Three Albany-area educational institutions sign partnership agreements with Chinese schools

ZENGCHENG, CHINA - Area educators from three institutions signed agreements to pursue educational partnerships with Chinese schools while meeting with educators in China November 11.

The agreements allow the Capital Region BOCES, Questar III BOCES and Catskill Central School Districts to pursue formalized partnership pacts that would involve the potential exchange of teachers and even students, as well as professional development opportunities. The agreements are modeled after the ground-breaking pact reached in February between Tech Valley High School and Tianjin High School No. 41 that has so far resulted in an exchange of a teacher that is now at Tech Valley High and the hosting of students from Tianjin at the regional public high school in East Greenbush.

Catskill’s agreement is with Huagiao High School in Zengcheng. Capital Region BOCES and Questar III BOCES jointly signed a pact with the Bureau of Education of Zengcheng. Zengcheng is in Guangzhou in southern China, about an hour from Hong Kong. By signing with the Bureau of Education, the two BOCES can work with teachers and administrators in any of the city’s 140 public elementary, middle and high schools.

The agreements were signed by Capital Region BOCES board member Sandy Beloncik, Questar III Board President Robert Gibson, Karen Haas, vice president of the Catskill Board of Education, He Yanken, principal of Huagiao High School and Sunshine Pan, vice director of the Zengcheng Bureau of Education. They were also negotiated by Capital Region BOCES Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Kathryn Gerbino and her counterpart at Questar III BOCES, Diana Conroy.

The pacts followed a day of touring schools in the city by the 18-member Tech Valley Region education delegation that has been in China for eight days now and a hearing at the Bureau’s offices attended by more than a dozen officials, teachers and principals from schools in the city, as well as the bureau.

Earlier in the week, Schoharie School Superintendent Brian Sherman started discussions with Tianjin High School No. 31 on a similar education agreement.

“We share so much in common and we look forward to our partnerships growing,” said Capital Region BOCES Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Dr. Kathryn Gerbino. “We look forward to welcoming you to Albany, New York to visit our schools.”

Sandy Beloncik, CR BOCES Board member, Sunshine Pan of the Bureau of Education of Zengcheng, and Robert Gibson, president of the Questar III Board of Education shake hands following the agreement.

Karen Haas, Vice President of the Catskill school board, shakes hands with He Yanken, principal of Huagiao High School, while Mary Hatton, a foreign language teacher from Catskill and Board of Education Clerk Matt McCoy look on.