Teachers of Critical Languages Program (TCLP) alumna Li Qiong was placed as a Mandarin teacher in Arizona in 2011. Since her return to China after her teacher exchange, she has facilitated a sister school program between her US and home school with two follow-up TCLP alumni grants focused on innovative international exchange.
Li Qiong's 2015 project, Sister Schools Rising, shared Chinese language and culture and cemented the schools' partnership. In 2016, the China Education Association for International Exchange and the Chinese Ministry of Education selected Li Qiong's school in China as a 2016 model school under "1000 Schools Hands Together" program. Li Qiong's school is one of 31 school pairs that were recognized for their outstanding achievement in educational exchange to become part of the "1000 Schools Hands Together" network.
This award is an initiative of US Secretary of State John Kerry and Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong to honor the work of schools and teachers in strengthening the people-to-people connections between the US and China.
About the Teachers of Critical Languages Program
The Teachers of Critical Languages Program (TCLP), a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the US Department of State, is designed to increase the study and acquisition of important world languages in US schools. This program enables US elementary and secondary schools to start or strengthen a Mandarin or Arabic language program.
The program brings Chinese and Egyptian teachers to the US to teach Mandarin and Modern Standard Arabic and share their culture for an academic year. The exchange teachers receive on-going methodological observation and training opportunities, live and work in an immersive English environment, and receive a certificate of participation following their exchange.