SANDY — Mandarin Chinese is becoming a global economic language and Lone Peak Elementary Principal Kathy Anderson wants her children on board for the future economy.
Last week, at about the same time Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. was unanimously confirmed by the Senate to be U.S. ambassador to China, first-grade students prepared for their future by performing "The Little Red Hen" in Mandarin Chinese at the Sandy elementary school.
The program showcased what students learned during a two-week dual-language-immersion summer program aimed at teaching students Mandarin Chinese and English. During the performance, English translation was provided only for important phrases to help family members and parents who came to watch their children perform.
Anderson said because of a Utah State Office of Education initiative, this is the first year students will be able to take part in the dual-immersion program.
"You are looking at our very first product," Anderson said of her first-grade students' performance. One of the greatest benefits, she said, is that her students will get to "learn the culture" in a two-part class, with one portion in English and the other in Chinese.
"Everything that they would normally need (to say) will be done in Chinese," Anderson said.
Rather than having students learn other popular languages such as Spanish or French, the school chose to have students learn Mandarin because of the sense that students can become part of the global economy by knowing the language. Mandarin Chinese is the third most common spoken language in the United States.
"We are trying to prepare (the children) for the future," Anderson said.
Dressed in colorful costumes, the children spoke their Chinese parts with confidence, shouting their lines from the stage.
Cade Mauss said learning his parts for the lead role was fun, but the Mandarin class was "super hard."
Cade's classmate, Olivia Stephenson, said her favorite part of the class was "learning (how to say) all the numbers."
First-grade students seem to pick up the language quickly, according to Chinese teacher Candice Lin.
"Kids at this age can learn really fast," Lin said. "I think it is the right age."
Lin also believes Chinese is the most beneficial language to teach students right now because of its rising popularity in an international economy.
Tammie Todd, first-grade English teacher, said she was impressed because the students "caught on so fast" and "worked so hard" to learn to speak enough Chinese in nine days to play roles in the program. Todd will teach the English portion of the class, while Lin teaches the Chinese segment.
The summer dual-immersion camp helped prepare students for the language program's official start on Aug. 26. The program will be available to students from first to sixth grades.
Students at Draper Elementary also performed a Chinese program Friday in Draper. Two other schools in the Canyons District will also start dual-immersion programs. Alta View will teach Spanish-English, and Oak Hollow will teach French-English.
E-MAIL: cneugebauer@desnews.com