WINONA LAKE – Representatives from Jefferson Elementary’s sister school in China visited Warsaw schools and Grace College Wednesday. The sisterhood started in 2011, according to Weiqin Jin, English teacher at Taizhou Shi Baiyun Xiaoxue school in China. Former Jefferson Principal Dennis Duncan visited there in 2011, and teacher Scott McClintock visited in 2012. Along with Jin, Principal Zhong Ying and Director of the Education Bureau Wenxing Tong made the one-day stop in the area. “We’re visiting our partner school to learn how the students learn at school and how they do everything,” Jin said. McClintock said the trio started their visit of the U.S. in Los Angeles. They flew in to Indianapolis Tuesday night, and were just visiting here for one day. They then will travel to Washington, D.C., New York and Philadelphia. “Jefferson is the only school they’re visiting. They’re visiting other parts of the country to learn about it,” he said. “We feel very excited about what we see here. The principals and teachers warmly welcome us,” said Jin. At a school assembly, Jefferson Principal David Robertson introduced the guests to the whole student body. On behalf of the school, he exchanged gifts with the Chinese visitors. One of the gifts Jefferson gave to them was a Jefferson T-shirt. They presented Jefferson with two gifts. One was a a piece of glass artwork with the school name on it. The other gift was two giant pieces of paper with a poem written on it in calligraphy by a 11-year-old Chinese student. For the rest of their day in the area, the guests visited the Mandarin Chinese class at Warsaw Community High School, then ate at the Blue Apron restaurant in the Warsaw Area Career Center. They visited Harrison Elementary and Grace College in the afternoon.
