Opportunity to Travel to China

Dear Central Academy students and families,

I would like to invite you to apply to go to China in June largely for free.  The Shijiahzuang Foreign Language School in Hebei China has invited me, two Academy teachers, and ten students to visit. Tentatively, the group would depart on June 6 and return to Iowa on June 14.  The School we are visiting will pay for our international airfare to China and our room and board expenses within China.

I visited the school last fall.  They were wonderful hosts and I got to meet many of the students, teachers, and administrators at the school.  I even got to have dinner with some of the parents.  Students from West Des Moines and Muscatine have been invited on similar trips in the past. This is an incredible opportunity.  Dr. Will Zhang, a professor at DMACC and Iowa Sister States Hebei Committee Chair, has helped facilitate this invitation.

After speaking with our Chinese teacher, Mr. Hou, I would like to extend the opportunity to apply for the trip to Academy students who have been studying the Chinese language and culture in level II classes and higher.

Students going on the trip must already have a current passport with at least 6 months remaining on it– unfortunately, there may not be enough time to apply for a new passport before the trip.   We will also have to get visas– which can take some time and money.

If you are interested and available to go on this trip, please complete this survey by 10:00 PM on Wednesday, March 27.  We must move quickly to make the arrangements to travel.  So, we must decide who will be going as quickly as possible. Mr. Hou and I will review the applications and invite ten students to join the trip.

Please use this link to submit your application.  Use your DMPS student log in to complete the survey:  https://forms.office.com/r/5GC6uHK0jy