CATALINA FOOTHILLS, Ariz. (KGUN) — Even though it’s Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the Catalina Foothills School District celebrates Chinese culture all year around.
The district offers a Chinese immersion program at Sunrise Drive Elementary. At Orange Grove Middle School they offer a Chinese class, and they also offer classes at the high school.
The district said students at Sunrise Drive who are in the Chinese partial immersion program learn subjects in Chinese and English. They said about a third of the students at the school are in the program.
At Orange Grove Middle school they have a language class that also focuses on Chinese social studies.
Catalina Foothills High School has four levels of Chinese classes plus an AP class.
Caitlin Dessent is a senior at the high school who was in the Chinese immersion program at Sunrise Drive when it started during her time in first grade. She took classes all the way through high school and passed the AP test.
She also passed a test in order to get her Arizona Seal of Biliteracy. She said she’s learned a lot ranging from learning the basics in elementary school to learning how to write essays in high school.
The program also taught her about Chinese vegetables, allowed her to perform songs, and volunteer at the Chinese Spring Festival.
“Growing up in the desert, you’re surrounded by a lot of Spanish culture and the language already. Chinese is more kind of like newer and a fresher language to learn about,” Dessent said.
The district said they’re still enrolling kindergarten students at Sunrise Drive Elementary in their Chinese immersion program.
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Andrew Christiansen is a reporter for KGUN 9. Before joining the team, Andrew reported in Corpus Christi, Texas for KRIS6 News, Action 10 News and guest reported in Spanish for Telemundo Corpus Christi. Share your story ideas with Andrew by emailing andrew.christiansen@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
