Educators and students from the New Taipei City School District in Taiwan have concluded their visits to schools in central New Jersey.
On Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, a total of 55 junior high school and high school students from the New Taipei City School District visited the Freehold Intermediate School in the Freehold Borough K-8 School District, the Cedar Drive Middle School in the Colts Neck K-8 School District, Howell Middle School South in the Howell K-8 School District, Point Pleasant Beach High School in the Point Pleasant Beach School District, Ocean County, and Lawrence High School in the Lawrence Township School District, Mercer County.
The Freehold Intermediate School was visited by 13 students from the Jangcui Junior High School, Cedar Drive Middle School was visited by 13 students from FuHe Junior High School, Howell Middle School South was visited by 16 students from Yonghe Junior High School, Point Pleasant Beach High School was visited by seven students from Nashan High School and Lawrence High School was visited by six students from Jin-Shan High School.
According to Freehold Borough administrators, the Taiwanese students were each paired with a student in the school they visited and followed that student’s schedule during the day.
“The global community is being brought closer together by the increased use of technology,” Freehold Borough Superintendent of Schools Rocco Tomazic said. “This makes it all the more imperative that our students have a deep appreciation of other nations and cultures.
“Preparing our students for the world in which they will work is made more effective when our students can interact directly with those from another culture with whom they are not familiar.
“International education and a global perspective are important features of a modern education,” Tomazic said. “Our students and teachers benefit from meeting their peers from another country and from a different culture. This is not only to learn about them, but more importantly to understand how they see us. The personal connections that result from face-to-face contact are impactful and long-lasting.”
A closing ceremony in recognition of the Taiwanese students’ visit was held at the Freehold Intermediate School on Nov. 1. There were performances by the Freehold Borough and New Taipei City students.
At the end of the ceremony, Principal Ronnie Dougherty presented certificates to the 13 students from Taiwan.
“It has been such a joy to see these students together,” Dougherty said. “As much as you [the New Taipei City students] have learned, we have learned more from you.”
In turn, Jangcui Junior High School Principal Jenny Kuo provided gifts to Tomazic, Dougherty, Freehold Borough Mayor Nolan Higgins, Councilwoman Sharon Shutzer, school district Business Administrator Joseph Howe and interim Monmouth County Superintendent Lester Richens.
“It is an honor to be here,” Kuo said. “Thank you for giving our students this opportunity.”
The students’ visit on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 was preceded by 15 educators from New Taipei City who visited Freehold Borough, Howell and the Freehold Regional High School District on Oct. 16-17.
“We believe such educational exchanges are valuable for our students, particularly in an increasingly global community,” Freehold Regional Superintendent of Schools Charles Sampson said. “Over the past several years, we have been able to exchange educational perspectives, share insights and build cultural connections. We are excited to continue that spirit of mutual collaboration this year.”
The educators visited Howell’s Ramtown School and Howell Middle School South on Oct. 16. The focus of their visit to Howell was instructional technology.
“We are incredibly honored to have 15 educators from New Taipei City visit Howell,” Superintendent of Schools Joseph Isola said. “We were fortunate to [previously] host an educational delegation from New Taipei City and found it to be a truly edifying and professionally enriching experience.”
On Oct. 17, the Taiwanese educators toured Freehold Borough classrooms and listened to a presentation about international education and the international baccalaureate program from Sampson and Linden School District Superintendent of Schools Danny Robertozzi.
Afterward, they toured classrooms at Freehold High School, according to Freehold Borough district administrators.
According to Tomazic, Freehold Borough and Freehold Regional have a formal memorandum of understanding with the New Taipei City School District for mutual cooperation, which has led to annual visits from New Taipei City educators. In turn, Freehold Borough educators have visited the schools of the Taiwanese district.
New Taipei City has a population of more than 3.97 million people and has 300 public schools managed by the New Taipei City Education Department, according to Freehold Borough district administrators.
