One Man's Dream: Luke Lin

Luke Lin Introduction to the Project Luke’s Personal Profile Key Events in Luke’s Volunteerism Testimonials of UWP Students Home My Culture Connect Introduction to MCC The Organization Chart Skype Session Project English Vocabulary Contest English-learning Videos Free English-learning Lessons Home Renshi Academy Introduction to Renshi Academy Experiences and Resources How Renshi Academy Works Renshi English-learning Programs Home Interviews Interview with Luke Interview with Three People Interview with Mr. Tsai Interview with Educators at Jhonghe Interview with Educators at Dahsin Interview with the Abbess of Ming Harng Temple In-depth Interview with Luke Home Wanhe and Luke The Opening Ceremony of Wanhe International Village Making Dreamcathers Reader’s Theater Wanhe’s Charity Sale Home Events and Thoughts about Luke Cyberfair Presentation Luke’s Tree A Teacher’s Thoughts about Luke The Principal’s Thoughts about Luke Home Wanhe Cyberfair Team Team Members Afterthoughts of Team Members Feedback of Students’ Parents Copyright Permission Powerpoint Presentation Narrative Home
	The Opening Ceremony of Wanhe International Village

	A Brief Introduction to the Opening Ceremony of International Village
	The fourth phase of the expanding Central Science Park is in Erlin, Changhua. To support the learning environment for local children, the Changhua County Government has launched “Building a Nest for Phoenixes”. Part of the planning is to turn Wanhe Elementary into an international school. What a great opportunity for local students! In 2013, Wanhe created International Village classrooms for Changhua County students. Our opening ceremony was held on October 15th. Many important guests, government officials and journalists were in the audience that day. Our Cyberfair Project team took advantage of this opportunity to introduce our research to our guests. We asked them to sign our cards supporting Luke’s work.
	Signature Support Event by Yi-ting Yao
	Today we had the opening ceremony for our International Village. Our principal told us several times that it was unusual to have this in such a small school. We all, students and teachers, dressed up nice for this important event. Before the official ceremony began, we played ocarina and sang English songs for our guests. We had very much looked forward to the day’s events. One task that was important for our Cyber team, was to ask our guests to sign cards for Luke. We wanted their support of his work helping students in rural areas with their English education. Luke had left a secure teaching job to volunteer doing cultural exchange programs, teaching and developing materials for English education, and working toward making our world a better place. We are very impressed with Luke’s work and want to support him in any way that we can.

	When we had discussed what topic to choose for our 2014 Cyberfair project, we had unanimously voted for Luke as our study subject. Many students in southern Changhua have improved their English with his help. Take our school for example. Since 2012, Luke has set up Skype sessions for us to talk to international volunteers every Wednesday morning from 8:00 to 8:35. We are able to talk to Emily’s family and Grandpa Mike during these sessions. This really helps improve our spoken English. Today, many important people came to the opening ceremony. It provided us with an opportunity to introduce our project. People we talked to included the deputy magistrate of Changhua County, the mayor of Erlin Township, the CEO of Erlin Farmers’ Association, the director of Central Science Park Administration, the warden of Changhua Prison, our community’s local Grape Princess, and numerous other guests. We told them that Luke left his teaching job to do voluntary work in rural English education. They signed their names enthusiastically. We were very excited. The warden of Changhua Prison told us that Luke taught not only students at schools, but officials at the prison as well.

	Inside the International Village classrooms, I was honored to tell Luke’s story to volunteers and journalists. The audience expressed strong support for our project. Luke spoke too, explaining the use of modern technology in this work. Luke thinks the International Village is a great idea. Students are able to practice English in the realistic settings of a hospital, bank, travel agency, restaurant and supermarket. Luke was here to cover the event with his video-production team. He is making an English newscast, with Chinese subtitles. This will allow people to study English and keep up with school activities at the same time. Today was a very interesting day. The International Village was officially open to the public and we shared Luke’s story with our guests. Our principal told us that students at Wanhe were very privileged to have this facility at our school. Students from other schools may visit once a month, we have access every day. We should treasure what we have. I’m looking forward to studying English in the International Village classrooms.


	The Opening Ceremony of International Village by Lian-yo Chen
	Today was a big day for our school because we had the opening ceremony for our International Village. We worked very hard cleaning the school and grounds before guests began arriving. I was extremely busy as I was a helper in the ribbon-cutting ceremony. I had to pass a pair of scissors and gloves to an important guest. I am also one of the members for the 2014 Cyberfair project. Our teacher wanted us to practice introducing Luke’s dream to our guests. We practiced many times until we were very familiar with our lines. After the ribbon-cutting ceremony was over, we wasted no time and explained our project. We wanted to get our message out to as many people as possible. We hoped they would sign their names on our cards of support for Luke’s cause. Luke himself was busy videotaping the activities as he would make an English newscast of today’s event. Watching Luke talk with several foreigners, I was very impressed with his English fluency.

	To my surprise, when I told Luke’s story to the deputy director of the Central Science Park Administration, he already knew of Luke’s work promoting English education in rural areas. There were, also, many other journalists signing their names to show their support. Luke exposes students in rural areas to foreign cultures and provides them with opportunities to interact with people from other countries. We really wanted to teach more people about Luke’s work.

	Later, we shared our project plan with volunteers, who were students’ moms at our school. Without exception, they supported Luke’s dream and signed their names on our cards. We are convinced that good people never feel lonely; they have too many friends. Before finishing, we took photos with Luke. When I looked into the camera, I felt content. We had received such strong support today. I felt very happy!


	Signing Cards to Support Luke’s Work by Huai-an Chen
	I was very nervous today. I had to pass a pair of scissors to the deputy magistrate of Changhua County in the ribbon-cutting ceremony for our International Village classrooms. After it was over, I introduced Luke’s story and asked our guests to sign our cards to support My Culture Connect. It was the first time I talked so much to people I had never met. They nodded their head while I was doing it. This made me feel more secure. Next, I asked volunteers and journalists to sign cards. When I tried to sort out these cards, I found I was running out of cards. I saw a journalist interview Hsin-tze. She didn’t look nervous. She was good. I continued to sort out cards. Our teacher did some counting and said I got the most cards signed. I was very happy to hear that. We took photos with Luke in front of the International Village. Then all the activities for the opening ceremony were officially over. It was the first time I had participated in a big event. It was a memorable day.





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	One Man’s Dream: Luke Lin