Kansas City students will see the real China, not political distortion | Opinion

Everything from tariffs to foreign students is creating tension between China and the United States right now, but eight high school students from Académie Lafayette will join two chaperones and me on a 10-day cultural immersion experience in China, starting Monday.

Kansas City’s Académie Lafayette is a public charter K-12 school, and the largest French immersion school in the country. Students experience full immersion from kindergarten through eighth grade, with the opportunity to add Spanish or Mandarin starting in sixth grade.

Our students have the option to travel to France in middle school and live with a French family for two weeks. High school students can choose to travel to Senegal and practice their French, or to Central and South America to practice their Spanish. And now, for the first time ever, they will be traveling to China.

I’m aware of all the uncertainties politically, but it doesn’t outweigh the excitement I have for my students to be fully immersed in a language they’ve been practicing for years.

It’s one thing to learn about something from afar, and another to actually see it, hear it and taste it — and that’s what I want for my students. We’ll be traveling to four different cities, beginning in Beijing, where we’ll visit the Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and, of course, the Great Wall of China. We’ll then travel overnight to Xi’an and explore the Terra Cotta Warriors museum, followed by a high-speed train to Chengdu for a Sichuan opera performance and a panda research base visit. Our travels will conclude in Shanghai with a city walk, market visit and an acrobatic show.

After our return, our students will have an updated version of China in their mind. Their understanding won’t be what they’ve heard, but what they’ve experienced. Traveling in multiple directions and going from historical periods to today, the students will have experienced museum tours, cooking classes, school visits, learning tai chi and more.

I consider myself lucky to have this experience with my students.

Two years ago, I moved to Kansas City with my husband and sons, and began teaching Mandarin at Académie Lafayette’s high school. I have worked as a language teacher in England and Dubai, as well as at different immersion schools in the U.S., including South Carolina and Hawaii. But never have I experienced a school like Académie Lafayette. It is truly one of a kind.

During these politically tense times, Académie Lafayette remains committed to the transformative power of cultural exchange. The students I’m traveling with are all on their way to becoming trilingual with English, French and now Mandarin. But they don’t just adopt the language — they adopt a way of being. Of the 20 students in Académie Lafayette’s inaugural graduating class last year, one went to college in China and two went to universities in France.

I was born and raised in China. My husband is Turkish and we have two biracial children, so I know what it’s like to live within different cultures. What I see in my students is their ability to be more open-minded. Their exposure to various languages, cultures and the incredible diversity of the school staff widen their capacity to accept and respect differences. They are noticeably warm, friendly, welcoming and supportive.

In this era of political mudslinging and social media misinformation, I believe that people-to-people cultural exchanges still matter. I hope our 10 days of travel will capture that.

This story was originally published June 9, 2025 at 5:04 AM.