The Southern California Chinese School Association held the 2024 (49th) Fall Academic Contest on December 1st (Sunday) at the San Diego Overseas Chinese Education Center. The awards ceremony coincided with the Thanksgiving long weekend, with many families attending together spanning three generations, echoing the theme of the event, “Learn Chinese and Make Life More Colorful.”
President of the Southern California Chinese School Association, Che Qingyu, mentioned that this year’s competition attracted 590 participants. In addition to traditional Chinese schools, many students from American mainstream public schools with “Mandarin Dual Language Immersion Program” also registered for the competition, making it the largest number of participants in recent years.
The award ceremony kicked off with a collective performance of “Grateful Heart” by teachers, students, and parents—singing in Chinese not only promoted joyful learning but also expressed gratitude to all overseas Chinese language educators during the Thanksgiving season. Students of different ages and ethnicities took the stage to receive awards in categories such as calligraphy, brush pen writing, picture composition, Chinese posters, and coloring, with a total of 199 winners.
Chen Minyong, the director of the San Diego Overseas Chinese Education Center, used Taiwan’s recent victory in the World Baseball Classic as an example to motivate students to persevere and never give up. Despite the challenges of learning Chinese overseas, he emphasized that as long as one “persists,” a bright future lies ahead. He also expressed gratitude to parents for accompanying their children in learning the Chinese language, as education is a long-term commitment that requires everyone’s effort.
Mayor John Wu of San Gabriel delivered a speech in Chinese, English, Cantonese, and Taiwanese, highlighting the importance of living in the United States with “multilingualism.” He appreciated the platform provided by the Southern California Chinese School Association to organize activities and emphasized that learning Mandarin is also about learning the culture.
Vinh T. Ngo, the vice mayor of Monterey Park and a descendant of the Vietnamese-Chinese community, attended the event. He presented the awards to the winning students and greeted everyone in simple Chinese. He believed that if someone has an Asian face, has Chinese heritage but does not speak Mandarin, it is a loss for their future life. He encouraged students to continue their efforts in learning Chinese.
Principal Li Huiya of Fullerton Chinese School got involved in Chinese language education through teaching her own children and transitioned from a parent to becoming the school principal. She hoped to influence more parents to encourage their children to persist in learning Chinese. While Chinese may not be essential for children, she stressed its profound impact and encouraged parents to create a language environment for their children to become familiar with Chinese in daily life, which would benefit their future education and career planning.
Chen Yilun, the vice principal of Rondo School of Discovery, thanked the teachers for their dedication and efforts in teaching Chinese. She encouraged students to persevere, stating that learning Chinese is an important part of cultural heritage that requires the collective effort of the entire community. Rondo School of Discovery is one of the first bilingual Chinese-English schools in Riverside County, and the local government places great importance on Chinese language education.
Che Qingyu expressed gratitude to many coordinators such as Li Meiru, Yan Lixin, and Chen Qiongfen for their meticulous planning and coordination, ensuring the smooth running of the event. Nearly 80 individuals worked hard in organizing this Fall Academic Contest, from registrations, grouping, securing examination venues, arranging competition classrooms, evaluating, invigilating teachers, staff members, and volunteers from the association, culminating in the largest Chinese language competition in the United States with the highest student participation. The event attracted a record number of registrations and has become an indispensable platform for promoting overseas Chinese language education.