International School Connection

Mark Xing, Shenzhen China and Betty Norlin, Tampa Florida USA

On October 22, 2008 three schools on three different continents had a 45-minute video-conference with students:  Second Foreign Languages School of Nanshan (SFLSN), Shenzhen, China, Independent Day School (IDS) in Tampa, Florida, USA, and C.E.D. Lledˆu of Castellon, Spain.  Students from Spain were visiting IDS in Florida at the time of the conference for a three week Study Tour.

• Water resources and how to protect and save the environment,
• How water was processed in China and in Spain,
• How students at IDS researched water and environmental health through programs such as Rainbow River and LakeWatch.

Students from Spain and Tampa shared information about beaches, and sea animals that are found in the waters near their homes.  One student who is attending IDS in the USA moved to the United States from France three years ago.  He is part of a Cultural Exchange Team class and shared information about the beaches and sea animals in France.

Twenty-two students from SFLSN spoke to their peers during the video conference, while eight students from grade seven came to observe this conference.  In addition to students and teachers from these three schools sharing during the video conference, observers from five other schools in China were invited to attend.

Twelve students from Lledˆu in Spain were visiting IDS in the USA for a study tour program for three weeks.  This is the first Study Tour program between the two schools, and the second Study Tour program that IDS has hosted.  The purpose of this program is to help students from Lledˆu improve their English and learn more about the American culture.  During their stay at IDS they worked on PowerPoint presentations to share information about their beaches, sea animals and water resources with SFLSN and IDS.  As they spoke, they shared their PowerPoint presentations with the other two schools.