At the beginning of the Lunar New Year, the U.S. Utah State Senate specially convened a meeting to commend 25 Hanban volunteer Chinese teachers, who are teaching Chinese in Utah, for the purpose of expressing thanks to them for their outstanding contributions to Chinese teaching in Utah.

At 3:00 pm on February 28th, the House of Representatives of the Utah State Senate ushered in 25 volunteer Chinese teachers. The senator representative introduced the volunteers and their contributions to Chinese teaching in Utah with great enthusiasm. After that, 2 fourth-grade pupils from Chinese language immersion program reported on their experiences of learning Chinese in fluent Chinese to all the senators, “I have a dream that I can become a teacher in China in the future, just like those international teachers who are teaching us. I know learning Chinese has changed my future”. All senators stood up and clapped enthusiastically to express thanks to the volunteer Chinese teachers for their hard work.

Afterwards, Senator Howard Stephenson received the volunteers. He spoke highly of their enthusiasm for their work and achievements, thanked them for their great efforts towards the successful implementation of Chinese language programs in Utah, and awarded certificates of honor signed by Wayne Niederhauser, President of the Senate, to all the volunteers. Then, he also took a group photo with the volunteers to mark the occasion.

After the award ceremony, the staff led all the volunteers as well as the accompanying superintendents and headmasters from different school districts, totaling more than 40 visitors, to visit the parliament house accompanied by the guide.

Returning with honor, the volunteers all said that this commendation showed the high regards of the Utah state government for the work of the Hanban volunteer Chinese teachers, and was very encouraging for them. They said they would engage in their work with greater passion, affection and enthusiasm so as to bring their mission to fruition and act as “folk ambassadors” for cultural exchanges between China and the U.S.

The 25 volunteer Chinese teachers come from all over China. Through the selection of the “College Board-Hanban Chinese Guest Teacher Program”, and receiving training from Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban), they have become the envoys of friendship to disseminate Chinese language and culture in Utah. They are engaged in Chinese teaching in 23 primary and secondary schools in Utah respectively, accounting for 25% of all schools offering Chinese courses in Utah.