Las Flores Middle School to Offer Chinese Class in Fall
Las Flores Middle School students will have a chance to learn Mandarin Chinese next fall.
Capistrano Unified School District trustees this week approved the program, which will be taught by sixth-grade teacher Steve Cook.
“I think in the world these students are going to be living in, [Chinese] will be an invaluable resource,” Principal Jim Henderson said.
The district also plans to expand its Japanese language program at Concordia Elementary School in San Clemente to the middle school level.
Other foreign-language programs will be extended at all elementary and middle schools.
With regard to Chinese, Las Flores students will be learning simple commands and greetings, colors, numbers and days of the week.
Cook, 38, first studied the language 18 years ago as a missionary in Taiwan.He later received a bachelor’s degree in Mandarin Chinese with a minor in Asian Studies at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
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