中国书法着陆奥城高中 Chinese Calligraphy Landed in Austin Schools

【撰稿  明清 摄影 学校老师及义工】

[中国书法]已有四千年历史。从汉代开始，[中国书法]已向亚洲其他国家传播。然而，[中国书法]向西方世界的宣传较晚，甚至晚于日本向西方的介绍。以至于很多西方人并不知道书法是源于中国。目前，由奥斯汀华裔联盟(ACAN)主办的奥斯汀地区高中中国文化推广活动已隆重推出[中国书法]项目。

参加[中国书法]授课的义务教师和义工， 黄先生，湘志新，铁树开花，赵勇，Doris, Tai, Jerry Lin, 刘炜， Kevin Luo，秀峰，和Sandy等非常给力。他们在教学活动的形式和时间安排上都下了不少功夫。力求在有限的几节课的时间里让学生能更多的了解[中国书法]，并学以致用。

[中国书法]课也受到参与活动的十一所学校的中文教师的积极支持。负责Glenn 和Cedar Park 的Joyce Chen老师，Westwood 的王珏老师，LASA的锺老师, Dominic Savio Catholic 的曹艳丽老师，Round Rock 的胡梅老師，Canyon Vista 的 Rachel Cruz老师，Cedar Ridge 的 唐宜玲老師，Westlake 的李婷婷老師，Vandegrift 的Angela Tsai 蔡老師，和Connally 的阿曼达 Amanda Tse老师都积极配合[中国书法]的教学工作。

本次活动中，奥斯汀华裔联盟(ACAN)为全部300来名[中国书法]学生提供了毛笔和水写练习纸，使每个学生都能同步练习。在大家的共同努力下，学生们对中国书法]由完全不知到能动手书写筒单的句子。对毛笔也从未曾见过到能基本驾驭。更重要的是通过此项活动，学生们产生了对中国文化的了解和兴趣。

Chinese Calligraphy has more than four thousand years of history. It has spread to other Asian countries since the Han Dynasty, but much less so to the western countries. As part of the Chinese cultural promotion campaign sponsored by the Austin Chinese-American Network (ACAN), many schools in the Greater Austin area have opened their doors and welcomed ACAN affiliated volunteer calligraphy masters to demonstrate and teach Chinese calligraphy as part of their school’s Chinese learning experience. The schools participating in Chinese calligraphy program include: LASA, Glenn, Cedar Park, Dominic Savio Catholic, Westwood, Round Rock, Cedar Ridge, Westlake, Vandegrift, Connally, and Canyon Vista Middle School.

The volunteers for the program have put a lot of efforts presenting classroom contents, as well as transportation arrangements. They strive to pique students’ interests in Chinese Calligraphy and hope that students would be able to demonstrate this unique form of arts after a limited number of lessons. The volunteers include: Mr. Huang, Xiang Zhixin, Tieshuhua, Zhao Yong, Doris, Tai, Jerry Lin, Liu Wei, Kevin Luo, Xiu Feng, and Sandy.

The Chinese Calligraphy program would not have been successful without strong support of the Chinese teachers at these participating schools. Mrs. Joyce Chen at Glenn High School and Cedar Park High School, Mrs. Helen Wang at Westwood High School, Mrs. Valerie Zhong at LASA, Mrs. Yanli Cao at Dominic Savio Catholic, Mrs. Mei Hu at Round Rock High School, Mrs. Rachel Cruz at Canyon Vista Middle School, Mrs. Yiling Tang at Cedar Ridge High School, Mrs. Tingting Li at Westlake, Mrs. Angela Tsai at Vandegrift, and Mrs. Amanda Tse at Connally have all involved actively in the program.

ACAN supplied all the brushes and special calligraphy paper to more than 300 participating students. Under the guidance of volunteer instructors, students got to practice and gained first-hand experience with Chinese Calligraphy. Before the program, many students did not know much of Chinese Calligraphy, nor how to handle the calligraphy brushes. By the end of the program, they were able to write simple Chinese sentences with the brush. More importantly, the program offered students a great opportunity to appreciate more aspects of Chinese culture.