HOWELL – The Howell K-8 School District is a sister school district with New Taipei City, Taiwan, and the Board of Education is planning to send a pair of administrators overseas to visit the Asian nation.
Howell Superintendent of Schools Joseph Isola made the announcement at the Jan. 23 board meeting.
“We serve as a sister school district with New Taipei City. We have had three years of visits from our friends from across the globe and they have learned a lot from best practices we have shared and the opportunities to see the work that is happening in American schools, and New Jersey schools, and certainly here in Howell,” Isola said.
Students from New Taipei City visited Howell last year.
“It has been a wonderful sharing experience for our educational partners from Taiwan, as well as for our own teams of educators and students. It has been a gratifying partnership. I am pleased to inform you that (New Taipei City) has invited us to speak to their district and to do a presentation there,” the superintendent told board members.
“It gives me great pride as a superintendent that we were selected to travel internationally and present to a team of educators from Taiwan about the practices we have here,” Isola said.
The weeklong visit to Taiwan may occur during Howell’s spring break. Bruce Preston, Howell’s assistant superintendent of curriculum and personnel, is expected to be one of two administrators who will make the trip.
Isola said the second individual from Howell who will travel overseas could be a supervisor or a teacher. He said New Taipei City will take care of the accommodations and will provide Howell with $1,600 in travel expenses to cover those costs.
Board President Mark Bonjavanni said he asked the head of the Taiwanese delegation why Howell was selected out of the entire United States.
“He could not have spoken more highly about (us), the things they see here that they have no clue about there and how much they felt they learned from everyone here. They could have gone anywhere, but they have come back here three years in a row, which is a very intentional decision,” Bonjavanni said.
Isola said Howell administrators are very proud of that fact. Board members voted unanimously to approve the trip to Taiwan for two Howell administrators.