The Dayton Chinese Language School
2002 Annual Report

Mission, Purposes, Current Status and Outlook

The mission of the Dayton Chinese Language School is to teach Chinese language and culture heritage, to provide youth development, society improvement, and health, human and community services and to promote cultural diversity and understanding in the Greater Dayton area. The school was founded by Molley Chuang in 1977 for the purposes of providing children and interested adults customized education programs for Chinese language and cultural heritage.  The students are primarily children but more recently adults and college students as well.  Geographically, most of the students are from Dayton or Dayton suburbs but a few are from as far as Cincinnati and Sidney.

The school currently offers 7 (seven) language classes from K to 12th grade, 4 (four) culture classes, 1 (one) arts and crafts class and some special classes upon request.  The school has a diversified student body and an excellent student to teacher ratio (7:1).  A typical class has 5 to 15 students.   The school is located in the Dayton Chinese Christian Church (DCCC) at 600 Patterson Road in Kettering, OH.  Most classes are held in Sunday afternoon in the premise of DCCC.  Special classes however could be held in convenient times and locations to the teachers and the students.  The number of students currently enrolled in the language program is 52.  The school has been engaged in many community development, human service and cultural enrichment programs for the Dayton area communities in 2002.  These programs include the Chinese New Year Celebration for Senior Citizens at Kettering Senior Center, the World Affair sponsored by Dayton International Festival Incorporated at the Dayton Convention Center, and the August Moon and Night of Chinese Music, Arts, and Crafts at the Fraze Pavilion.   These programs had entertained audiences from a few hundreds at Kettering Senior Center to a few thousands at the Fraze Pavilion to tens of thousands in the World Affair at the Dayton Convention Center.  The Dayton Chinese Language School is proud to contribute in a small way to the great diversity and rich mosaic of cultural life in Dayton.

Going forward, we see a greater need for Chinese language education for many Dayton area residents. An increasing number of Dayton families want Chinese language education for their adopted children from China.  A potentially even greater need for Chinese language education comes from businesses.   Rapid economic growth in China and Chinese speaking countries or economies (Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Chinese Diaspora around the world) has sprouted a multitude of commercial relationships with Dayton area businesses.  On the other end of the spectrum, there are many Chinese immigrants coming to the country with unique professional skills but lack social and cultural background to be fully integrated into the society and be productive and independent.  These people need bilingual education and social and cultural assistance to enhance their ability to function independently in the society.  They also need support systems from the community through families, friends, associations and schools to help and guide them to become more productive, connected and ultimately successful in the new environment. DCLS wants to be the bridge between east and west and provide needed services to make Dayton a better place for all people. 

School Organization

The Dayton Chinese Language School is governed by a Board of Directors whose duties are to obtain resources and set goals and strategies for the long-term development of the school.  The current Board of Directors is made up of eight regular members and one honorary member. 

The eight regular members are

• Dr. Christine Lai (the Representative of the Student Parent Association),
• Dr. Ren-Ming Guo (past Principal),
• Dr. Alex Lee (past Principal),
• Mr. Raymond Yang (past Principal),
• Mr. Peter Cheng (past Principal),
• Dr. J.D. Chiou (past Principal),
• Dr. Charles Ho (the Chairman of DACA Culture Center),
• Dr. David Yen (Principal).

The honorary and permanent member of the board is Mrs. Molley Chuang.  Molley was the 1st Principal and founder of the school. 

The school management team is fully empowered by the Board of Directors to run the day-to-day operation and is solely responsible for all the programs the school offers.  The school management team is led by three executive officers.  The Chief Executive Officer or Principal is Dr. David Yen.  The Vice Principal of Student/Parent Communication and Treasurer is Mr. Jack Cheng.  The Vice Principal of Academic Affairs is Mrs. Ming-Min Yen. 

The faculty and staff include

• Mrs. Ming-Min Yen (11th , 12th grade and SAT class teacher),
• Ms. Shu-Ying Lee (9th and 10th grade teacher),
• Mrs. Mann Broadstock (7th and 8th grade teacher),
• Ms. Shu-Yi Huang (5th and 6th grade teacher),
• Mrs. Mei-Hwa Chan (3rd and 4th grade teacher),
• Ms. Hsiu-Ting Hsu (1st and 2nd grade teacher),
• Mrs. Jyayee Yen (Preschool and kindergarten teacher),
• Mrs. Hui-Wen Cheng (Adult class teacher),
• Secretary, Mrs. Hui-Chin Geels.

All executive officers including the Principal and two Vice Principals are no-pay volunteers.  The Principal and the Vice Principal and Treasurer both serve for a one-year term.  The Vice Principal and Treasurer is also the Principal elect and will assume the position of Principal in the following year.  The four culture classes are staffed in part by professionals and in part by volunteers.  The Kung-Fu class continues to be taught by Meng’s Martial Arts at Huber Heights.  The Arts and Crafts class is taught by our language class teachers.  The Beginner Dance is taught by Mrs. Sheila Au and Ms. Hsiu-Ting Hsu.  The Junior Dance (for middle school aged students) is based on the summer camp program and modified by students with assistance from voluntary parents.

School Programs, Annual Activities and Accomplishments

In the 2001-2002 school year, the school offers classes in three terms.  Each term has 10 weeks.  The Fall term started on September 9th and ended on November 11th, 2001.   The Winter term started on November 18th, 2001 and ended on February 10th, 2002.  The Spring term started on February 17th, 2002 and ended on May 19th, 2002.  The school program starts each Sunday with the Arts and Crafts class at DCCC from 12:30 to 1:30 pm.  An off-site Kung-fu class is held at Meng’s Martial Arts in 5715 Brandt Pike from 12:00 to 1:00 pm on the same day.  The half an hour shift in time is to allow students to get back to DCCC for the language classes.  The language classes are held at DCCC from 1:30 to 4:00 pm except the SAT class, which is held at the Woodbourne Library in Centerville on each Friday from 6:00 to 8:30 pm.  Two dance classes, one for beginners (ages 5 to 8) and one for intermediate level (ages 9-13), are held at DCCC from 4:00 to 5:00 pm on Sunday after the language classes.

In the 2001-2002 school year, students of the Dayton Chinese Language School participated in many cultural festivities and community services in the Dayton area.  These include the Middletown “Midfest” at Middletown City Hall Plaza on October 6, 2001, Sinclair’s Global Awareness Week at Sinclair College in October 2001, the Chinese New Year Celebration, sponsored by Dayton Association of Chinese Americans (DACA), with senior citizens at the Kettering Senior Center on February 16, 2002, the Chinese Lantern Festival at the Kettering Senior Center on March 2, 2002, the World A’fair sponsored by DIFI (Dayton International Festival Inc.) at the Dayton Convention Center for May 3 to May 5, 2002, Asian Art Festival at Boonshaft Museum of Discovery on May 11, 2002, stage performance for the Asian Pacific Heritage Night at the Fairborn Senior Center on May 17, 2002, “Our Backyard” at the Kettering Recreation Center on August 2, 2002, August Moon and a Night of Chinese Music, Arts and Crafts at the Fraze Pavilion on August 18, 2002, DACA/DCLS annual meeting and family outing at Ernst Park on August 25, 2002, and many DACA youth group activities throughout the year. 

Co-sponsored by Taipei Culture and Economic Office in Chicago, a teachers’ workshop for Chinese education was held in Dayton Chinese Language School for July 15-17, 2002.  Three guest speakers, Ms. Baochu Wen, Ms. Yuinling Tseng, and Ms. Yenhwa Su  were invited from Taiwan to conduct the workshop.  About 20 teachers and parents participated in the instructive workshop.  A teacher conference was held at the Woodbourne Library in Centerville on August 17, 2002.  A summer camp for Chinese Folk Dance, Arts and Crafts was held in Dayton Chinese Language School for August 19-23, 2002.  Three guest instructors with unique talents, Ms. Peiyee Lin, Ms. Fumei Tsai, and Mr. Wenrong Liao were invited from Taiwan for the summer camp.  Ms. Ming-Min Yen was appointed the summer camp director.  Many parents served as teaching assistants and offered generous help as volunteers.  A total of 46 students enrolled in the program and learned many traditional crafts, arts, and games like Origami, Chinese knots, Chinese Yoyo, Tops, folk dances and music.  The program concluded with a student performance and demonstration on August 23, 2002.

DCLS also helped promote health awareness and disease prevention through a series of seminars for common health problems in the Chinese community including breast cancer, common disease prevention, stroke, heart diseases, youth against tobacco, aging, etc.

Fundraising Activities and Financial Position

A summary of annual financial data for 2001* is given below.

The total revenue in 2001 was $21,023.  The total contributions, which include student donation, corporate donation and DACA sponsorship, were $19,256.

Fund raising expenses in 2001 were $8,655.  Fundraising campaigns for gift certificates from Kroger, Meijer, and Yung-Cheng are expected to raise a net income of about $1000, thanks to the 5% rebate of the above-mentioned merchants.  At the end of year 2001, the gift certificates were not completely sold, resulted in an apparent loss of $3205.  This loss will be recovered by early 2002 as the prepaid gift certificates continue to be sold to school supporters.

DACA continued to support DCLS with a grant of $1500 for year 2001.  A matching fund of  $725 was donated to DCLS by LexusNexus thanks to the general donations of Mrs. Lucia Shieh, Mrs. Wendy Chou, and Mr. Ray Yang.

The program expenses in 2001 were $11,538 which included payroll for language and cultural programs, facility cost, student activities, teaching materials and expenses, book and DACA membership fees.  The payroll for education and cultural programs, in an amount of $7571, was the biggest part of the program expenses. Teaching materials and expenses was the second biggest expense in an amount of $2567.   The cost of exercise books as a separate line item was $731.  Facility cost was $1800.  Student activities, office supplies and miscellaneous costs were $776. 

The management/general expenses in 2001 were $1,446, which included tax, payroll processing fees, office supplies and other miscellaneous items.  Tax and payroll processing costs alone were $1029.  

More than 90% of all the expenses were used for programs related to DCLS’ organizational purposes such as education programs, teaching materials and expenses, facilities, and student activities.  All the executive officers are no-pay volunteers.  The administrative cost excluding tax and payroll processing fees was $417 that is less than 5% of the total annual expenses (excluding the fund raising cost).

The income and expense are roughly balanced considering the unsold gift certificates still on hand, but additional funds will be needed as we start to offer more cultural programs and language classes for families with adopted Chinese children, and the general public.