The Westwood School, a Confucius Classroom grant recipient since 2012, has been selected as a finalist among over 1,000 Confucius Classrooms around the world in efforts to identify the “World Mandarin Program of the Year”. As a finalist for this honor, Head of School, Heather Lourcey, will attend a ceremony in Shanghai, China at the Hanban, the Chinese National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, in December where the award recipient will be named. In celebration of this announcement, Westwood students have created a video:

What makes The Westwood School’s Mandarin program unique?

“The students’ passion for Mandarin,” says Mrs. Lourcey. “They love the language. They love the challenge of learning something that is very distinctive from English.” Mandarin education at The Westwood School begins at age two, along with Spanish, creating a tri-lingual environment for students. In Grade 7, students select to pursue one language in depth through Grade 12.

Instrumental in Westwood receiving the Confucius Classroom grant, the Mandarin faculty at The Westwood School raise the program to a higher level. Westwood’s Mandarin curriculum incorporates all aspects of culture from theatre, song, dance, acrobatics and puppetry to literature and conversational use of the language. Beyond the classroom, students to integrate their studies with field trips and cultural visitors. From the Crow Collection of Asian Art, to artisans such as Professor Peng, a Kung Fu expert, and Professor Zhang Qianyuan, Chinese calligraphist, students are constantly engaging with and applying their Mandarin studies.

Mandarin at The Westwood School is also offered in extracurricular classes and through the summer, and High School students have the opportunity to spend over two weeks in China with the Hanban’s annual summer program.

To read a Dallas Morning News feature on Mandarin education and The Westwood School, visit: http://goo.gl/gMQLgu

About Confucius Classrooms:

The Confucius Classroom grant provides funding for Mandarin education as well as library resources. Confucius Classroom grants, offered to Elementary and Secondary schools across 6 different continents, are hosted through Confucius Institutes at universities under the administration of Hanban, a non-profit effort from the Chinese Ministry of Education. The Westwood School is a Confucius Classroom grant recipient among 21 other schools under the Confucius Institute at the University of Texas at Dallas. While resources are provided, schools retain the academic freedom to implement tools as they deem appropriate for students.

About The Westwood School:

The Westwood School, located in Dallas, TX, is a Montessori International Baccalaureate school from age 2 through Grade 12. Representing a global community, over 43 different countries are representing within The Westwood School student body of 250 students. More information can be found at http://westwoodschool.org/.

The Westwood School’s Varsity Track team headed to the TAPPS State Track Meet at Baylor University’s brand new track facility. The Westwood School’s boys and girls teams each had their best ever team results.

The boys placed 5th overall and the girls were State Runner-Up. Westwood girls also received a 1A TAPPS State meet record by virtue of winning the first 4×400 on the new Baylor University track.

Junior, Dean Lourcey, was proclaimed the fastest boy in the statewide TAPPS 1A by virtue of winning the 100 meter dash in a come-from-behind finish. This was Dean’s second individual State title in as many years, since he won the 400 meter dash as a sophomore. Dean also won the silver medal in the 200 meters. The bronze medal winning 4×100 relay, included Freshman Beau Lourcey, and Sophomores Ian Witherspoon and Matthew Mendez, and Senior Dean Lourcey.

On the girls team, Seniors Lauren Pompeo and Lauren Sides ran the final laps of their accomplished high school track careers as part of the State Champion 4×400 relay team! They were joined by Juniors Ashton Worthen and Clarissa Larrain in winning the first relay State title in Westwood history.

The team of Lauren Sides, Ashton Worthen, Clarissa Larrain and Sophomore Lindsay Sides took second in the 4×100 relay and in only her second meet back from an ankle injury, Sophomore Andrea Dittmer took second in the pole vault.

Finally, with her bronze medal effort in the 800 meter run, Senior Lauren Pompeo earned a medal in the event for the third consecutive year. Additionally, she owns every Westwood school track record from 400M through 3200M!

Last summer, High School Sophomore, Austin Upshaw., decided he wanted to form a Mock Trial Team. He gathered all of the information, found a team sponsor, Mr. Thomas Langford, and recruited other students.

This past month, Westwood's High School Mock Trial team participated in their first ever Mock Trial competition. Playing the roles of attorneys and witnesses, the team argued the case they've been building since September. The Mock Trial team has learned the "ins and outs" of the legal process, from conducting direct and cross examinations, to objecting and disputing facts in a courtroom setting. The team of ten Westwood students participated in the largest Mock Trial competition in the state, and they'll certainly be at it again next year.

In December THe Westwood School's Head of School, Heather Lourcey, participated in a delegation that traveled to China on an Administrators trip through the Confucius Institute at the University of Texas at Dallas. The Confucius Institute is also the organization that hosts the summer China trip for Westwood students, as well as provides a grant for many of the Mandarin materials used in our classrooms.

Traveling with Principals and Administrators from Ursuline, Garland ISD, and Highland Park ISD, and joined by her husband, Mrs. Lourcey visited schools in China including a top public school and a very large private school. She also had the opportunity to stay on the campus of Southeast University and hear a private lecture on China from the Dean of the Foreign Studies Department.

Among the photos and insights that Mrs. Lourcey shared, was a powerful experience participating in the Chinese Memorial Day on December 13th, the anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre in 1937. During the Nanjing memorial event, Mrs. Lourcey viewed a school presentation and participated in a city-wide moment of silence to remember the 300,000 killed in the massacre.

Chinese educators were also thrilled to see a special set of business cards that we had printed for this momentous opportunity - Westwood business cards with English on one side and Mandarin on the other!

The Westwood School student and Dallas-native, Riley (2^nd Grade), will be on MASTERCHEF JUNIOR Season 3, airing on Tuesday, January 6^th. Riley is the youngest student in the history of the show; he auditioned at only 7 years old. What began as a chance to try out his passion for cooking, resulted in more auditions and ultimately filming for the current season of MASTERCHEF JUNIOR.

“We took it step-by-step, and Riley kept moving to the next level,” says Riley’s mother, Jennifer Hahn. “He had to showcase both his cooking vocabulary and his ability to use different tools.” Riley’s love of being in the kitchen certainly paid off. Tune in to watch young Chef Riley showcase his skills. The FOX show premiers on Tuesday, January 6^th at 8:00pm/7:00pm Central. Just don’t ask Riley how the competition went, he smiles and says, “You’ll have to watch the show!”

One of the few previews available to share is a clip of the show, released by FOX, in which Chef Riley speaks French with Chef Gordon Ramsey while preparing salmon and broccolini: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWWjSroc0e4.

Being part of The Westwood School community is a family affair for the Hahns: Riley’s mother, Jennifer Hahn, teaches Spanish for 7^th-12^th Grade students at The Westwood School. We know that students, parents, and staff will all be tuning in on January 6^th to cheer on a very special Westwood student!

About The Westwood School:

The Westwood School, located in Dallas, TX, is a Montessori-International Baccalaureate school serving Preschool through High School. More information can be found at http://westwoodschool.org/.