St. Louis, Mo. (November 21, 2024) According to the National Education Association, American Education Week is about honoring the team of people who work in the nation’s public schools, from the bus drivers to classroom teachers to administrative staff and beyond. St. Louis Language Immersion School (SLLIS) boasts teachers from 18 different countries around the world, and those educators work hard to bring a unique, dual language education into the classroom.
SLLIS fifth grade teacher Fan Yang started at SLLIS 12 years ago when the Chinese program was just a year old and has been instrumental in its growth over the past decade. In SLLIS’ model, students learn their subjects in two languages, English and a target language of either Chinese, French or Spanish. Yang doesn’t just teach his students how to speak Chinese, but also divulges culture, kinship, traditions, holidays and more into his lessons. During Education Week, Yang was quick to highlight the moments that have warmed his soul as a teacher.
“I believe everyone has a heart language — the language you speak when you’re feeling emotions and something is going on in your life,” Yang said. “For me, that language is Chinese. Like all humans and teachers, there have been moments in my career when I’m having a rough day. Students have come up to me during those times and talked to me in Chinese to try to cheer me up. When a fifth grader can understand and have conversations in your heart language, that truly touches my heart and is just one of the many things that makes this job so rewarding.”
Another key tenet of Education Week is parental involvement in their child’s education. Yang said he is constantly encouraged by parents who are not only invested in their student’s growth in English, but are also extremely interested in their progress in Chinese. Parents at SLLIS always remind Yang they sent their kids to SLLIS to become fluent in a second language, and he admires their trust and open-mindedness. That willingness from the parents combined with SLLIS’ unique immersion model clearly translates to the kids.
“A lot of our students are thinking about their future and the bigger picture,” Yang said. “My students tell me they want to be a Chinese speaker as an adult, and they realize the relationship between the United States and China isn’t always great on a diplomatic level. They’re thinking outside the box of how to improve that relationship in the future and how to use their language skills to make the world a better place as they get older.”
SLLIS recently announced plans to add a Chinese Pre-K classroom, and the program has continued to grow since Yang moved to St. Louis. During American Education Week and beyond, it is clear Yang will continue to have an impact on his students and they, in return, will have an impact on him. He said he’s seen the clear learning benefits of SLLIS’s dual language model and he hopes it’s something more schools throughout the country will begin adopting soon.
“Our dual language approach is really a benefit to students because it goes beyond language skills,” Yang said. “We have found that students who learn Chinese also perform better in math and look at math in a simpler way. Logic and language opens the door in all other disciplines as well. It sets them on a path to future success.”
About St. Louis Language Immersion School
St. Louis Language Immersion School was founded in 2009 and is a charter school serving Pre-K through 8th grade to the City of St. Louis. The school provides students with a world-class, global, dual language immersion education in French, Spanish or Chinese, taught by native speakers. The one of a kind school was named the 2024 Best Public Charter School in Missouri and plays an essential role in the fabric of the St. Louis community. For more information, go to www.sllis.org.