This event was initiated by Chun Bong in Hong Kong placing a request with CILC. He was looking for classrooms to collaborate on various projects. Lola Williams, one of Clifton’s Technology Coordinators, received the request through a CLIC email and forwarded it on to her teachers. Mrs. Baker indicated her interest in the project and after many emails back and forth to Mr. Bong in Hong Kong; a Halloween project was set up for Nov. 3.

The Chinese students attend an English school in Hong Kong and learn English at a very early age which allowed the video conference to be conducted almost entirely in English. A short introduction of both sites was followed by several of the Chinese students, dressed in traditional costumes, (bride and groom, Bruce Lee, Emperor, Beautiful Lady) telling Clifton students about themselves and their costumes. The Chinese children then did a traditional line dance and sang a song for Clifton. Clifton students, also dressed in their Halloween costumes (Dash, devil, witch, princess, Chucky, KISS Rock Star and King), told about themselves and their costumes. A brief explanation of the celebration of Halloween was given by Mrs. Baker.

A Tai Chi exercise was performed by the Chinese children. The Clifton students and parents were invited to join the exercise. Then the Clifton students then taught the Chinese children The Hokey Pokey. All the children enjoyed learning and doing these activities together.

Stone, Paper, Scissors was the game played by the students. Each site had one student participate at a time. The winner chose from a pre-determined list of “punishments” for the losing class to perform. The Clifton class lost and had to” show a shoe”, at which point the Chinese “complained” about the “smelly feet” which brought a big laugh to both sites. The Chinese children had to count to ten in Chinese, sing a song, and do a dance. This game was of great enjoyment to the children. At the conclusion of the conference, the Chinese students sang their national anthem.

“I really appreciated the parents making this special effort to bring their children back to school on a Friday evening for this event. I believe the parents enjoyed the conference as much as the children,” Mrs. Baker said. Lola Williams proclaimed the conference a great success and remarked, “A great deal of credit goes to Mr. Bong. He was extremely organized in setting up and coordinating the entire conference flawlessly. I would also like to thank the parents for supporting this event and Mrs. Baker for her preparation work with the children.”

This is the first Clifton students have had the opportunity to interact with students from another country and it was an exciting opportunity for both schools. (NOTE: This is the first international connection for any school in the ESC Region 12 service area!!!)