SAYA: Sino-American Youth Ambassadors Exchange Program Giving students the opportunity to serve as ambassadors for their countries and their schools, while enhancing international awareness and cultural diversity at home and abroad.

A non-profit program organized & sponsored by the Ameson Education and Cultural Exchange Foundation www.ameson.org

About SAYA Sino-American Youth Ambassadors (SAYA) is an education and cultural exchange program independently sponsored by the Ameson Education & Cultural Exchange Foundation. Inspired by a 2009 Beijing speech by President Obama about Sino-American collaboration, SAYA brings international awareness and cultural diversity to U.S. and Chinese high schools by giving both sides the opportunity to experience the other’s culture within a safe and structured setting. The SAYA vision The Ameson Foundation is a non-profit entity that promotes exchanges between China and the world. As our Honorary Chairman Dr. Boutros Boutros Ghali (former Sec. General of the U.N.), pointed out the key to future peace lies with youth. Thus, SAYA endeavors to bring Chinese and American students together for cultural and educational exchange. To America: Chinese high school students visit to immerse in regular American high school classes for a week and also present seminars about Chinese culture. To China: American students visit Chinese high schools for one-week language, culture and education immersion at elite Chinese public high schools. History Feb. 2010: Fourteen Chinese students visited Belmont High School (Belmont, MA) for a one-week pilot program. Feb. 2011: Seven exchanges featuring a total of seventy Chinese students took place at: Belmont High School; Winchester High School; Georgetown Visitation Preparatory school; The Bullis School; St. Stephens’s and St. Agnes School; The Branson School; United World College-USA. June 2011: Eight American students spent a week at Suzhou No.10 High School experiencing language and cultural immersion. Jan-Feb 2012: Exchanges featuring a total of one hundred and sixty Chinese students took place at twenty-one American schools throughout the United States.

Vice-President Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met with SAYA Students in 2012

At Ameson’s founding as a not-for-profit education & cultural exchange foundation in 1994, Ameson’s Honorary Chairman Dr. Boutros Boutros Ghali stressed the core Ameson vision, which is “the key to future peace lies with youth”. Nearly twenty years after that defining statement, Ameson students had the great pleasure to meet with two leading figures in global politics. On Friday, February 17th, 2 0 1 2 , U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping visited the International Studies Learning Center a Los Angeles high school to hold a questions and answers session with Sino-American Youth Ambassador (SAYA) students and their American peers.

The session was attended by fifteen Chinese students from Suzhou, Yixing and Hefei – part of Ameson’s SAYA 2012 delegation – as well as a group of American students learning Chinese at the International Studies Learning Center, CA.

Xi and Biden were welcomed to the school with a performance of the traditional Chinese Dragon Dance, and then visited a Chinese class in progress. In the classroom, Chinese students were given the chance to ask their questions to Joe Biden, and American students could ask their questions to Xi Jinping. Student questions ranged from larger questions of, how to improve U.S.-China relations, to more personal questions about the progress of Biden’s niece and granddaughter in their Mandarin studies.

The

students

then

presented

the

two

leaders

with

commemorative t-shirts designed by the Ameson Foundation in a classic photo op moment that attracted the attention of several major news outlets. CCTV covered the event, and a feature article and photo appeared on the second page of the Yang-Tse Evening Paper. Articles by the New York Times, Associated Press, and Finance Online also mentioned the event.

Schools that have participated in Ameson's SAYA Program since 2010 Steward School, VA Belmont

Tuscaloosa Academy, AL

High School, MA W inchester

Baylor School, TN

High School, MA The Bullis

St.Agnes Academy, TN

School, MD

Hutchison School, TN

The Branson School, CA

Emerson W aldorf School, NC

Hawken School, OH

Valwood School, GA

International Studies Learning Center, CA

Marist School, GA

Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School, DC

Holy Innocents Episcopal School, GA

St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School, VA

Augusta Preparatory Day School, GA

United W orld College-USA, NM

Weber School, GA

Jackson Academy, MS

Episcopal High School, LA

Bayside Academy, AL

Hill Country Christian School, TN

Chinese students to the U.S. Student Screening Chinese students are carefully screened and selected by the Ameson Foundation to participate in this program. Prior to going to the U.S., the students focus on studying American politics, history, & economics. They also prepare presentations about Chinese culture, thus their U.S. high school visits are designed to help them share Chinese culture while immersing in American culture.

Costs for American Schools Participation in SAYA is 100% free for schools. Ameson also provides a stipend to host families to help cover boarding costs.

Chinese Visit Structure 1. Chinese students spend one week attending a U.S. high school (while living with a student buddy and their family). 2. The American “buddy students study” alongside their Chinese guest in regular classes. 3. In all interactions, Chinese and American students engage to build language skills and gain cultural understanding at school and at home. 4. Visiting students conduct various activities related to their native culture, with an objective of rich mutual exchange.

5. Chinese students return to China (after one week at a U.S. high school and one week touring the country) and then share what they have learned with their Chinese classmates. This effectively spreads awareness of American education realities in China.

Chinese visits to America

The arrangements for Chinese students to visit the U.S. are almost completely handled by the Ameson Foundation. American schools need only ensure enough host families to house them. Host families are paid a stipend (if necessary) to help cover boarding expenses. What Ameson provides • Testing, screening, and selecting qualified Chinese students (from different cultural backgrounds) to be the Youth Ambassadors. Students’ English ability is evaluated by AST (Ameson Scholastic Test), recognized as an English proficiency test by several leading American universities for their summer institutes and summer programs. • Responsibility for logistics, travel arrangements and safety of Chinese students while in the U.S., including transportation and full insurance coverage. • Coordination of the Youth Ambassadors’ cultural exchange activities and performances before their leaving China. • A stipend to American host families to offset hosting expenses. • A Chinese teacher chaperon to accompany the students overseas. • A pre-departure orientation program, which Ameson provides courses on US culture, history and politics.

What American schools provide • Selecting host families by choosing students who are the same gender and of a similar age as participating Chinese students. • Making the necessary arrangements, such as ensuring that students have transportation to and from the host home and the school. Note: funded by the Ameson Foundation, SAYA is offered as 100% free service to participating schools

American visits to China

In the pilot China SAYA, eight American students and two chaperones spent a week at Suzhou NO.10 High School during June 2011. This was the first step to the ultimate goal- integrating U.S. students into regular Chinese high school classes.

As experts within the china education system, Ameson has successfully used its experience and connections to sort all logistic barriers (legalities, insurance, accommodation requirements, etc.) for Chinese students visiting the USA. For American students, however, the logistics (both academic and legal) are far more complex. Thus, the second phase of the program—to invite American students to take part in SAYA in China—has been developed more carefully, with the assistance of the following: National Association of Independent Schools; Independent Education (formerly the Association of Independent Schools of Greater Washington) ；Belmont High School； Winchester High School; Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School; The Bullis School; St. Stephens and St. Agnes School; United World CollegeUSA; the Branson School. The first round of American student Ambassadors to China took place in June 2011, when eight American students spent a week attending AP classes at Suzhou No. 10 High School—the very first time that American students participated in Chinese public school classes entirely in English.

Nearly two dozen students from the U.S. (over half of whom were U.S. Presidential Scholars) participated in a SAYA trip to Beijing, where they joined the week-long ACE program, followed by a week of cultural excursions.

Step 1: Ameson’s national promotions for the SAYA cultural backgrounds from all over China.

Step 6: Students return to their schools and serve as U.S. ambassadors by giving presentations about Amerimotivate schools to participate in further cultural exchanges.

The SAYA process Step 2: Ameson screens the applicants’ suitability for immersion into America using the AST (Ameson Scholastic Test), a proficiency test of , math, and physics recognized by a number of leading American universities.

Step 3: Students conduct Chinese language or culture seminars for American students using models provided by the Ameson Foundation or their own ideas. Step 5: Chinese students spend a week immersed in regular classes at a U.S. high school. While there, the students serve as Chinese ambassadors by sharing Chinese language and culture with American students.

Step 4: Students go through an orientation conducted by Ameson coordinators that covers American politics, history, and economics.

The net result of this six-step endeavor is to bring high-performing Chinese high school students and high-performing American high school students together. By attending a SAYA exchange, Chinese students get first-hand experience about American education and culture while at the same time serving as Chinese Ambassadors in the US. Upon their return to China, students serve as American Ambassadors by spreading awareness about American culture and learning styles to their classmates. Over the long term, the idea is to foster increasing international awareness and understanding in both countries which is Ameson Education and Cultural Exchange Foundation’s central mission. .

About the Ameson Foundation

F

ounded in 1994, the Ameson Education and Cultural Exchange Foundation is a non-profit,

non-governmental organization that is committed to the promotion and implementation of educational exchanges in China and abroad. Its honorary Chairman is Dr. Boutros Boutros Ghali, the former Secretary General of the United Nations. In china the Amson Foundation maintains a network o f thirty- five testing and screening centers . T his netwo rk organizes pre-screening testing for elite Chinese students, establishes cooperative programs, and also provides the means to promote education and cultural exchanges. For more about our achievements and areas of specialty, please visit www.ameson.org.

Feedback about Ameson students stage performance, which shows another image of artistic talent.” – Deborah Stipek, former Dean of the School of Education, Stanford University

– Doris Davis, former Associate Provost, Cornell University “I am extremely impressed not only with the students’ high academic achievements (and also their English skills) but also with their various extra-curricular accomplishments and talents. However, the most important observation I have is that they have demonstrated a desire to learn and a deep commitment to Chinese society.” – Vu Tran, Former Director for Undergraduate Admissions & Relations with Schools, UCLA Dr. Deborah Stipek (the former Dean of the School of Education, “Students were very outspoken and spoke good English. Many of them expressed enthusiasm to pursue Stanford University) is one of an overseas tertiary education, I was impressed with the students.” many education professionals who – Dr. Richard Barnes, Chair of the Committee of Directors of Preclinical Medical Studies, has worked with Ameson-screened University of Cambridge students and come away highly impressed.

on www.ameson.org Ameson Foundation Washington D.C. office Suite 500, Ronald Reagan Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington DC 20004 Email:[email protected] Toll free (Nationwide): 888-503-1968 Tel:1-202-618-6033 Fax: 1-202-312-1531

Ameson Foundation-Main China Office,Shanghai Email:[email protected] Suite 1905, Plaza 336 No.336, Middle Xizang Road

Shanghai, 200001 Tel:+86-21-62898123 Fax:+86-21-62898208 Ameson Foundation Beijing Office Suite B609-610 E-wing Center No.113 Zhichun Road Beijing, 100086 Tel:+86-10-82622355 Fax:+86-10-62568135 Ameson Foundation Nanjing Office 4F, Jiangsu Educational and Scientific Research Building 77 West Beijing Road Nanjing, 210013 Tel.: +86-25-83755168 Fax: +86-25-83716972

In China, Ameson maintains a national network of testing & communication centers within 35 public high schools. In addition, Ameson coordinates American curriculum programs within the following nationally-ranked public high schools:Beijing No.4 High School (Beijing), Shanghai Gezhi High School (Shanghai), Shandong Experimental High School (Jinan), Shijiazhuang No.2 High School (Shijiazhuang), Hengshui High School of Hebei Province (Hengshui), Luoyang No.1 High School (Luoyang), Nantong High School of Jiangsu Province (Nantong), Yangzhou High School of Jiangsu Province (Yangzhou), Jinling High School (Nanjing), Nanjing High School of Jiangsu Province (Jiangyin), Suzhou No.10 High School of Jiangsu Province (Suzhou), Yixing High School of Jiangsu Province (Yixing), Hefei No.1 High School of An’hui Province (Hefei), Huzhou High School of Zhejiang Province (Huzhou), Shaoxing No.1 High School of Zhejiang Province (Shaoxing), Jiaxing No.1 Middle School of Zhejiang Province (Jiaxing), Shanghai Aurora Middle and High School (Shanghai)

Ameson Education and Cultural Exchange Foundation www.ameson.org