Medium-Term Plan for International Education in Primary and Secondary Schools

Students and staff from Mountlake Terrace High School and Taipei Municipal Tian-Mu Junior High School.

Headmaster Yen Jing-Hong, two teachers and 27 students partnered with their peers at 7 a.m. sharp. Kelly Hsu, a financial analyst for the University of Washington's School of Medicine, served as an interpreter.

The group from Tian-Mu traveled to schools in the Pacific Northwest for seven days, starting in Portland, Oregon, and ending in the Edmonds School District.

STEM Leadership Advisor Debra Davenport explained that both schools created individual biographies of their students' backgrounds and interests. Based on this information, the schools paired students for shadowing.

“We hope to expand this program with a full student exchange with Tian-Mu as a sister school,” Davenport said.

Jing-Hong said that cultural exchange is valuable for students in Taiwan and the U.S. and appreciates that U.S. schools encourage free thinking, something she would like to incorporate into Tian-Mu.


Hans Lin and Collin Fahey were partnered up for the cultural exchange between Mountlake Terrace High School STEM and Taipei Municipal Tian-Mu Junior High School STEM students.

MTHS STEM teacher Bryan Smelcer, who recently won the Washington State Science and Engineering Fair (WSSEF) Science Teacher of the Year Award, said he would like to adopt the rigor of the Taiwanese school and admires the students’ dedication.

The contrast between the students can be seen with student Maximillian Schafer’s experience.

Schafer said he thought his partner might have been bored during an interview at the Edmonds School District STEM Showcase.

Schafer, the vice president of Mountlake Terrace’s Hawk Broadcast Network, said that he decided not to take AP classes during his senior year, choosing to have an easier year and spend more time in clubs before college.


Kelly Hsu (center left) and Tian-Mu headmaster Yen Jing-Hong (center) toured schools from Portland, Oregon, to the Puget Sound.
 

One thing that struck Schafer was how serious his overseas counterparts were when playing table soccer, also known as foosball.

“Wow, those guys were competitive,” Schafer said.

Davenport said that the April 25 exchange was a pilot, and in a few years she hopes to have students from Mountlake Terrace fly to Taipei and experience Taiwanese culture.