13 Buffalo Public School students—5 from daVinci, 4 from McKinley, 4 from Olmsted—and two teacher chaperones, left the country today for two weeks in China. The Buffalo Public Schools Foundation and the Confucius Institute at the University at Buffalo are co-sponsors of the second annual China study tour.
This year’s group is traveling with approximately 55 students and 4 chaperones from across Western New York. During their stay, the group will visit Beijing and the Shaanxi Province before their return to the United States on July 31st.
According to Dr. Wenzhong (Eric) Yang from the University at Buffalo's Confucius Institute, Buffalo is sending the largest contingent of students from any one district in the nation. Part of that, he says is the interest, and the other is the funding, which most other districts saw cut this year. Thanks to the Confucius Institute and the Buffalo Schools Foundation (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002333316244#!/BPSF.Foundation), Buffalo students were fully funded for this learning tour.
The camp aims to promote exchange between the youth of China and the United States. During the program, the students will study Chinese language and culture, participate in various sports and cultural activities and visit points of interest and sites of natural beauty in China.
The students were given a send-off breakfast yesterday morning, during which they were given their passports for signature, along with a host of well wishes and advise from Dr. James A. Williams, who made a trip to China in 2011. Also on hand were Buffalo Board of Education President Lou Petrucci and Board Vice President of Student Achievement Mary Ruth Kapsiak, along with Dr. Yang from the University at Buffalo's Confucius Institute and Liz Zulawski from the Buffalo Schools.
See more pictures of the students on the Buffalo Public Schools Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002333316244#!/profile.php?id=100002333316244).
