DW
Daoshang Wang
  • Class of 2018
  • Arcadia, CA

Peian Wang Volunteers in the Community with the ESL Class

2014 Feb 11

On February 6, 2014, the ESL A and B classes, along with an ESL Peer Mentor, visited the Old Mission Montessori School and the San Luis Rey Mission, where the Cadets taught students in grades 1 through 5 about the Chinese New Year.

The ESL Cadets, including Peian Wang of Shanghai, China, led four stations in each class about the history of the Chinese New Year, taught the students how to make Chinese red lanterns and Chinese money envelopes, and also taught them how to count in Chinese. After teaching the classroom lessons, Army-Navy Cadets had the opportunity to do some learning themselves, visiting the San Luis Rey Mission Museum and learning about California's history.

Field trips are essential to the Academy's ESL program because it introduces the international cadets to American culture. ESL Cadets at Army and Navy Academy have the unique opportunity to learn in the classroom, as well as in the local community.

As part of the English Emergent component to the ESL program, Cadets practice their English writing, speaking, and listening skills while visiting different areas of their new community. These field trips are exciting to the ESL students because they are experiencing American culture firsthand.

When asked about the field trip, the ESL cadets felt proud of their new abilities to teach in a second language. According to Yi Bo Bao '18, "This field trip was important. We learned something about the Chinese New Year and we learned how to speak better English from the kids."

Fabio Peschechera '15 agreed and stated, "It made me feel proud of my culture. Sometimes, it was a little hard answering the questions and I couldn't understand some of the words. It was a challenge to improve my English. The field trip was important because it represents learning their culture and we introduced a new one to them, too."

Carlos Vargas Ibarra '18 summed up the experience by stating, "It felt good to teach - it was pretty cool!"