Principal leads virtual field trip

COLEBROOK — Colebrook Consolidated School Principal Beth Driscoll embarks on a trip of a lifetime next week, and she has found a virtual way to bring her elementary school students with her.

Driscoll leaves for China on Wednesday, April 14, as part of a sister school exchange program sponsored by the Connecticut Association of Schools. She will return to Connecticut April 26.

The program, which has been running since 1986, brings groups of Connecticut educators to various schools within the Shandong Province of China. Then, at a later date, the Chinese educators return the favor by visiting their designated sister school here in Connecticut.

Driscoll said through the program the teachers and administrators from both countries are able to learn from each other, participating in an exchange of educational approaches and ideas, as well as an intense cultural immersion, that they can then bring home to their districts.

“More than 600 educators from China have come to Connecticut since 1999,†Driscoll said during an interview at her office with The Journal on Monday. “And they’ve established over 120 sister school partnerships.â€

The cost of the trip is partially being funded through an educational grant, and Driscoll is covering the remaining portion of the journey’s expense herself.

“It an incredible opportunity to bring China to Colebrook,†she said.

The elementary school the Colebrook principal will visit is in the city of Jining, which lies within the Shandong Province.

“It’s just a little bit south of Beijing,†Driscoll said.

The school, Huojiajie Primary School, was founded in 1948. Currently, the school has more than 5,700 students and 298 teachers.

Driscoll said the schools in China tend to be very large — anywhere from 5,000 to 15,000 students — making them more like large universities. Colebrook Consolidated has only 118 students.

“And the schools are also residential. So the students stay during the school week and go home on the weekends,†she said.

Driscoll, who has been e-mailing back and forth with the school’s vice principal, Xu Suqiu, over the last few weeks, has been preparing for her trip by learning about the Asian nation’s educational system and culture, as well as familiarizing herself with some simple Chinese phrases.

“There will be an interpreter with us, however, most of the time,†she said, adding that she even sat in on an after-school Chinese language class at Colebrook Consolidated. The program began there just last month.

“Perfect timing,†she said.

Although traveling to another country halfway around the world is an amazing experience, Driscoll said she is just as excited about the opportunity to share the journey with her students through Skype, an online video conferencing program, and a new blog (driscollchinatrip.blogspot.com) that she has set up specifically to file updates during her time in China.

“And I’ll be able to e-mail, too,†she said.

Driscoll added that through the blog, Colebrook students will be able to post questions or comments, and she will be able to respond to them later in the day.

“I hope to update it daily,† Driscoll said, adding she also plans to post pictures on her blog each day. “Hopefully, we can use technology to help us learn together about another culture in another part of the world. It should really be an experience.â€