The Tabor Gateways Program is underway at Tabor Academy through August 17. Tabor has welcomed 35 students from China and other countries for two three-week sessions of Tabor Gateways. The students, entering 8th to 11th grade, arrived on July 15. The program, in its third year, is a unique language immersion program for Chinese and English language learners who wish to learn each other’s languages. All of the students this year are from China or have a Chinese background and live in English speaking countries such as Canada and Australia.
Students are offered four academic seminars in history, Model UN, marine science, and chemistry and cooking taught in English during the day where they can interact and share ideas. During the afternoon, they enjoy swimming at the waterfront and playing field games and team sports such as basketball, badminton, and baseball. Squash is also popular. In the evenings, the students go back to class for one hour of language instruction to learn communication skills in English or Chinese. The Chinese speakers record interviews with native English speakers to improve their skills, while the native English-speaking students are instructed in Chinese by Tabor faculty and have time to practice their skill with their Chinese classmates.
Five days of each session are devoted to excursions around our local area to enjoy shopping, tourism, and to support the academic program they are engaged in. They will enjoy a whale watch in Plymouth, take the Cliff Walk in Newport, and visit top U.S. universities in our area: MIT, Brown, and Harvard, all highly regarded in China.
The teaching staff includes four Tabor faculty for the seminar classes, three Tabor faculty as program leaders, and four Tabor alumni as teaching assistants and residential leaders. The goal is to promote cross cultural friendships and exchanges in a shared learning and living environment, with a focus on honing academic skills and achievement.