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By Lisa Moore
Hometown Weekly Correspondent
Wellesley Middle School Chinese class students took a trip to Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood this week to practice their language skills and explore the area while learning about Chinese culture.
The first stop on the Boston Chinatown tour was at the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center where Director of Development, Carmen Chan, shared the history of Chinese immigrants.
Chan explained that in the 1870s, the first group of Chinese settlers came to North Adams, MA, finding jobs at a shoe factory in place of striking workers. Many Chinese immigrants that came to America, she said, found jobs working for large companies looking to fill a large labor force.
Many took jobs working on the Transcontinental Railroad and then continued to migrate to new cities and towns as the railway system was built across America. A group eventually settled in South Station, the first settlement in the Boston area, working as laborers, laundry workers, and garment district workers.
The BCNC is a nonprofit organization created to aid the Chinese immigrant community. For over 40 years, its mission has been to provide Chinese immigrants and their families with the resources and support they need to achieve greater financial success and social wellbeing.
The Center currently serves over 2,000 people, offering programs for children aged 15 months to 16 years old as well as adult education classes.
In addition to English language classes, the BCNC offers a variety of courses such as leadership programs, college prep classes, computer classes, fitness and art classes, and writing and music classes. Following a family-centered model, the goal of the BCNC is to assist all members of the family, thus helping the entire community.
With over 10,000 people living in Chinatown in Boston, the BCNC provides vital services for its community members.
As part of the WMS Chinese New Year celebration, WMS students, led by their teacher Min Zhou, held a fundraiser that raised $270, which they donated to the BCNC.
As part of the Chinatown tour, students got to meet some of the elementary school children taking classes at BCNC and presented the check to Director Chan.
After visiting BCNC, students completed a scavenger hunt worksheet as they visited 18 different locations around Chinatown, practicing their Chinese language skills, learning about the history and culture of Chinese immigrants and sampling traditional Chinese foods as they went.
