Hi everyone,
Thanks to everyone who attended our FMS Community Meeting last Tuesday, May 20. Please see attached report for summary of FMS activities and funding requests that were approved to support the Mandarin Immersion program at College Park Elementary School in 2013-2014 school year and the 2014-2015 school year.
Please note that I have updated the report to include the net amount of funding raised to support the Mandarin program for the 2013-2014 school year and 2014-2015 school year. We use those amounts to guide our approval of requests from the school/district to support Mandarin learning opportunities for that particular year. Our board met this evening, and I am happy to announce that all of the penind requests have now been approved for both the 2013-2014 school year and 2014-2015 school year. Please note that the district has covered the costs of the Mandarin aides and/or curriculum development when we fell short of our initial fundraising goals for these last two years, so any carryover funds will allow us cushion for the future should the district not be able to cover those additional costs of the program or if there are other unexpected needs for the program.
The bulk of our meeting was shared with Mary Kay Going from SMFCSD regarding the Mandarin Middle School Program. A teacher has been hired for the program to help teach the students that have enrolled in the program, beginning Fall 2014. She will also work on developing the curriculum in conjunction with staff from SMFCSD, College Park, and the high school district. The district staff prefer to send their own detailed update on the Mandarin Middle School program at a later date, so please stay tuned for more information.
We are also including questions in the upcoming College Park parent survey (with the PTA) to request feedback on the following to guide us in planning some other possible activities to support Mandarin learning and Chinese cultural experiences in SMFCSD. Please be sure to respond to those questions or share your feedback with us directly:
1) If there is adequate volunteer support, FMS will provide the financial support and organization for SMFCSD participation in future Chinese New Year parades. The parade is scheduled for March 7, 2015 – would you be interested in volunteering to help with costumes, teaching the children a dance to perform, and/or chaperoning the event?
YES / NO, Comment/Name
2) Would you be interested in having your child (or family) participate in a chaperoned trip to China for our 5th or 8th grade Mandarin learners?
YES / NO, Comment/Name
3) What questions/concerns do you want the FMS Board to consider?
Comment:
I would like to thank all of our Board Members, Volunteers, & Donors for their incredible dedication and support of our efforts. In particular, I would like to thank our Treasurer, Tom Bunyavanich, for his service since the organization was founded approximately 3 years ago. Tom has done an incredible job to pull together our financial systems and coordinate all administrative coordination with our bookkeeper and tax/incorporation requirements and is stepping off the board at the end of the fiscal year. While he will remain a dedicated volunteer and friend of FMS, we are in search of a new Treasurer and would love to talk with you or anyone else that you think might be interested in stepping into that role or supporting FMS in some other way.
Please let me know if you have any further questions by contacting me at friendsofmandarinscholars@gmail.com – thanks again for your support!
Sincerely,
Cari Pang Chen, FMS Board Chair
Van Nguyen-Do, FMS Board Vice Chair
Tom Bunyavanich, FMS Board Treasurer
Eric Tsai, FMS Secretary & PTA Liaison
Jenny Wong, FMS Banking Officer
Vita Blake, FMS Community Relations
Melissa Wurster, FMS Fundraising Chair
Shieny Chung, FMS Gala Event Chair
Kirk Black, FMS SMFCSD Liaison