03/06/09: Chinese Delegation Eyes Makowski International Baccalaureate Program

Original YNN Buffalo Air Date: 03/25/09
A Western New York elementary school is going global and catching the eye of educational officials from China. The Makowski Early Childhood Center is teaching tiny tots Mandarin Chinese.
Ms. Yu’s Mandarin Chinese class is part of the school’s International Baccalaureate program. It focuses on creating “global citizens.” It’s caught the eye of top educational officials from China.
A Chinese delegation visited Makowski and checked out the cross-cultural lessons.
Chinese Education Officer Dr. Zhou Nan-zhao says, “in China we are doing the same thing with the teaching of English as a foreign language compulsory with the first grade of primary school. And also we have bilingual kindergarten so we are doing the same thing.”
Buffalo Public School officials say the IB program stresses early bilingual education to give children a competitive edge.
“In China they have two academic tracks. They have an academic track and they have a vocational track. They don’t have a combination of both, ” says Buffalo Public Schools Superintendent Dr. James A. Williams.
Superintendent Doctor James Williams says the Buffalo schools strive to balance the two. The district trains teachers and administrators to handle the Multilanguage platform.
Buffalo schools partnered in the program with the Binghamton School District.
Doctor Williams says he wants to see more partnerships with the University of Buffalo’s Asian Studies department… as well as an exchange program for teachers and students.
Last year kindergarten and first grade students took Mandarin once a week for a half hour. Today pre-K students are adding the foreign language.
Makowski Principal Dawn DiNatali says the program is being tailored to fit New York State educational standards for languages other than English.