Oskaloosa School Board Hears More On Possible Sister-School
Oskaloosa Community School Board
Oskaloosa, Iowa – The Oskaloosa School Board held its September meeting Tuesday night, in the board room located within George Daily Auditorium.
The board talked about the possibility of moving its meeting night to Mondays. The board has currently held its meetings on Tuesday nights since the 1960’s. The move may happen during the organizational meeting next month.
Oskaloosa Middle School Principal Andy Hotek and Oskaloosa School Superintendent Russell Reiter will be traveling to China at the end of June to further develop a partnership in student exchange. Last fall, Oskaloosa Schools hosted a 21 student delegation from China for a week.
Principal Hoteck, along with Superintendent Reiter, talked further on what a sister-school relationship may be like. Hotek, along with Reiter recently visited China and the Shijiazhuang Foreign Language School in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China.
Hoteck and Amanda Hoffman, OMS Counselor, will be traveling back to Hebei Province, China in the near future to further define and grow the relationship between the two schools. Hotek said that the hope for the future is to annually host students and to send students to China. Hotek and Hoffman will be going back for the Shijiazhuang Foreign Language School’s 20th Anniversary.
Governor Branstad and China’s President Xi have had a relationship since the 1980’s. That relationship between the two leaders has helped to lay the groundwork for the hosting of students, and many other connections, including agricultural, between the State of Iowa and the Chinese Government.
Hotek talked about the initial visit from the Chinese students during the winter months of last year. After the visit, staff from Oskaloosa was invited to visit the Shijiazhuang Foreign Language School in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China. The Shijiazhuang Foreign Language School is a school of 12,000 students.
When it comes to students from Oskaloosa visiting China. “This could happen yet this spring,” said Reiter of the potential of a visit around Spring Break. The discussion of sending students for an extended stay of six weeks at a time has also been discussed.
The possibility of sending teachers to and from each school is also on the table of discussion. Reiter said it could be a great opportunity for some teachers to travel to the school and teach Conversational English, while the students in Oskaloosa would have the opportunity to learn another language as well.
Reiter touches on a secondary plus for the community. With the visits from Chinese students, an interest in William Penn and attending the university are a distinct possibility.
Musco Lighting Director of Asian Sales Albert Liu has been an integral part of the process, helping to further bridge the gap in language and culture. Liu was born and raised in China, but now calls the United States home.
Musco has helped to underwrite the costs associated with the agreement.
In other business, the school board completed the sale of the former bus barn to Mahaska County Emergency Management.
