Visit by Chinese educators delayed
By Melissa Muntz Community Reporter

Shrewsbury - A delay in the visa process has forced a group of Chinese educators headed for Shrewsbury to postpone their trip by a month.

Four teachers and a principal from Dongzhimen School in Beijing were scheduled to be here from Nov. 2 through Nov. 10. Now, however, they are expected to arrive in Shrewsbury Saturday Dec. 1.

A longer-than-expected visa process, including visits with U.S. Consulate representatives and additional documentation from the educators, were cited as the reasons for the trip's postponement.

Shrewsbury Assistant Superintendent Dr. Judith Evans said she and the steering committee, who helped to plan all of the events scheduled for the initial dates, have been able to reschedule most of the school visits, meetings and dinners for the first week in December.

"Luckily we were able to put the turkeys on ice and reschedule most of the activities for later dates," she said.

One activity that could not be rescheduled was the educators' visit with the School Committee during one of their scheduled meetings, as there is no meeting scheduled for the week of Dec. 1.

Also, one of the nine host families that had agreed to open their homes to the teachers will not be able to do so because they will be traveling during the rescheduled visit.

Evans said the four teachers would stay with two families each during their stay, while the school principal will remain with a single family throughout the week.

She said everyone in the district is looking forward to meeting with the five educators, even if they have to wait an extra month to do so.