How did we do it?
The information provided below is a time line of the steps that we took to get our students to China. I share this information so that others may be able to follow a similar process in order to make this opportunity available to other students as well.
Happy planning!
Brandee
Happy planning!
Brandee
September
Tip: Speak with students to generate interest about the trip. Perhaps get one of this year’s travelers to do a PMU.Note: The number of students that you’ll get in this first round will be significantly higher than the amount of travelers that you’ll actually have going by summer. That’s okay, just set your expectations as such.
October
Tip: Contact URI’s Confucius Institute. They are located in the URI library. The director’s name is Yan Ma. Here is the contact info you’ll need:
Email: [email protected] Phone: 401-874-5746 Website: www.uri.edu/Confucius
Address: University Library, Room 163 15 Lippitt Road Kingston, RI 02881Note: URI’s Confucius Institute is really excited about sponsoring high school students in the China Summer Bridge program. Yan Ma went to South Kingstown High School to present the opportunity and only 1 student was interested! They jumped at the idea of a large group from Providence with an advisor serving as the coordinator.
The trip is all expenses paid (except airfare). Once accepted, the students receive scholarships for the 2-week program. (Thanks for the initial connection, Loriana!)November
Tip: Begin to meet with your group monthly. Have students be in charge of sharing out cultural information that they research about China to the whole group. Note: You can also have a lot of fun with this…teach the kids to use chopsticks, make Chinese lanterns, create dragon paper cuts, etc. to decorate your advisory space.
December
Tip: Host your first parent meeting. This is where you need to get parent buy-in and you’ll start to see who is more serious about actually traveling. Advise them to submit applications for their passports if they haven’t already done so. This is the info that you’ll need:
- Application: http://travel.state.gov/passport
- Photos: CVS, Walgreens, etc.
- Cost: $100
Note: I was surprised by how willing families were to send their kids off to China with me. I expected a lot more push back, but the general response was, “If Brandee says it’s a good idea, then it is”. This was after 3 years of building relationships, so I would advise doing the trip with juniors, as you’ve had time to foster that trust.
January
Tip: Obtain and distribute the application for the China Summer Bridge Program. The following is involved:
- Application form
- Photo of the student
- Student essay
- Letter of recommendation
Begin fundraising!
- Set up an account with Lois.
- Get families involved
Look into your students taking a Chinese language course at URI. This was a great way for our group to become more familiar with the language & culture. It was an eye-opener for all of us about how complex the language really is!
- Class Register online: http://www.uri.edu/confucius/education.html
- The cost is reasonable: $150 per student for a semester course.
Note: Application
Encourage the students to obtain letters of recommendation from their internship or other community members. I found myself writing 7 letters of rec for my students at the last minute because we were in a time crunch. It was a lot of work.
Fundraising that Worked:
- Walk-a-thon
- Chelo’s fundraiser (they’ll donate 20% of your purchases on a given day)
- Utilizing your whole network (internships, families, etc. to solicit donations)
- Sorority & Fraternity Chapters (Thank you Carlos!)
Chinese Class
- Denise & I took the class with the students and offered a literacy workshop to support the learning back at school.
February
Tip: The 2010 Chinese New Year will be celebrated on February 14th. URI will host a Chinese New Year Celebration at their URI campus. Contact the Confucius Institute for more details.
Note: Perhaps have your potential travelers host a PMU on the topic.
March
Tip: Research plane ticket prices. You should have the dates from the Confucius Institute by now, so you can get actual flight information. I found Continental to have the best price. Most airlines will consider you for group booking if you have 10 or more travelers. I booked Continental through AAA. The cost of the flight was $1422.Note: Although sites like expedia.com will have cheaper airfare prices, you would need to pay the full amount at the time of reserving the tickets. That isn’t a reasonable expectation for most of our kids. When you book as a group, it’s more expensive, but you can put down a $100 deposit and then pay the remainder 1 month prior to departure.
April
Tip: It’s time to secure visas for your travelers. To do so, you’ll need the following:
- Application: us.china-embassy.org
- Photos: CVS, Walgreens, etc.
- Cost: $155
- Passports
Host another parent meeting.Note: There is a lot of detail on the application that will be the same for all of your kids, so to make life easier for yourself. Print out the application and complete the common info first (host address, phone number, etc.). Then have the families complete the info specific to them. It will save you a lot of time answering questions. As you collect passports for the visas, it would be wise to have Sue keep them in the safe for secure keeping. (Thanks for your help with this S
May
Tip: If you haven’t already done so, put down the deposit for the airline tickets. Remember to reserve the school credit card in advance.
Note: All of a sudden you will start receiving random amounts of money from students. Set up an organizational structure for yourself in advance or you will quickly lose track of how much each student has contributed. Also, visit Lois regularly (Thanks Lois!) to deposit the money. One day, students handed me about $1,300 in cash! It was great that these systems were already in place or that would have been overwhelming.
June
Tip: Maintain close contact with the Confucius Institute at URI. They will need a lot of info from you regarding:
- Final travelers list
- Room preferences
- Arrival times for your flights Note: Celebrate! You’re really doing it! A whole year of work is coming together – congrats on helping make this experience a reality for your students.
Tip: Speak with students to generate interest about the trip. Perhaps get one of this year’s travelers to do a PMU.Note: The number of students that you’ll get in this first round will be significantly higher than the amount of travelers that you’ll actually have going by summer. That’s okay, just set your expectations as such.
October
Tip: Contact URI’s Confucius Institute. They are located in the URI library. The director’s name is Yan Ma. Here is the contact info you’ll need:
Email: [email protected] Phone: 401-874-5746 Website: www.uri.edu/Confucius
Address: University Library, Room 163 15 Lippitt Road Kingston, RI 02881Note: URI’s Confucius Institute is really excited about sponsoring high school students in the China Summer Bridge program. Yan Ma went to South Kingstown High School to present the opportunity and only 1 student was interested! They jumped at the idea of a large group from Providence with an advisor serving as the coordinator.
The trip is all expenses paid (except airfare). Once accepted, the students receive scholarships for the 2-week program. (Thanks for the initial connection, Loriana!)November
Tip: Begin to meet with your group monthly. Have students be in charge of sharing out cultural information that they research about China to the whole group. Note: You can also have a lot of fun with this…teach the kids to use chopsticks, make Chinese lanterns, create dragon paper cuts, etc. to decorate your advisory space.
December
Tip: Host your first parent meeting. This is where you need to get parent buy-in and you’ll start to see who is more serious about actually traveling. Advise them to submit applications for their passports if they haven’t already done so. This is the info that you’ll need:
- Application: http://travel.state.gov/passport
- Photos: CVS, Walgreens, etc.
- Cost: $100
Note: I was surprised by how willing families were to send their kids off to China with me. I expected a lot more push back, but the general response was, “If Brandee says it’s a good idea, then it is”. This was after 3 years of building relationships, so I would advise doing the trip with juniors, as you’ve had time to foster that trust.
January
Tip: Obtain and distribute the application for the China Summer Bridge Program. The following is involved:
- Application form
- Photo of the student
- Student essay
- Letter of recommendation
Begin fundraising!
- Set up an account with Lois.
- Get families involved
Look into your students taking a Chinese language course at URI. This was a great way for our group to become more familiar with the language & culture. It was an eye-opener for all of us about how complex the language really is!
- Class Register online: http://www.uri.edu/confucius/education.html
- The cost is reasonable: $150 per student for a semester course.
Note: Application
Encourage the students to obtain letters of recommendation from their internship or other community members. I found myself writing 7 letters of rec for my students at the last minute because we were in a time crunch. It was a lot of work.
Fundraising that Worked:
- Walk-a-thon
- Chelo’s fundraiser (they’ll donate 20% of your purchases on a given day)
- Utilizing your whole network (internships, families, etc. to solicit donations)
- Sorority & Fraternity Chapters (Thank you Carlos!)
Chinese Class
- Denise & I took the class with the students and offered a literacy workshop to support the learning back at school.
February
Tip: The 2010 Chinese New Year will be celebrated on February 14th. URI will host a Chinese New Year Celebration at their URI campus. Contact the Confucius Institute for more details.
Note: Perhaps have your potential travelers host a PMU on the topic.
March
Tip: Research plane ticket prices. You should have the dates from the Confucius Institute by now, so you can get actual flight information. I found Continental to have the best price. Most airlines will consider you for group booking if you have 10 or more travelers. I booked Continental through AAA. The cost of the flight was $1422.Note: Although sites like expedia.com will have cheaper airfare prices, you would need to pay the full amount at the time of reserving the tickets. That isn’t a reasonable expectation for most of our kids. When you book as a group, it’s more expensive, but you can put down a $100 deposit and then pay the remainder 1 month prior to departure.
April
Tip: It’s time to secure visas for your travelers. To do so, you’ll need the following:
- Application: us.china-embassy.org
- Photos: CVS, Walgreens, etc.
- Cost: $155
- Passports
Host another parent meeting.Note: There is a lot of detail on the application that will be the same for all of your kids, so to make life easier for yourself. Print out the application and complete the common info first (host address, phone number, etc.). Then have the families complete the info specific to them. It will save you a lot of time answering questions. As you collect passports for the visas, it would be wise to have Sue keep them in the safe for secure keeping. (Thanks for your help with this S
May
Tip: If you haven’t already done so, put down the deposit for the airline tickets. Remember to reserve the school credit card in advance.
Note: All of a sudden you will start receiving random amounts of money from students. Set up an organizational structure for yourself in advance or you will quickly lose track of how much each student has contributed. Also, visit Lois regularly (Thanks Lois!) to deposit the money. One day, students handed me about $1,300 in cash! It was great that these systems were already in place or that would have been overwhelming.
June
Tip: Maintain close contact with the Confucius Institute at URI. They will need a lot of info from you regarding:
- Final travelers list
- Room preferences
- Arrival times for your flights Note: Celebrate! You’re really doing it! A whole year of work is coming together – congrats on helping make this experience a reality for your students.
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