News

For Immediate Release
Thursday, October 20, 2011

Contacts:
Jamie Banks, 704-432-5111
Kasia Faryna Thompson, 980-406-8727


Part of Cultural Exchange for EcoPartnership on Energy
 
October 25, 2011 (Charlotte) – Mayor Anthony Foxx collected letters written by fifth-grade students in the Chinese Immersion Program at E.E. Waddell Language Academy today to deliver to elementary school students in Langfang as part of the cultural component to his upcoming EcoPartnership program trip to China.
 
The EcoPartnership is a U.S. Department of Energy program that brings together Chinese and U.S. entities from the public, private and civic sectors to create mutual economic benefits. The partnership consists of Duke Energy and ENN, an energy company in Langfang, as well as the Mayors of the respective cities. The group will share energy policy best practices and strengthen ties between the two regions to reduce greenhouse gasses and create green jobs. 
 
Mayor Foxx will visit an elementary school in Langfang during his November 10 – 19 China trip to deliver introductory letters from the E.E. Waddell students. The goal is to begin a pen pal relationship between the students to share information about energy initiatives.    
 
“I am proud to help connect Chinese immersion students attending E.E. Waddell Language Academy in Charlotte to their counterparts in Langfang, China. Our kids are entering a globally competitive world, and if we can make that real to more Charlotteans, it will only help us. I am also looking to the students sharing ideas about energy conservation and creating a more sustainable world.” said Mayor Anthony Foxx. 
 
Once the letters are received, the teachers from both schools will pair up students to become “pen pals” to learn about other cultures and countries through the subject of energy.
 
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Mayor Anthony Foxx will lead a delegation of local business and civic leaders traveling to China to meet with Chinese government and business leaders in Beijing, Baoding, Langfang and Shanghai November 10 – 19, 2011. The trip will focus on economic development, including expanding investment in Charlotte, building on city’s new EcoPartnership with Langfang, and highlighting Charlotte’s emergence as a global energy hub. This will be Mayor Foxx’s first international visit since taking office in December 2009.

E.E. Waddell Language Academy is a public K-8 magnet school in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School (CMS) District and offers students the unique opportunity to become fluent and literate in a second language. Waddell Language Academy offers second language immersion instruction in Chinese, German, French and Japanese.