Students visit from sister school

By Anita Stackhouse-Hite, The Porterville Recorder

Part of the exchange students' 25-day visit to the United States includes stays in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington and New York, but Porterville is the true travel destination.

Chengdu Meishi International School is the sister school to the Porterville Unified School District.

It's a relationship whose genesis came about in 2000, when Chengdu Meishi opened in Chengdu, a city of more than 11 million people. Its founder, business woman Chen Qi created the school because her children graduated from the University of Southern California, said PUSD assistant superintendent Val Staley.

“She noticed the difference in learning [methodology],” Staley said. “Students in China learn by memorization, students here learn by application. She wanted to start a school that would blend problem solving with application. Her goal was to merge the best of Chinese education with the best of Western education.”

It wasn't long before a sister-school relationship was established. Last year, 15 students from Porterville visited the school in China.

Why Porterville

Chen sits on the board of directors of five organizations; she is executive director of Chengdu Meishi International School, which has an office in Irvine. She heard about life in Porterville and the outstanding students that come from here through a friend.

She came to visit Porterville with a group of officials and liked what she saw, Staley said.

The relationship was established between the two countries and school districts.

Parents of the exchange students paid the way for their children to come to America, said their teacher, Xiong Yan.

“It costs about [$4,000] per student,” Xiong said. Their parents are business people. You could say they are wealthy.”

Contact Anita Stackhouse-Hite at 784-5000, Ext. 1043, or astackhouse-hite@Portervillerecorder.com

This story was published in The Porterville Recorder on July 18, 2006

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