ChineseatHome.com

The Confucius Institute at the University of Minnesota has helped 12 Minnesota K-12 schools receive funding totaling $486,501 through the “Confucius Classroom” initiative of the Confucius Institute Headquarters in Beijing, China.

The Confucius Classroom designation is granted to schools outside of China to encourage Chinese language and culture instruction. Funding is provided to address the needs of each school based on a submitted proposal. Minnesota schools will use their funding to hire Chinese language teachers, purchase textbooks and authentic language materials and to fund cultural learning opportunities. In addition to funding, each site can order 1,000 complimentary textbooks or other resource materials from the Confucius Institute Headquarters.

The Confucius Institute at the University of Minnesota facilitated the proposal process and will oversee the 12 Minnesota Confucius Classrooms by conducting site visits, convening a best practices conference and acting as a resource for districts, schools and Chinese language teachers. Funding of these Confucius Classrooms is expected to continue for five years in order to develop sustainable Chinese language and culture programs.

The 12 schools receiving funding are Battle Lake Public School, Centennial School District, Concordia Language Villages, Fergus Falls High School, Minneapolis Public Schools, Minnetonka Public Schools, Rochester Public Schools, St. John’s Preparatory School, South Washington County Public Schools, Willmar High School, Xin Xing Academy at Hopkins Public Schools and Yinghua Academy.

The recent announcement from Confucius Institute Headquarters of 16 new Confucius Classrooms included the 12 Minnesota schools, which brings the total number in the United States to 25

The Confucius Institute at the University of Minnesota promotes the study of Chinese language and culture throughout Minnesota. It is a collaborative initiative between the University of Minnesota, the Hanban/Confucius Institute Headquarters and Capital Normal University in Beijing. The Confucius Institute at the University of Minnesota is one of 67 in the United States and nearly 400 worldwide.