors and the city of Shanghai.
Brown County Junior High School Principal Brian Garman is excited that Oliver is getting this opportunity.
“Mrs. Oliver is an extremely dedicated teacher who is always looking for opportunities to grow professionally,” he said. “This will be an amazing experience for her and a real positive for our students who will benefit greatly from her expanded knowledge and understanding of the Chinese culture.”
