CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Earlier this year, Amanda Crumb received an offer for a free trip to China, all expenses paid. The offer came from APSU’s Eriksson College of Education, which has spent the last two years developing collaborative relationships with educational institutions in China.

The offer sounded too good to be true, but it wasn’t. A month later she was teaching kindergartners in Beijing at Austin International Preschool and Kindergarten, a school partially named after Austin Peay State University.

“We now have a partnership with a kindergarten organization in China that operates kindergartens across the country,” said Dr. Benita Bruster, chair of the college’s Department of Teaching and Learning. “This organization wants the College of Education to continue this relationship and send our faculty and students there.”

In February, a delegation of 15 teachers and administrators from China’s Oriental Dragon International Preschool and Kindergarten visited Austin Peay for a week-long training symposium. The visit was such a success that the school’s owner changed the name to Austin International.

One faculty member, Dr. Cheryl Lambert, assistant professor of education and two students, Crumb and Gavin Brant, taught in the kindergarten’s summer school. The trip was all expenses paid, including airfare, room and board, and excursions.

The purpose of the summer school was to teach young Chinese children different aspects of American culture.

The APSU team is now back on campus, making their way through the fall semester. Bruster said the college is maintaining its relationship with Austin International Preschool and Kindergarten, with plans to continue this work next summer.

“We’re working on a Memorandum of Understanding with the school to solidify our relationship,” she said. “They are making plans to come back this winter. They want to do a winter camp here at Austin Peay, with parents, children and teachers all from these Chinese kindergartens.”

For information on APSU’s Eriksson College of Education, visit, www.apsu.edu/education