A Trip to China

by Ben Cox

This past November, Principal Robert Parga attended a conference in Shanghai, China. Both American and Chinese principals attended the conference to see how schools across the globe run. This trip was part of a partnership between Medfield High School and the University of East Shanghai.

Despite being almost 7,000 miles apart, Principal Parga noticed that "from an educational standpoint, we [Medfield and China] are very similar. The teachers really care for their students and want them to be prepared for their futures.”

One major difference he noticed in China involved class size. "It’s hard for their teachers to really get to know their students. It’s very difficult to get to know your students when you have 50 or 60 students per classroom."

The language barrier was not a huge obstacle for Mr. Parga, given that English is a mandatory class in the Chinese School. This generation’s Chinese students learn to speak English, whereas their parents’ generation is not English speaking.

"This was a very unique trip. I really wanted to experience their culture and food," commented Mr. Parga. Some of the interesting foods Mr. Parga ate during his trip include duck tongue and turtle soup. "Very different from the Lilac House in Millis," he added.

It is Mr. Parga’s intention to continue our relationship with China. While in China, he had a chance to see progress on the state-of-the-art new high school being built. It will house 6,000 students, all in dorms. Mr. Parga said, "I think this will be a very nice facility and an amazing experience for any of our students who may go there."

This trip helped Mr. Parga share some of the great qualities and customs of Medfield High School while learning about China’s culture.

This article was written by Ben Cox, a Medfield High School student and member of the student newspaper, The Kingsbury Chronicle. The piece is part of Medfield Patch's weekly series, "Warrior Weekly," helping provide information about MHS to the local community.