February 4th of 2013 was the beginning of Spring under the Chinese lunar calendar. In order to welcome the Chinese New Year, the Confucius Institute organized the second annual New-Year “Dumpling Festival” for teachers and students of the Campus International School.
From February 8th to 4th we worked with CSSA, CAFSA, CCCA, WCCA, and CPEA to hold and sponsor various New-Year celebrations and activities. We also organize spring get-together party at CIS; all teachers and students were invited to this party.
February 15th, Dr. Stokes and instructor Luling Li from the Shaker Heights School District accompanied 15 teachers and students of its sister school Heibei International School to visit our Confucius Institute. Institute Director Haigang Zhou and Chinese Director Wenzheng Liu had a long and productive talk with the visiting teachers and students, exchanged gifts with them, and lead the mon a tour of the CSU campus.
February 23rd , CI organized Chinese language students from CSU to participate in the preliminary round of the Chinese Bridge Competition, and three students from our school were selected as representatives to take part in the final round of the East Coast Regional Chinese Bridge Competition.
March 17th, two of our student contestants won the third prize and the Award of Excellence, respectively.
From April 18th to April 27th, “Speaking Tour” the Confucius Institute provided support for training experts Changzheng Liu and Jing Zhao from Hanban in order to provide training to Chinese Instructors in Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. The Confucius Institute also held all-day large-scale training events in both cities and exchanged ideas with Chinese instructors and graduate students on various aspects of education in the topics of Chinese grammar, characters, pronunciation, oral practice, calligraphy, and painting. The number of guests registered for the event was more than 120, and almost 100 participants were able to attend. In addition to the lecture content, the Confucius Institute also arranged for them to observe Chinese classrooms at CSU and CIS, providing guidance to the teachers after class. Many teachers stated that they believed they had benefited from these activities.
In April, 2013, CSU Confucius Institute Chinese Director Prof. Wenzheng Liu and 3 CIS Chinese Instructors participated in National Chinese Language Conference (NCLC) in Boston, MA.
On April 22nd, 2013, the Confucius Institute hosted a delegation consisting of Mr. Quanshen Chang, the consul of the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in New York City, as well as Chairman Sun of the Service Center for Scholarly Exchange in New York City. Mr. Chang’s goal for this trip was to visit and observe Hanban-funded teachers in American Confucius Institutes and note developments since the consul’s previous visits. Senior Vice Provost Dr. Jianping Zhu and Dr. Haigang Zhou, Prof. Wenzheng Liu of the Confucius Institute at Cleveland State participated in this vist. Mr Chang expressed the view that the Confucius Institute is developing quite well.
On the night of April 27th, “Show Tour” the Confucius Institute hosted the tour group from South Central University for Nationalities. His presentation titled “Colorful China,” acted as a charity fundraiser in support of victims of the Sichuan earthquake. The performance was organized by director Haigang Zhou. Cleveland mayor Frank Jackson was in attendance, as were the President, Senior Vice Provost, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Cleveland State University. According to a post performance questionnaire, audience members were highly satisfied with their experience.
On May 9th, 2013, CSU Confucius Institute Director Dr. Haigang Zhou and Chinese Director Professor Wenzheng Liu visited the University of Toledo to participate in a regional meeting of Confucius Institutes with representatives of both the University of Akron and the University of Toledo Confucius Institutes.
On May 11th, the Confucius Institute worked with the Ohio Association of Chinese Teachers (OA TC) to hold the first Chinese speaking contest and writing contest for K-12 students. More than 50 students from Columbus, Dayton, Cleveland, and Akron took part in the speaking contest, and 180 students participated in the writing contest. Dr. Dengke Xu from the Ohio Department of Education read a letter of congratulations written by Ohio Governor John Kasich and Ryan Wertz, the World Languages Consultant for the Ohio Department of Education. The Confucius Institute at CSU enjoyed great popularity among students and parents attending this competition.
From May 18th to 19th the Confucius Institute attended the third Cleveland Asian Festival Chinese Director Wenzheng Liu, the CI Graduate Assistant, and several teachers participated in this two-day Asian festival. We promoted Confucius Institute activities to festival guests, and handed out promotional materials and souvenirs. Confucius Institute staff also taught traditional Chinese games and painting to local students at the festival. More than 4,500 people attended this event and 40% more than the participants of last year.
From 9th to 25th, the “Chinese Bridge” for American High School Students is a large-scale activity hosted by the Confucius Institute Headquarters and co organized by 31 Confucius Institutes in the United States. This year’s event included 13 students from Cleveland, 6 student from Akron, 8 students from Toledo, and 3 chaperones making up the “Ohio Confucius Institute Joint Group” that went to China to take part in this Summer camp.
In the first half of the year, the Confucius Institute at CSU was proud to have recommended one of our students, Jierui Lin (Zachary Lynn), to Hanban and to have helped him win the Confucius Institute Scholarship. He has since left for China to study Chinese in country for half a year.
August 17th, 2013, the Organization of Master Chinese Instructors presented a lecture series on developing Chinese Language instruction skills in Cleveland, sponsored by the Cleveland State University Confucius Institute, CSAUS, and the Cleveland Contemporary Chinese Culture Association. This event was part of a larger speech tour organized by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office.
On September 3rd, in preparation for the celebration of the Birthday of Confucius, CSU Confucius Institute Board Chairman Dr. Anthony Yen and Confucius Institute Directors Haigang Zhou and Wenzheng Liu hosted the annual Confucius Institute tree planting ceremony at the Cleveland Chinese Cultural Garden. Also in attendance were Ms. Luling Li, Confucius Classroom leader of the Shaker Heights School District, Ms. Hong Wang, representative for Chinese teachers from Cleveland local schools, and other teachers as well as Confucius Institute staff and volunteers.
The Confucius Institute at Cleveland State University is the only Institute which currently celebrates “Teacher Appreciation Day” in order to commemorate both teacher’s contributions and the spirit of Confucius in education in the United States. Teacher Appreciation Day is an activity that is celebrated annually at CSU, advocated for by Board Chairman Dr. Anthony Yen. It is typically celebrated on Confucius’ birthday (September 27th), and its main purpose is to display and celebrate the Chinese language learning achievement of local elementary, middle, and high school students, positively display Chinese culture, and award honorary certificates and study materials to teachers in appreciation of the contributions they have made to Chinese language development, to Chinese culture, and to their students. This activity has greatly increased the popularity of the Confucius Institute with local and regional school districts.
On September 25th, on behalf of the CSU Confucius Institute, teacher representatives participated in the “China Week” at the University of Akron. Teachers from both Cleveland and Akron held a seminar after the event to talk, socialize, and exchange valuable experiences in developing their respective Confucius Institutes.
On September 27th, The Confucius Institute held the 6th annual “Confucius Institute Day” event as well as the commemorative celebration of Confucius’ birthday. Many administrative heads of CSU, the Confucius Institute Directors, staff, and volunteers, and 800 teachers and students from nearly 20 Cleveland area primary and secondary schools gathered together to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Day and commemorate Confucius. The activity set a record for attendance for CSU Confucius Institute events, and was very well received by the public. Various media outlets reported on the activities.
The Confucius Institute at CSU invited the Beijing Sea Dream Art Troupe from Beijing City, Haidian District to give a performance for CSU staff and students as well as members of the Cleveland area community. Various media also reported on this performance.
Co-hosted with the teaching and administrative staff from CSU, the Confucius Institute hosted the Mid-Autumn celebration successfully on October 6th. After the performance, all the guests went outside to enjoy the full moon. The Mid-Autumn celebration was very successful in expanding the Confucius Institute’s influence among the local communities.
The Confucius Institute took part in the first International Day at Cleveland Museum of Art on October 13th. In this event, the Confucius Institute took full advantage of the exhibition space, hanging banners and putting out exhibitions boards, event brochures, and the Confucius Institute Introductory Manual. We played event videos from the Teacher Appreciation Day ceremonies and the Chinese Bridge trip to the general public and communicated with exhibition representatives, contributing greatly to Confucius Institute publicity. More than 3,400 people participated in this event.
From late October to early November, Dr. Ronald Berkman, President of Cleveland State University, Jianping Zhu, Senior Vice Provost of Cleveland State University and Dr. Haigang Zhou, Director of the Confucius Institute at Cleveland State University, visited the Chinese Hanban offices and the Capital University of Economics and Business, the partner university of the CSU Confucius Institute and other universities in Shanghai and Chongqing. They had very fruitful discussions about ways to further develop the Confucius Institute.
The Cleveland Confucius Institute provided YCT and HSK practice tests for Chinese language students in the area in November 2012.There were almost 500 students registered for this test, and they were better familiarized with and prepared for the test because of the preparatory materials.
On December 1st, the Cleveland Confucius Institute held the annual HSK successfully. More than 20 people took the test.
Confucius Institute events at CSU and throughout the Cleveland Community were the subject of many very positive reports from several newspapers, news organizations, and websites. This media coverage included features by the Erie Chinese Newspaper, China Daily, ClevelandPeople.com, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Cleveland State publications, and the Cleveland State University website.
The influence and reputation of the Confucius Institute has been consistently reinforced and improved by this coverage throughout the Cleveland area.
The Campus International School is a public school built in cooperation between CSU and the Cleveland Metropolitan School District to provide primary school services to children of the university community. The Cleveland State Confucius Institute provides Chinese teaching services for CIS. This school currently has six grades from K-5, and 390 students have participated in Confucius Institute-led instruction so far. Students at CIS can study at least one Chinese class every school day.
CIS has applied to be a candidate for the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program, and has implemented IB PYP principles into its curriculum and design. With support from the Confucius Institute, every student of the Campus International School takes Chinese language courses as part of their primary curriculum.
The Confucius Institute at Cleveland State University has built a detailed system for managing information regarding personnel, as well as financial management solutions, in order to observe both the management regulations of Hanban and departmental requirements of Cleveland State University.
After a rigorous selection period, the Confucius Institute selected a candidate based on a very successful application and outstanding qualifications. The new core teacher will assume responsibilities in regional affairs outreach, development of Confucius Classrooms, and internal management of the administrative offices of the CSU Confucius Institute.
The Confucius Institute will offer the Intermediate Chinese credited course, CHN 393, as well as adding an Advanced credited course, CHN 493, for a total of 80 hours of credited instruction. The teaching materials for this course will be Level 2, Part 2 of Chinese Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing.
The Confucius Institute will offer non-credit Chinese courses next semester. These courses are offered for all faculty and CSU students as well as members of the public.