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| Director Andrea Yang of Education Division of TECO in Houston introduced Learning Mandarin in Taiwan and Scholarship Programs to Superintendent Joy Hofmeister of Public Instruction of Oklahoma State and Director Cathleen Skinner of World Languages Division. |
To enhance the educational relationship between Oklahoma State and Taiwan, Director Yang of the Education Division of TECO in Houston visited Joy Hofmeister, Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Cathleen Skinner, Director of World Languages Division to discuss inviting Huayu teachers to teach in Oklahoma and collaborating on student exchanges in elementary and junior high schools. “We are promoting second language programs to enhance international competitiveness of the students.” said Director Skinner. “According to our statistics, there are 1,003 students learning Huayu in elementary and junior high school. We would love to invite experienced Huayu teachers to teach in Oklahoma”
Director Yang also visited Randy Kluver, Dean of the School of Global Studies and Partnerships at Oklahoma State University, which is sister school of eleven Taiwan universities. Dean Kluver plans to visit Taiwan in 2020 to build up better relations and collaborate on educational programs with these schools. Director Yang will assist with arranging the schedule and inviting the President of Oklahoma State University to visit Taiwan.
Sister Cities International OKC hosted the 2019 Taipei-Tainan and Oklahoma City Sister Cities Asian Cultural Celebration and welcomed TECO Representatives at the Oklahoma Governor’s house. “This is the first time that we held this event to celebrate our relationships and introduce Taiwan culture. And this is the first event we held with over a hundred guests to attend. We hope Taiwan Day will be one of our regular events.” said Mary Pointer, President of Sister Cities International OKC.
The Mayor of Oklahoma City, David Holt, attended with his two sons who wore Taiwanese aboriginal clothing for the occasion. “Taiwan and Oklahoma City work together closely, not only is Taipei our first sister city, but also there are two Taiwan cities in our seven Sister Cities.” said Mayor Holt. “I appreciate TECO in Houston coordinating with the overseas community to participate in local activities to present the diverse culture of Oklahoma City. I would love to visit Taiwan in the near future.”