On March 19th, Wolf Creek Public Schools Superintendent Jayson Lovell, Assistant Superintendent Mark McWhinnie and Director Sean Lougheed travelled to Guangzhou, China to sign a historic Memorandum of Understanding.
The ‘One Belt, One Road Education Initiative’ between Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China, and the Province of Alberta, establishes a new pathway for Wolf Creek Public Schools under a Memorandum of Understanding on education exchange and cooperation.
Wolf Creek Public Schools (WCPS) is the first Alberta K-12 school district to formally sign an MOU with the Guangdong Region in China.
The ceremony was held in Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Education in Guangzhou and included school districts from B.C. and Wolf Creek.
About 70 people from a Canadian delegation and the Guangzhou Education System attended the event. Wolf Creek Public Schools signed the MOU with the Liwan Bureau of Education located in Guangzhou.
In addition to the MOU signing, Lovell, McWhinnie and Lougheed spent time visiting 11 schools in Guangzhou and Gaoming..
Three of these schools were from the Liwan Bureau of Education.
Students and staff within these schools were enthusiastic about the partnership and met with the delegation after each visit to discuss possibilities and learn more about WCPS.
This partnership will create strong opportunities for student, staff and administrator exchanges between both sides to promote positive cultural awareness and enhance educational experiences, officials say.
The first step of this MOU will involve WCPS Learning Services coordinating a two-week cultural and educational program this July based out of École Secondaire Lacombe Composite High School involving between 20 and 30 students from Liwan Education Bureau school system.
Additional short-term exchange programs are being planned for the 2018-2019 school year including Wolf Creek Grade 9-12 students participating in a two-week short-term cultural and educational exchange in Guangzhou, China in March, 2019.
Both École Secondaire Lacombe Composite and Iron Ridge Junior Campus in Blackfalds have been identified as the initial sister-school matches with two schools from Liwan Education Bureau.
Future plans include developing additional Wolf Creek sister-school matching opportunities.
“Wolf Creek is truly honored to be the first Alberta K-12 school district to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with a school district in Guangdong Province,” said Lovell.
“This will create new pathways to build strong cultural and academic opportunities for students and staff to ensure they are prepared to communicate with and appreciate other cultures, learn more about the international community and become global citizens.”
-submitted by Wolf Creek Public Schools