My name is Lauren, and I am an 11th grader at Park City High School in Park City, Utah. I was one of many students enrolled in Chinese language learning at the high school when it was canceled in 2022. I have continued to learn Mandarin through an online school out of state and just completed my fourth year of Mandarin. As the program has been discontinued, I believe this is a missed opportunity for future students to learn Mandarin in our school district.

We should be advancing secondary languages that help our students compete with world powers, especially ones that are challenging our military and economic dominance.  First and foremost, restarting the Chinese learning program would require a large pool of students to participate.  Additionally, our school leadership would need to think outside of the box on how to implement the program and consider all options including dual language immersion (DLI). To restart the Chinese program our students, parents, and community need to see the value in it and support it.  Your voices must be heard to restart our Chinese language learning.  

Please sign my petition asking the Park City School District (PCSD) to formally survey the student population to determine interest in Chinese learning. With enough parent/student interest, we could bring back this great opportunity.