As part of the Wasatch Academy Dual Diploma program, students from China and Mongolia become familiar with the United States education system and gain a cultural edge should they decide to attend college or university in the US. In January, Wasatch Academy welcomed two separate groups of students from two of our partner schools: Guangzhou Guangya High School and Shishi High School, a school considered the oldest school in the world at over 2100 years old.
Coming to the United States “shows young students that everything they see in the movies is not true and that it is fun to make friends with fellow students from around the world. They are able to connect through personal interaction and then social media where they stay connected for years to come,” states Director of Global Initiatives, Graham Jessee.
Students from Shishi High School and Guangzhou High School participated in the Wasatch Academy English Dual Immersion program. Students spend three years learning from an American teacher who teaches the Wasatch Academy curriculum in English, and then they earn a diploma from their top-rated public high school and a diploma from Wasatch Academy.
While at Wasatch Academy, the students received a taste of American culture by shadowing student ambassadors and took part in special instruction courses such as Mr. Schukis’s percussion drum circle. They met with the student council for a pizza party and became familiar with Wasatch Academy’s graduate learner outcomes. Students also got to experience the great outdoors of Utah with visits to Arches National Park, Dead Horse Point, and sledding at the Wasatch Academy cabin. In addition, they attended a Utah Jazz basketball game, toured Brigham Young University, and visited Park City for some good old-fashioned outlet shopping.
2019 marks the 10th anniversary of Wasatch Academy’s first partnership/dual diploma program in the Zhejiang Province. Since the beginning, the program goal has been to prepare students for college and university studies while giving international students exposure to Wasatch Academy’s award-winning approach to education. Today, Wasatch Academy has 10 partnerships in 8 different cities in China and one in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Joseph Loftin, Wasatch Academy Head of School, states, “Students today are growing up in a society where they will be working with, studying with, and competing with people from all over the world, not just in their immediate communities let alone their own countries. We provide an educational experience that prepares them for that reality.”