Partnership Between Ou, Norman Schools Teaches Chinese Culture, Language

BY TIM WILLERT Staff Writer twillert@oklahoman.comNORMAN — It's not every day that students at Cleveland Elementary School get the opportunity to marvel at the high-flying exploits of Chinese acrobats. Friday's performance, which generated lots of "oohs" and "ahhs" from the young crowd, is one of the benefits of a partnership between Norman Public Schools and the Confucius Institute at the University of Oklahoma. The institute partners with Oklahoma schools and universities to provide teaching materials, funding to support teaching staff, and tools for Chinese language and culture programs. Students at six elementary schools — Cleveland, Eisenhower, Madison, McKinley, Monroe and Roosevelt — are being exposed to everything from chopsticks to Chinese calligraphy with the help of start-up grants worth $10,000 each. “They really work on basics,” said Janet Gorton, the district's world language coordinator.Read more on NewsOK.com