*EPF207 03/04/2003
U.S.-China Youth Exchange Initiative Discovers Commonalities, Establishes Ties
(Internet-based Web site connects students and projects) (780)

By Phyllis McIntosh
Special to the Washington File

A group of students and teachers from Beijing recently visited Washington, D.C., as part of a special school partnership and exchange program sponsored by the Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). The program is bringing together hundreds of high school students from 50 schools in the United States and China to gain an appreciation of each other's culture.

Now in its second full year, the U.S.-China Youth Exchange Initiative grew out of a 1998 protocol that pledged to deepen cooperation between the two countries. It is based on a model youth exchange program that has existed between the U.S. State Department and the countries of the former Soviet Union since 1989.

"The U.S.-China Youth Exchange initiative exemplifies the United States' commitment to the education of young people. These young people have an opportunity to experience student life in other countries and move beyond stereotypes," said Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs Patricia S. Harrison.

In 2001, 25 pairs of high schools, representing geographically diverse regions of the United States and China, were selected from among more than 120 that applied for the program. Some schools applied as partners through a Sister Cities connection; the rest were paired up on the basis of population and other similarities between their cities. For example, a school in Orlando, Florida, home of Disney World, was matched with one in a popular tourist area of Sichuan province.

Students and educators at the participating schools are connected on a project Web site so they can work together on Internet-based projects covering such topics as environmental awareness, leadership, and volunteerism.

The top seven pairs of schools, selected on the basis of their cooperative projects and community support for their efforts, were invited to participate in exchange visits. To date, 63 students and 14 educators from the seven Chinese schools have visited the United States. By summer, students from all seven U.S. schools also will have traveled to China. Exchanges between an additional five pairs of schools also are in the planning stages.

At a meeting with students from Banneker High School in Washington, D.C., and its partner school in Beijing, Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs Patricia S. Harrison told the young people, "You are all ambassadors. You are able to connect to each other, to establish ties and discover commonalities that counter misconceptions." Addressing the Chinese students, she said, "You are now able to return home and communicate firsthand about the people of the United States and our diverse culture. Your American friends will have the same opportunity when they visit you in China."

When Secretary Harrison asked the visitors about their experiences in America, one Chinese girl remarked, "Living with our host family and making friends with American students has made us realize that we are really not that different ���� we are very similar."

During their three- to four-week exchange visits, the students attend school, participate in extracurricular activities, meet with community groups, and visit local cultural and educational sites.

Much of their activity centers on the cooperative projects that began online. The Banneker and Beijing students queried community and State Department leaders about the qualities of leadership and are producing a video about what they learned. Students from Shanghai saw their project theme -- youth in the community -- in action when they visited Darien, Connecticut, and worked with American students who serve as volunteer firefighters. Exploring the topic of minorities in the community, a team from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Beihai, China, created an exhibit for an international children's festival in Tulsa. In China, exchange students from Tulsa were the first westerners to visit a village of the Yao people, a tribal minority.

"During the second year of the partnership, we hope the students will explore the issues they've chosen at a deeper level," Lantz said. "The first year is spent getting to know each other and becoming comfortable with cooperative projects, which are not typical and not readily understood in China."

ECA plans to support each partnership for three years in hopes of forging an ongoing relationship between the schools, Lantz said.

An important strength of the initiative, she added, is that its benefits reach well beyond the students and teachers who travel to the other country. "These are institutional partnerships that benefit probably thousands of students in the participating schools who are exposed to the visiting delegations and who work with the online cooperative projects. The ripple effect of this program extends far and wide."

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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