North Buncombe High
Cultural Exchange
By Jack Evans, 2016
BCS Principal of the Year
W
hat a blessing it was to be a part of the 2015 College
Board Chinese Bridge Educational Delegation trip
to China in November 2015. With sponsorship and
coordination from Hanban, North America and the
Center for International Understanding, I toured some
of the beautiful cities and wonderful schools of Beijing
and Chongqing. Experiencing the culture and hospitality
of these two amazing cities, their inhabitants, and our
gracious educational hosts was one of the highlights of
my educational career.
Our group was comprised of school administrators,
central office administrators, and College Board
representatives. We spent most of our time in the city
of Chongqing with its population of approximately 33 million people. I was able to immerse myself
in the Chinese culture and collaborate with their teachers and administrators. I was pleasantly
surprised to find that the teachers and administrators were as hungry to learn from us, as we were
to learn from them. The collaboration I experienced was exciting and rejuvenating. We had so
much fun learning from each other.
The best portion of this trip is the same as every day in schools - the STUDENTS! As I learned
through NBHS’s Denmark Exchange program, no matter where they live, teenagers are teenagers.
Through conversations I had with the students as we visited their schools, we discovered they are
excited about learning and interested about other teenagers in other cultures. The students I met
shared a love of life and vitality that inspires everyone around them!
Jack Evans stands with American educators in front of Beijing’s Hanban/Confucius Institute Headquarters 24