One highlight of our time with our Chinese guests was our visit to the State Fair of Texas. We had a fantastic time introducing our friends to true Texas culture - including a warm greetng by an authentic cowboy named Larry and a fantastic food we celebrate known as the corny dog.

Accompanying the delegation were Mrs. Giraud and Mrs. Yung from the Math department as well as our students, Gabby and Lauren. It's hard to say what we enjoyed the most - the butter sculpture, the African acrobats or all of the special foods (the turkey legs & ice cream were favorites). The very best part of our day was just being together and laughing together!

Visiting Peak Academy

Today we had a wonderful time when our Chinese delegation visited the 2nd grade scholars at Peak Academy. They were accompanied by our UA Mandarin IV students and together they presented lessons on Chinese language and culture. The 2nd graders were so sharp and enthusiastic!  And such quick learners! By the time we left, the young students were experts on using chop sticks, counting from 1-10 in Mandarin and singing several Chinese tunes.

It was a great experience for our students to be the teachers and we hope that the children had at least half of the fun we had! It was a very special day and we thank Peak Academy for welcoming our friends from China to their fantastic school!

Welcome Huaxia!

 

Oh what a special day we had at Ursuline today as we welcomed our sister school, Huaxia Girls' School, from Beijing. The Chinese Delegation, made up of 14 students and 4 teachers, arrived on Saturday after spending a couple of days in Los Angeles. The entire UA student body participated in the welcome parade which required our guests to walk through the school. It was extremely festive and joyful to see our hundreds of UA students cheering, holding balloons & welcome signs, twirling ribbons and blowing bubbles in honor of our guests. Even Honey Buns, our school mascot, helped by giving hugs and gifts to our friends.

This is the first visit of our Chinese sister school since 2008 so it was also the first experience of a Chinese delegation for most of our students. As you can see,even though our time together has just begun, our bonds of love and sisterhood are already very strong.

We are so happy to have our Huaxia sisters here and we look forward to the awesome week ahead!

Association of Maintained Girls' Schools Conference

Today was our final day in London and it was also the day that we made our presentation at the Association of Maintained Girls' Schools Conference. The conference was attended by Heads of Girls' Schools from all over England. The speakers were excellent and they discussed a wide range of topics including the lack of girls in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) fields, issues facing girls today and how schools can go from good to great.

We were the last to speak at the conference today. Mrs. Bauer presented information on issues facing girls in the USA, national organizations and resources in the USA for Girls' Schools and ways that schools can connect virtually. I presented information on our Sister School relationships and partnerships as well as on some of the other student activities at UA related to Global Education.

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament

Mrs. Bauer presenting to the British Heads of Girls' Schools



Ms. Nipp with our Beautiful Hostess, Mrs. Julia Waters, Headteacher at Ursuline Wimbledon



The famous Double-Decker bus

London Bridge over the Thames 

Our British counterparts were most complimentary about out presentations and we agreed that there are countless ways that we can continue to connect "across the pond." The evening ended with a beautiful banquet in our lovely conference hotel which has a breathtaking view of Big Ben. And tomorrow we will head home and bid farewell to our British friends who have been such gracious and attentive hosts this past week. Cheers!

Visiting Ursuline High School Wimbledon

touring the chapel

Dina and her art work

With Sr. Ann Marie

Ursuline High Girls' reading group

We feel so at home here!

more cool art

PE class

the chapel

the main courtyard - also among red brick buildings

This week, Mrs. Bauer, UA Director of Technology and I (Ms. Nipp, UA "DODGE"), are spending the week in England, visiting our sister school and later speaking at a conference in London for Heads of British Girls' Schools. We have spent two days with our friends and colleagues at Ursuline High School Wimbledon and it has been both fascinating and productive. Yesterday, we enjoyed a tour of the school with two student leaders, Dina and Paula - Paula has actually visited us in Dallas and Dina hopes to visit us next year. We were interested in each department but spent most of our time in the Arts & Drama building where we chatted with Mr. Lord, a music and drama teacher who spent his high school years in Dallas (at Skyline High School). 

After our tour, we spent the afternoon meeting with various department heads of the school.  We learned a lot about Ursuline High School, their global curriculum and student life in general. We also had lunch with Sister Ann Marie, one of the school counselors, who we remembered fondly from her 2009 visit to Dallas.

We are so grateful to Ursuline Wimbledon for inviting us to visit and for their warm and wonderful hospitality. It has already been a fantastic experience and we are looking forward to meeting even more inspiring British educators at our conference later this week!