In this episode of the oneSMFC podcast, Superintendent Ochoa is joined by the Principal of College Park, Angienette Estonina, Teacher Yaou Liu, student Quincey and parent Helen. This culturally rich episode highlights the various events College Park holds to foster global citizens at their school. As a Mandarin immersion program, College Park embraces not just Mandarin as both the language and a culture, but makes time and space to include the diverse student body and the cultures they bring.
Meet the wonderful Principal at the annual Fiesta de Opciones | Festival of Options on Saturday, December 2, 2023! Our College Park team as well as our other magnet programs will be ready to welcome our community from 10:00 am - 2:00 pm at the College Park campus, 715 Indian Ave. San Mateo!
In this episode of the oneSMFC podcast, Superintendent Ochoa is joined by the Principal of College Park, Angienette Estonina, Teacher Yaou Liu, student Quincey and parent Helen. This culturally rich episode highlights the various events College Park holds to foster global citizens at their school. As a Mandarin immersion program, College Park embraces not just Mandarin as both the language and a culture, but makes time and space to include the diverse student body and the cultures they bring.
Meet the wonderful Principal at the annual Fiesta de Opciones | Festival of Options on Saturday, December 2, 2023! Our College Park team as well as our other magnet programs will be ready to welcome our community from 10:00 am - 2:00 pm at the College Park campus, 715 Indian Ave. San Mateo!
We learn science in Mandarin and we also learn a lot of phrases and we learn how to write in Mandarin. Speak Mandarin all the essentials.
Speaker 3:In the classroom I really do see the mingling of students when it comes to their language abilities and also their culture knowledge.
Speaker 4:It wasn't just mooncake making, it was mural making and poster making. There's just so much happening.
Speaker 2:I went to downtown San Francisco with a bunch of kids from college mark and teachers and parents and I held up a sign for what felt like hours and hours.
Speaker 4:What's this room called Conference room? Yeah the principal's conference room. Yeah, the main office conference room.
Speaker 2:I noticed when I come to this school it feels different. When I come to college park elementary school, I see things culturally on the walls that I don't see at other schools. What's your sense, as a principal, of the importance of celebrating the culture, that multiculturalism, that you see here at college park, because I go to a lot of schools and I don't see it at other schools? For you, anjanette, as a principal, why is that important?
Speaker 4:Oh, it's tremendously important to celebrate the diversity in our school. While our program is focused on promoting multilingualism through Mandarin, chinese language and culture, we celebrate every month different cultures and the way we show up in the world. The reason why it's so important is so that our children, our staff and families will feel validated and welcome.
Speaker 2:And then how about from the teacher perspective? Just look at this room. There's probably 50 artifacts in this one room. I imagine that you hold a lot of meetings in here with either teachers or parents. From the teacher perspective, why is it important to have these things all around us and these things in our environment?
Speaker 3:I think it's important for our students to see themselves reflected around our school and also for families that come in to feel welcome, to feel part of the school. Just like the artifacts in this room, they're accumulated over the years so you really do see the people that come through college park with the program have been here for over 10 years throughout the years and then how long have you been here? I've been here 8 years.
Speaker 2:This is my 8th year. Two more years to get to 10. And then just another 20 years after that. Isn't that like every principal's dream. Could you just stay here for 30 years or so?
Speaker 3:Well, I love it here.
Speaker 2:Grow old with us, don't go anywhere else.
Speaker 3:And you see the families that come through and the imprints they leave as part of the school community.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then we're also joined here. This is really exciting because we have one of our students with us. I do want to give you a chance, quincy, to introduce yourself to everybody on the podcast. Tell us your name and tell us what grade you're in here at College Park.
Speaker 1:My name is Quincy and I'm in 4th grade gate and I used to be in the Mandarin program.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and did you go to school here, starting in kindergarten?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I started kindergarten.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you have a lot of other kids that go to school here. I think it's like 455, something like that. It's a lot of kids that go to school here. We talked about the things that you see on the walls, these beautiful paintings and the artifacts that are in the room, and your principal talked about celebrating cultures from around the world. Do you do that in your classrooms too? Is that something you talk about with other kids and with your teachers?
Speaker 1:Yeah, we talk about it and we have special days where we celebrate Chinese celebrations and you can do like the traditions that you would usually do in. Just China.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like what would be a tradition that you can do.
Speaker 1:You eat and you make and eat mooncakes and you would like.
Speaker 2:I have one that somebody gave me one of those. It was really delicious. Is that something you do in your classrooms?
Speaker 1:We don't do it in our classrooms, but we do it like in the multipurpose room.
Speaker 2:Okay, so there's there's, you know, to keep the classroom super clean, obviously. And then you, a big part of your day here at College Park is learning a different language. What's that like? What's it like to be in classrooms where you go from one language to a completely different language?
Speaker 1:It's confusing at first, but it gets easier, simpler, you start understanding the language more, and then you just keep learning harder and harder stuff.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it does it become a little bit like a challenge, like you kind of you? You're like, oh, I'm at this level, I want to get to this next level. I want to. Is that? Is it a little bit like that? Yeah, it's a lot like that, yeah and are you doing math in in Mandarin? Are you doing? Are you learning words and writing? Tell me what you're learning in Mandarin.
Speaker 1:We learn science in Mandarin and we also learn a lot of phrases and we learn how to write in Mandarin.
Speaker 2:speak Mandarin all the essentials, yeah you know, I participated in a panel over at Gilead Sciences. As you all know, gilead is one of our core partners in the district and they're wonderful. There's this big, multi-billion dollar company that's located in Foster City and they brought out basically their chief scientist. You know somebody that was really, really high up and she was born in China and she got inspired to do science in China and she had a family member, a grandfather, who actually studied in the United States. So when she turned 20 she came to the United States and she got into that profession, going deep into her roots of being a scientist, and she's now here in Foster City. She tells her story about being multicultural, of having that experience, and I think that's part of what you're getting here too. It's not just learning science, it's really learning the culture that you get exposed to in this program.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you learn science and it also you will do it with the culture like not just plain science.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you, it gets embedded with the culture. Now, a couple of years ago, I went to downtown San Francisco with a bunch of kids from College Park and teachers and parents and I held up a sign for what felt like hours and hours and we have you participated in that. There's every year, there's a big, there's a big festival and and some years we go and we, you know, perform in the festival. I think one of your teachers does a, is that right, prince Westonina?
Speaker 4:So it's both, mr Milburn. He composes the drumming and then Mrs Wall, she composes the dance routine, the fan dancing for the Chinese New Year parade in San Francisco.
Speaker 2:I can still do it. I heard it so many times that, but he comes up with a new one every year. He's like I think he used to be a high school band director.
Speaker 4:Yes, he was.
Speaker 2:So it's in his blood. Yeah, yeah, and then we go and do that in San Francisco. Have you been a part of that before?
Speaker 1:It's hard to remember. I think I have a few times, one or two.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's been a couple of years, I think. If I recall, a lot of the kids who participated were on the younger side. They were not in the fourth and fifth grade per se. You've got this program that you've been in for many years. You have your principal here with you, but a big part of being a student is having that connection between your family and the school. Your mom is with us today and I know, as a parent, you have dreams for your child. You have hopes for your child From the parent perspective. What did you hope for? What was your dream for Quincy in terms of what he was going to experience here at College Park?
Speaker 5:Yeah, actually, quincy started off in Turnbull, which is a Mandarin immersion program that's located right next door.
Speaker 5:It was a lottery, and the day I won the lottery for him to go, I liked the happy dance, and the reason why I did that is because Quincy is half Chinese and half Caucasian and my parents don't speak English well at all. I'm an immigrant and so I was really afraid, as a mixed race kid being in America, that he would just go with the dominant culture and forget about his Chinese roots. And my hopes and dreams for him to be in this program here in this district is for him to not forget that he has this cultural connection to his Chinese ancestry and that's why I really enjoy that. College Park isn't just about learning Mandarin and there's a lot of cultural components like the mooncake and Chinese New Year and mid-autumn, like all sorts of ways for him to be able to communicate with my parents over these cultural activities. So I feel really validated as a Chinese-American to see this program in a public school and not like a private place that you have to pay for. It's a validation that we celebrate Chinese-Americans here in the Bay Area.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and how's your Mandarin?
Speaker 5:Horrible. Ok, we need a parent program, so what do you?
Speaker 2:I'm from Hong Kong, so I speak Cantonese, so that's why my Mandarin isn't good and the thing is my.
Speaker 5:Well, that's a good explanation, I knew.
Speaker 2:I couldn't help Quincy with Mandarin.
Speaker 5:But my parents speak Mandarin. I just want it. My hopes and dreams was for him to not lose connection to his Chinese culture and I don't care if his Cantonese or Mandarin, and I'll take the Mandarin because it's here, yeah, and many immigrant families that come to this country, they experience that longing, that nostalgia for home, that nostalgia for you know, for For their childhood, for their, their grandparents.
Speaker 2:Right, you're your, your parents are thinking about their grandparents and think about what they Experience and wanting to pass that on to Quincy, and I think there's probably hundreds of kids that go to this school that are thinking the exact same thing. And then you have the flip side. You have another couple hundred kids who have never been to China and have zero ancestry that has to do with China, and they're here, maybe exploring. They're here maybe saying I Want my child to have an experience where the world opens up to them. They pay attention to the culture that's all around them. From a teacher perspective, you have both students in your class. You have students who might actually come with a fair amount of of Verbal Mandarin and others who are learning it for the very first time. What's that like as a teacher?
Speaker 3:We do have Numbers of students who come from Families with the, with the background, the culture, and there are also students, like you're saying, who are being exposed to Mandarin and Chinese culture as something that's really new to them. I think what we do really well at College Park is that we make sure that everyone feel included, everyone Are supported in their learning journey. It doesn't matter if they have Does the language support at home or not, and in the classroom I really do see the, the mingling of students when it comes to their language abilities and also their culture knowledges. So it's a wonderful to see, wonderful thing to see here and Principal is the Nina.
Speaker 2:You are in the very fortunate position you often get parents together at the school. So you see that real, that real diversity in your parent population. Talk about the ways that families can connect at this school. How do we get that sense of community at College Park? Because it, as as we discussed it, really is a True variety of different backgrounds of parents that have their kids here at the school. Oh, Um. First of all, I am incredibly impressed by the volunteerism here at College Park Super high, among the highest I've ever seen.
Speaker 4:They show up for recess duties, lunch duties. They support in the classroom and the events, the amount of community events. It's pretty incredible. We just had our Panda Fest, isn't that awesome? I can't remember.
Speaker 2:Wait, tell me about it, don't you guys get past it?
Speaker 4:Yes, so Panda Fest, and this year it was the Panda Fest, I think they said the Mooncake Mid-Autumn, Mid-Autumn.
Speaker 5:Thank you for creating it.
Speaker 4:Mooncake is part of Mid-Autumn. But, it's Panda Fest, mid-autumn Festival, and the students. I guess you're focusing on the families and just, you can actually do what?
Speaker 2:Well, I was just so impressed by it.
Speaker 4:It's just the way the families come together to create this, just this fun event, and we had so many families. We had one mother who was inspired because of the promotion of diversity and culture. She said you know what? We're going to have an international fashion show. It was so amazing. The parents invited.
Speaker 2:Do we have photos of that? Yes, send them.
Speaker 4:We want them. The taiko drummers from a local Buddhist temple came. We had students performing.
Speaker 2:I was just Isn't it so interesting how it just filled my bucket. It is so interesting how the music, the art, the dance, the culture, it binds people together.
Speaker 4:Right the food, oh the food and, I have to say, the cultural from Shaolin. I have to tell you, if you have not seen a performance by them, I was just floored by the talent and we also had with Shaolin. They have students who have been at College Park who returned to perform. So yeah, there was incredible food. There was a dessert contest, which I was so lucky to be a judge.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you see that regularity happening here at College Park because you pointed out, the parent involvement levels are really high at this group. It's incredible.
Speaker 4:During the Mooncake Festival there were families across cultures helping with that event to make sure that they set up, and it wasn't just mooncake making, it was mural making and poster making. There was just so much happening. It's just a very vibrant community that offers so many opportunities for parents across difference to work together.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and this is the time of year, the beginning of November, where we start planning all of our registration for the upcoming year, and every year we have what is it? 72 new learners that come to our school, to College Park, and many attended the preschool program, but some didn't, many others didn't. So what can we say, from the perspective of a principal, to these parents who might be considering College Park as a school for their child? What's your message to that parent of a four-year-old or of a preschooler and getting those kids into College Park?
Speaker 4:So I would say, if you would like your child to be a global citizen who is also civic-minded because that's another characteristic of College Park is promoting giving back to the community If you wish to be in a place where your child can be a bilingual or multilingual learner, and a place that is filled with joy, college Park is the place, place to be. What do you think, quincy?
Speaker 2:Let's hear from Quincy Quincy. You've got parents out there who might want to send their little ones to this school. What would you say? What makes College Park great?
Speaker 1:It's really great that College Park is diverse and there's a lot of different people and it's not just like one type of, like one race. It's a lot, it's diverse and it's also positive. There's a lot of like encouragement, like, oh, you want to learn something and we can help you learn it.
Speaker 2:It's encouraging the doors are open here. That's amazing. How about from the parent perspective? What will you say? There's other parents out there. They've heard the name. The school has a wonderful reputation. What could you say to parents about enrolling their child here?
Speaker 5:It's, I think, a rigorous program here for the parents out there that want your kids to learn something. Your kids definitely will learn something here. I think it's great for children to be able to learn two languages at a time, and this is one of the bilingual programs. I know we have another one. I just think if you feel like it would be beneficial for your child to be exposed to the culture and language of the Chinese community, it would be fantastic.
Speaker 2:This is the place.
Speaker 5:Yeah, absolutely. I again really just love that. It isn't just about the language. There's the culture component and I think they have shown studies where if your child is learning another language, it helps you be more empathetic, because you learn to see things from other perspectives, because you're code-switching. Having your child come here also can just help them see things from other people's perspective. I think that's a huge plus.
Speaker 2:It helps shape their view of the world. All right, we have got our teacher perspective. What do we say? You've got 72 coming in, they're out there, they're looking at all of it because, as you know, we have multiple magnet schools and this is one of them. What would you say to those parents who want to have their kids here at College Park?
Speaker 3:I think one thing to note about College Park is that we have a very dedicated staff, not just the teachers, but everybody who's involved in supporting the students. A lot of the staff or teachers have been here for many, many years. They know the community through and through and they're very dedicated. We work very hard here and we also collaborate the teachers, because students in the Mandarin program has two teachers a Mandarin teacher and an English teacher. All of our teachers work together in collaboration to support our students. If you're part of the community, you really feel that sense of support and dedication from the people that are around your children every day.
Speaker 2:Yeah, powerful words from our staff. One of the things that I love about the school is I think you have just the sweetest mascot that anybody could ever possibly have. This is just around the table. I'll start with you. Quincy, with the panda. I want to put a couple of options in front of you. You can have a panda stuffed animal or a panda poster or a panda sticker. Which one are you picking? The panda stuffy, the poster or the sticker?
Speaker 1:I think the poster.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you want to put it up in your room. Yeah, the panda poster. All right, principal the stuffy, Look, look at that panda Mom the stuffy, the stuffy yeah, I would definitely choose the stuffy, and I actually have one in my classroom. And you have a big old one right at the entrance of the school. It's the size of a human being.
Speaker 1:Yes, there's something. There's something like one in the library too, like really huge yeah.
Speaker 2:And I think you know the joy that you see in the faces at the kids in the school and that sense of community. The panda really does actually bring people together. I see it on t-shirts, on every poster, on every door. It does become that representation of the culture, that representation of the community that we see here at College Park and I just really want to thank all of you for spending time with me today on the One SBC Podcast.