|
June
18, 2007
Dear
FCC –IN Families:
We
are writing – with a bit of sadness – but also
with much excitement– to update you on our Panda Academy,
which has been a beloved aspect of our FCC-IN mission for
nearly a decade. We have decided to stop offering Panda
Academy classes through FCC-IN, and we wanted to explain
to you the reasons why we came to this decision and inform
you about the exciting next phase in the evolution of our
Panda Classes – as well as some additional options
that are now available for our children’s cultural
and language education.
The
Panda Academy Advisory Board wrestled mightily with this
decision, and we reached it only after consulting with past
leaders of FCC-IN, our current FCC-IN Advisory Board, and
several of our current teachers. The primary factor has been
a precipitous drop in enrollment during the past several years – we
have gone from having over 100 children enrolled in 2000-20001,
down to approximately 40 (despite the fact that the number
of children adopted from China has increased dramatically
during this same time period). Because we have attempted
to offer a variety of classes at several different sites – and
on several different days of the week - our class sizes have
been very small (with the exception of Saturday morning classes
at Northwood Christian Church) – and we have been forced
to continuously increase the proportion of the operating
budget that is subsidized by revenue from our From China
With Love calendar. We have been challenged by the loss
of key sites (the Carmel Living and Learning Center last
fall, the impending loss of Northwood Christian Church next
year), the loss of a long-standing teacher in Greenwood who
suddenly had to return to China, and significant declines
in the number of older children enrolled (Da classes no longer
are offered because no children signed up this past spring).
As some of you know, we piloted some classes this spring
on Sunday afternoons at Carmel High School, with space generously
shared by the Indianapolis Chinese Community Center, Inc. (ICCCI).
Because this arrangement worked out so well, we met last
month with leaders of ICCCI to explore the possibility of
future offerings of Panda classes through the ICCCI Chinese
School. We are delighted to share with you that ICCCI
very enthusiastically agreed to offer these classes, and
some of our teachers have already agreed to continue teaching
our children in the fall through the ICCCI Chinese School.
Things
have changed considerably during the last decade. With increased
numbers of international adoptions, playgroups have cropped
up throughout the metropolitan Indianapolis area and families
don’t need to work quite so hard to stay connected.
The Chinese-American community in Indianapolis is thriving – possibilities
now exist for the education of our children that simply did
not exist 10 years ago. Indeed, many school-aged FCC-IN children
have been attending Chinese as a Second Language and folkdancing
classes through both the ICCCI Chinese School and the IUPUI
Chinese School for several years. We hope you’ll agree
that our children’s cultural and language education
can only be
strengthened
through stronger partnerships with the Chinese-American community,
and we hope that this shift will eventually lead to better
integration of FCC-IN families with families from both ICCCI
and the Indiana Association of Chinese Americans (IACA – with
whom we celebrate our Dragon Boat Festival). Several
hundred members of the Chinese-American community gather
each Sunday afternoon at Carmel High School for language
classes, dance classes, adult Tai Chi classes, and simply
to chat while our children are in school. Offering Panda
classes in the midst of these other activities is an exciting
opportunity that we sincerely hope you’ll take advantage
of.
Transitions
always take a bit of effort, and we are writing to ask your
cooperation with a new ‘registration cycle’ for
Panda classes. ICCCI typically preregisters children in the
spring for upcoming fall classes (in order to have time to
secure adequate classroom space and hire teachers) – while
FCC-IN has typically begun the registration process in late
August. ICCCI leaders have requested that FCC-IN families
register children for Xiao and Zhong classes by July
16, 2007, in order to enable sufficient time for
preparations to be made (registration materials are enclosed
). ICCCI has graciously agreed to allow FCC-IN families to
register with the ‘early registration discount’ through
this date. Children ages 5 and older can register directly
for ‘Chinese as a Second Language” courses already
offered through ICCCI Chinese School. Although transitioning
to Sunday afternoons may prove challenging for families that
have been accustomed to the Saturday morning timeslot, we
sincerely believe that your making this a priority for your
family will prove to be extremely worthwhile. Providing your
child with a strong sense of his or her ethnic identity and
pride in his or her cultural heritage is an even more indispensible
gift.
We
encourage you to register as soon as possible for the ICCCI
Panda classes, using the enclosed registration materials.
Families on the south side of Indianapolis – with
children aged 5 and older- may prefer to attend the IUPUI
Chinese School, which also meets on Sunday afternoons (go
to:
http://www.iupui.edu/~chinese1/
for more information). Finally, we wish to thank all of you who have
contributed so much to Panda Academy throughout the years – particularly
Dan Rumreich, Carolyn Tinsley, and Tom Sturmer – participating families,
and teachers. You helped to create a legacy for Panda Academy that will always
be cherished. Without your leadership, Panda classes would not be positioned
to enter this next phase of their development.
Sincerely,
Erika
Gaffin and Kathy
Johnson
FCC-IN
Co-Presidents
 |
