If you’ve been around local Chinese New Year celebrations, you’ve probably encountered students from The Kansas City Institute of Chinese Language & Culture either performing traditional folk dances or waiting to best competitors in a variety of Chinese board games.
The Kansas City Institute of Chinese Language & Culture was founded in 1998 by local Chinese immigrants who sought to ensure their children felt a connection to their Chinese heritage through language and cultural practices. From their group, they asked Lihui Xiong, who immigrated to Kansas City from Changchun, China with her husband and son in 1992, to organize the classes because of her degree in Chinese Classical Literature from Jilin University. Xiong first invited children to her house to learn the language in an informal setting, but interest in language classes exceeded her household’s capacity so a school was formed by Xiong with Xuelin Li, Yuai Li, Zhuang Li, Ji Ji, et al using donated space from a church in Mission. The first day had about 25 children, but by the end of the second semester, over 50 children were learning Mandarin. The school has moved multiple times over the past 20+ years as it has steadily expanded its offerings and student body. The school’s longest tenure was at the Indian Creek Community Church from 2009 to 2019. The pastor at the time often took mission trips to China so the school helped teach church participants some of the language and culture they would encounter on their trip in exchange for using the space.
One of the most memorable events happened in 2001, shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The Chinese women’s soccer team was scheduled to play an international tournament in Chicago in September 2001. Because of the terrorist attacks, the games were canceled, but the team could not fly home as so many flights were grounded during that time. They were able to come to Kansas City and spent some time interacting with the students, presenting about their lives in China, assisting classes with their language practice, and demonstrating their world class soccer skills.
After many years at the Indian Creek Community Church, and a brief time at the KU Edwards campus pre-pandemic, they currently hold classes at Mid-America Nazarene University on Sunday afternoons. After moving to online classes during the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic, the school now offers hybrid classes that reach a wide international audience online. They are the largest Chinese language school in the Kansas City metro area, and in 2020 joined the Chinese School Association in the United States. The move to online has also increased their access to professional development opportunities for their instructors to attend conferences and consult with professionals in China about teaching techniques and classroom management.
The school offers Chinese language and cultural classes for students aging from kindergarten through high school. They teach simplified Chinese characters based on the Latin alphabet and Pinyin romanization system. In addition to practicing reading, writing, and speaking Chinese, the school teaches traditional Chinese cultural elements such as folk dance, ink painting, board games, and more. Students learn about traditional Chinese holidays such as Chinese New Year and the traditional celebrations including food, dress, and activities in different parts of China.
While the school is mostly comprised of ethnic Chinese heritage students, they also teach children interested in learning the language from other cultures. Many of the students who graduate from the program return to volunteer with younger classes, helping the younger students to develop their language skills. The program also has a symbiotic relationship with Blue Valley School District’s Chinese immersion program that began in 2017. Both teachers and students have come from the Blue Valley program. This provides the language school with experienced classroom professionals to teach classes and gives children enrolled in the immersion program supplemental practice for their language skills.
The school has contributed to the cultural diversity of the Kansas City metro area for the past 24 years, and with over 160 students currently attending, there’s no doubt they will continue to do so for many more years in the future.
-Amanda Wahlmeier, Johnson County Library
A special thanks to Lihui Xiong for speaking with me about the Institute. To learn more about her story, read this interview conducted by the Johnson County Museum in 2009.
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