News From Concordia University, St. Paul

For more information contact: Jill Johnson, 651-641-8755, jjohnson@csp.edu

Concordia University, St. Paul Hosts Culture and Language Camp

ST. PAUL, MINN. (07/21/2009)(readMedia)-- The Concordia University, St. Paul Hmong Culture and Language Program and Dual Language Learner Academy will host its sixth summer camp with a current registration of over 600 students from local metro, state-wide and students from at least five other states, with over 20 language groups represented. The day camp which becomes a mini-United Nations runs July 27-August 7, 2009, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., on the university campus and in an inter-district partnership as a means of forwarding its mission of preserving Hmong and other cultures through storytelling, gardening and the arts, and planting the seeds of academic achievement and higher education attendance for k-12 students. Students will be involved in literacy, science, computers, tennis, heritage music, dance and historical simulations as a means of strengthening ethnic identity and bridging to American culture. We will have local storytellers, musicians, writers and artists as part of our program this year, including: Dyane Garvey, Diego Vasquez, Seexeng Lee and Jen Yang, Bounthavy Kiatoukaysy and Tsong Sawh Lo, as well as Lee Pao Xiong, Director of the Center for Hmong Studies and Dr. Paul Hillmer, Director of the Hmong Oral History Project.

Recently, the program was listed in the Johns Hopkins University National Center for Summer Learning's excellent summer programs. President Obama's proclamation and the information regarding the summer programs are on the John's Hopkins University website.

Our program is funded through the Travelers Foundation, Minneapolis Foundation, the school inter-district partnership and general registrations, as well as having food provided by SODEXO through the USDA Summer Food Program, and directed by Professor Sally Baas and Nao Thao, SEAT Program Associate.

Concordia University, St. Paul is a comprehensive, private university of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and one of 10 schools that comprise the Concordia University System. Established in 1893, Concordia offers more than 40 liberal arts majors, including business administration, education, fine arts, the sciences and church professions. Concordia is a regional leader in accelerated, cohort-delivered, undergraduate degree-completion and master's degrees in business administration, organizational management, criminal justice and human services. Concordia is the only private university in Minnesota to offer NCAA Division II athletics for men and women. On the Net: www.csp.edu.

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