NHS Chinese Exchange Teacher Reflects On Three Years In Newtown

By Eliza Hallabeck

 For the past three years Chinese exchange teacher Ding Hong has worked with Newtown High School students, helped expand the district’s Newtown International Center for Education (NICE), and become a member of the Newtown community.

During his time in Newtown, Mr Ding has stayed with multiple host families through the exchange teacher program.

With the last day of the 2011-12 academic year this Thursday, June 21, Mr Ding said he will continue working a few days after the school year ends to help make preparations for two Chinese educators set to work in the district next year. One of the new exchange teachers will take over teaching Mr Ding’s courses, and the other educator will be stationed at Reed Intermediate School, according to NHS Assistant Principal and NICE Coordinator Jason Hiruo.

Mr Ding said this week that he still remembers the first time he arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport and was greeted by Mr Hiruo and NHS Principal Charles Dumais. Since that day, Mr Ding has worked with hundreds of students at NHS and throughout the district.

Facing the end of his three years in Newtown as an exchange teacher, Mr Ding said he feels mixed emotions. He is looking forward to seeing his parents, but, he said, he has enjoyed working at NHS.

Everyone he has encountered at the school and throughout the community was helpful, friendly, and supportive, he said.

There is a lot in Newtown that Mr Ding said he saw beauty in, the town itself, the school, the students, and the teachers. Mr Ding said all of that is “quite a lot to miss,” adding that he wants to thank everyone in town who has been a part of his life over the last three years.

Each of the families who have hosted him opened their homes for him, he said.

“They really treated me as a member of them,” said Mr Ding.

Staying with a host family is an experience both for the family and for the person being hosted, according to Mr Ding. For the past school year, Mr Ding lived with Crystal and Bill Mok, and their two sons, Christopher and James.

“He’s going to be very much missed by my family,” said Mrs Mok this week.

Mr Ding, Mrs Mok said, is polite, respectful, and fun.

While Mrs Mok said she has heard from some people how they would be hesitant to offer up their home to host an exchange teacher, she said, “Don’t be afraid. Don’t be apprehensive.”

Having Mr Ding in her home, she said, has been great, and hosting an exchange teacher, for anyone, would be “a wonderful addition to a family to help them learn about different places.”

NICE, Mr Hiruo said, is still looking for host families for the two teachers coming to the district for next school year. Anyone interested, he said, should contact him at hiruoj@newtown.k12.ct.us or Paula Greenfield at greenfieldp@newtown.k12.ct.us. Host families, Mr Hiruo said, receive a stipend, and are also given support from NICE.

Mr Ding’s time in Newtown was covered through the Hanban-Asia Society Confucius Classrooms Network, the College Board, and the school district as a language instructor, according to Mr Hiruo. The teacher replacing Mr Ding in the classroom will be covered similarly. Mr Ding said he has been helping to set up a smooth transition for the incoming teacher, and will remain at the school for a few days beyond the end of this school year to finish.

 Looking back, Mr Ding said, there are so many things that have made him happy, and, “there are so many things I will miss.”

Since he came to Newtown the high school has expanded his Chinese program from offering just the first year of the class to now offering three levels. Next year the high school is set to offer four levels of the course, Mr Ding said.

Next school year when Newtown administrators, teachers, and students travel to China during the NICE program’s annual trip to visit sister schools in Liaocheng, in the Shandong Province of China, Mr Ding said he will be waiting to meet them in Beijing.

“I surely would like to see all of them,” said Mr Ding.

During his time in Newtown, Mr Ding also became active in the Western Connecticut Chinese Association, and he said he will miss his friends in that group also.

Since Mr Ding started his time in Newtown, NICE has grown and expanded, and Mr Hiruo said Mr Ding has been a large part of that growth.

Not only has Mr Ding been active with the NHS community, but he also spent time at Newtown Middle School, Reed Intermediate School, and Sandy Hook School, said Mr Hiruo. There are few individuals, Mr Hiruo reflected, that have had as large of an impact on the community as Mr Ding.