NHS Preparing For Chinese Visitors And Seeking Host Families

While Newtown High School is preparing for two delegations of Chinese visitors to visit the school, one in December and one in February, the school is also looking for local host families to help offer a place to stay for the February delegation visitors.

As NHS Assistant Principal and program coordinator Jason Hiruo announced on Monday, November 22, the school’s sister school, Liaocheng Middle School #3, in the Shandong Province of China, will be sending a 32-member delegation from February 5 to February 13 to visit the high school and Newtown. This will be the third year the partner school has sent a delegation of students and school representatives to visit NHS, and the trip will mark the partnership’s third year.

“In this group, there will be 12 high school students and 10 lower level students that range grades six through eight,” Mr Hiruo wrote in a letter to Newtown families on Monday. “We are looking for host families that are willing to host two students at a time as it best supports a successful home stay and will provide a partnered comfort for our younger guests.”

The Newtown China Initiative (NCI) team will provide cultural workshops for hosting families, according to Mr Hiruo, and all participating students are comfortable in their command of the English language and are familiar with American culture. Local families interested in hosting one of NHS’s guests can contact Mr Hiruo for more information at 203-426-7648 or by e-mail at hiruoj@newtown.k12.ct.us.

The first visiting delegation from China, scheduled to visit the school on December 9, is a group of high profile dignitaries from the Chinese Ministry of Education. The group is scheduled to tour Connecticut, and NHS is one of its stops. The high school was offered as a point of interest, according to Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson during the Board of Education’s meeting on Tuesday, November 16, by the state of Connecticut’s Department of Education. The delegation will also tour Yale University during its stay in the state.