A big congratulations to Dylan Schmitt who placed first at the 2018 “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition! This singing-based competition included Chinese learners from across the city who have little-to-no background in the language. Dylan won reciting a poem taught in her International Languages Elementary (ILE) class by instructor Xiaomei Xu. Dylan’s parents credit both Xiaomei and her school’s Principal at Kensington P.S., Dan Fisher, for their ongoing support.
“(Xiaomei) gave her extra coaching, wrote out a sheet for me to use for practice at home, and was at the competition today to encourage and support her (and to volunteer her time to make the competition possible)”, said Cannon Schmitt, Dylan’s father. “It is her inspirational teaching that makes Dylan so excited about learning Mandarin. Thank you again for hiring such a stellar Mandarin teacher, someone who goes well beyond what the job requires. We’re so lucky to have her”.
Ma’ayan Shai from Seneca Hill P. S. also participated in the competition and placed second! Her Mandarin instructor is Yanhong Ren.
Congratulations to both Dylan and Ma’ayan.
Click here to watch highlights of the competition.