Last week, six teachers visited Zhoushan, China to learn more about Lake Forest Academy’s sister school, Greentown International School. The Greentown International School is a first grade through 12th grade boarding and day school that was newly created eight years ago. The school was developed by Greentown Real Estate which constructed the school for the Boeing Airline Company. Boeing was looking to expand their manufacturing overseas and the Chinese government offered Zhoushan as a place to do so. In order for the company to move its employees to this new location, a school was needed for their children to get an education. Hence, the creation of Greentown International School. The school hosted an international festival, in which LFA along with the other sister schools from New Zealand, Germany, and Belgium were all invited to visit. Mike Hall, Paul Makovec, Nirali Dalia, Rita MacAyeal, Yue Chen, and Nancy Nassr visited this four-day celebration consisting of many student-led activities, panels, and discussions. When news came that we had teachers visiting this school, many people were surprised to find out LFA had a sister school. So, when did this partnership take place?
The school visited LFA in 2019 and the partnership has since been established. However, the partnership reached a plateau due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After the pandemic, LFA started rebuilding the bonds with Greentown International School. Yue Chen, Global Department Chair and Fine & Performing Arts Teacher (who also attended the recent trip), said, “The reason they built the connection with this Greentown school consisted of multiple layers: obviously, we have lots of international students from China, so it’s more in a sense of cultural exchange and cultural competence development. As a U.S. educational institution, you want to understand your students.” Being able to understand Chinese culture can help teachers to be better equipped in assisting the Chinese student population at LFA.
The Global Department of LFA also emphasized building connections with Greentown International School, seeing it as essential for fostering a globally aware community. This partnership opens up numerous opportunities for our students and faculty to benefit from. The potential for exchange student programs would be one of them, allowing our students to study at Greentown or students from Greentown to study at LFA. This would help students experience a broader perspective of seeing the world and explore different cultures and environments. In addition to exchange programs for students, teacher exchange programs could enhance professional development, enabling educators to bring new perspectives into their classrooms.
Last but not least, a curricular trip tailored for global studies or language students would allow LFA students to deepen their understanding of Chinese culture in an immersive setting by taking a trip to Greentown and learning the culture and language first-hand. These initiatives not only bolster cultural competence but also prepare students to thrive as global citizens.
Looking ahead, LFA envisions a partnership not just with Greentown International School but extending to other countries as well. Having the opportunity to integrate various cultures and perspectives through these partnerships is exciting to the LFA community. Students from both schools could potentially work together on academic projects which would not only foster a collaborative environment but would also expand our global perspective. As LFA prides itself on having a midwestern heart and global mind, sister schools would offer a great opportunity for our community to grow and learn beyond national boundaries.
