The Critical Language Teacher Exchange Program at GIS

Our host school journey with the Teachers of Critical Language Program (TCLP) began in the 2021-22 school year, when former Chinese Track Director Martha Ortiz initiated an application. After a rigorous selection process, GIS was chosen to host a Mandarin language exchange teacher! 

To connect with the program while we waited for COVID-related travel restrictions to ease, GIS invited a TCLP teacher from West Sylvan Middle School to visit our school. Ms. Sofi shared Arabic language and Egyptian culture with our second graders during their “How We Express Ourselves” IB unit and even returned virtually for another presentation in 2024.

In June 2023, we received word that we would be hosting Cheng Laoshi from Taiwan. She arrived in Beaverton two months later, and we made the most of the days before school started, visiting local attractions and events such as the Oregon Zoo and Beaverton Night Market. Cheng Laoshi then participated in our new staff orientation and all staff back-to-school week, joining her GIS colleagues for a variety of trainings and professional development sessions before welcoming students back to school.

Throughout the school year, Cheng Laoshi worked with our Chinese track combined second and third grade class, teaching math and Mandarin to the second graders and collaborating with her co-teacher Chen Laoshi on IB units for both grades. Cheng Laoshi’s students made and tasted traditional Taiwanese foods, played a giant interactive board game about Chinese characters, competed for the title of Chopstick Master, and other activities that engaged and immersed them in the target language and culture. They even received a culture box from Cheng Laoshi’s school in Taiwan, filled with souvenirs, snacks, and a school uniform! Cheng Laoshi’s GIS students then selected some of their own favorite American items to send back to Taiwan. One parent stated that, “getting to know our TCLP [teacher] has had a huge positive impact on my child. [She] is highly capable and very passionate about teaching.”

But Cheng Laoshi’s impact extended beyond her classroom. She often visited other classes, including in the German track, to share Taiwanese culture, teaching first graders about Taiwan’s indigenous people, second graders about dumplings, fourth graders about chopsticks, sixth graders about Mandarin names, and more. Outside GIS, Cheng Laoshi partnered with the Aloha Community Library to offer a series of Taiwanese cultural presentations about topics such as Lunar New Year and the history of tea.

 During her time here, Cheng Laoshi also became close friends with many of her colleagues. We feel so fortunate to have been able to get to know each other, exchange ideas, and learn new things together! Cheng Laoshi returned to Taiwan at the end of June 2024, and though we miss her very much, we wish her all the best and hope to keep in touch and continue collaboration and cultural exchanges.

For the 2024-25 school year, our TCLP experience continues as we host another exchange teacher from Taiwan, Peng Laoshi! She is working with our Chinese Track first graders and with our sixth graders who have chosen Mandarin as their world language. Peng Laoshi has already experienced many of Portland’s quintessential sites and activities such as Lansu Chinese Garden, Voodoo Doughnut, the Portland Saturday Market, hiking, and kayaking, as well as getting to know new colleagues and friends in the GIS community. We are so excited to welcome Peng Laoshi to our school and cannot wait to see what this year will bring!