With the support of a Critical Language Project (CLP) grant, two TCLP alumni completed their projects during the late Spring and Summer of 2024. One TCLP alumnus continues to work on completing his CLP. These teachers applied for and won these grants in November 2023 as part of Round 26 of the Critical Language Project grants.
During the Spring 2024 semester, TCLP alumnus Emad Gerges, hosted at Shawnee Mission South High School in Overland Park, KS from 2008-2009, successfully carried out his Critical Language Project, “Arabic Camp Day”! With this project, Mr. Gerges sought to expose prospective high school students in Oxford, Mississippi to Arabic language and culture. This project also encouraged students to register for Arabic courses at Oxford High School (OHS), especially given that starting in the Fall 2024 semester, OHS will be the first public high school in the state of Mississippi to offer Arabic classes. On the day of the project, OHS students were given a language “passport” to be stamped at each of five different stations: Arabic calligraphy, classic stories, music, traditional clothing, and food. Each of these stations was led by 4th-year University of Mississippi Arabic Language Flagship Program (UMALFP) students, who were all trained and taught by Mr. Gerges and his colleague, Ms. Yasmine Sedeek. At these stations, OHS students learned to write their names in Arabic, listened to classic short stories being read in Arabic, were introduced to songs on Arabic instruments, tried on the different kinds of clothes on display, as well as sampled traditional Middle Eastern food. In total, more than 120 students attended Mr. Gerges’s “Arabic Camp Day”, after which at least 10 students registered for Arabic classes at OHS in the fall.
Top Photo Above: TCLP alumnus Mr. Emad Gerges poses with University of Mississippi Arabic Language Flagship Program (UMALFP) student volunteers during his Arabic Camp Day.
TCLP alumna Chi Jiu-Ching, hosted at Vanguard Van Gogh Elementary & Secondary in Pharr, TX from 2023-2024, also successfully carried out her Critical Language Project throughout the Spring 2024 semester. Ms. Chi’s project, entitled “Come On! Let Me Show You This Beautiful World!”, aimed to encourage language and culture exploration between the students in Ms. Chi's Mandarin club at her U.S. host school and the students at her home school in Taiwan. First, Ms. Chi’s U.S. host school students learned how to cook different Taiwanese dishes, including Taiwanese pizza and other traditional Taiwanese food, such as dumplings and sweet and sour fish, to celebrate the Lunar New Year. After practicing cooking their dishes, students presented the food to teachers and parents in the community. Ms. Chi’s students also went on several local field trips during the spring to the Pharr Memorial Library, the Museum of Texas History, and South Padre Island, with the intention of getting to know their own culture better in addition to getting to know Taiwanese culture. Throughout the semester, Ms. Chi’s host school students met and communicated with the students in Taiwan over videochat and emails to share their experiences cooking Taiwanese food, going on field trips, and learning Mandarin. Finally, Ms. Chi’s project culminated in “Taiwan Culture Night,” during which Ms. Chi’s U.S. host school students and her students in Taiwan took turns giving cultural presentations and performances in groups and through video. In total, 15 students from Ms. Chi’s U.S. host school as well as approximately 15 students from Ms. Chi’s home school in Taiwan participated in this Critical Language Project.
Above: TCLP alumna Ms. Chi Jiu-Ching enjoys Taiwanese food with participants during their “Taiwan Culture Night" at her host school Vanguard Van Gogh Elementary & Secondary.