Teacher finds new challenges in China
By Molly Lovell
Staff Writer
In a city of 12 million people, Kennebunk native Sean Casey is standing out.
Casey was chosen to be principal of the Shenzhen American International School in Shenzhen, China, for the next two years after being recruited for the job by the headmaster of Lee Academy in Lee, a sister school to the Shenzhen school.
“It’s a great adventure. It’s a part of the world I never would have seen on my own,” Casey said. “It’s a whole other side of the planet I don’t know about.”
The school, which started Sept. 1, offers Western-style education for students in Shenzhen and surrounding areas who have international family roots. At least one parent of each student must hold a passport from another country, Casey said.
It is the only American international school to be sanctioned by the Peoples’ Republic of China in the last 60 years, he said.
Classes are being taught in a temporary location until the school’s $100 million school is completed in Futian District in about two years, Casey said.
“The finished school will look more like an Olympic venue than a school building,” he said.
Students in grades one through 12 are accepted at the school. Educational goals are based on the Maine Learning Results system.
The school will be able to accommodate about 1,000 students once the new building is complete. The school is currently teaching students up to grade six.
Casey finished hiring the five teachers at the school when he arrived in China during early July. Four of the teachers are from Maine and one is from Washington.
He said the school was expected to open earlier but there was a delay in some of the staff’s working visas.
The school year is comparable to that of any American school, except for a few Chinese holidays “sprinkled in,” Casey said.
To celebrate Christmas with his family, Casey will fly home Dec. 18 – an 18-hour direct flight from Hong Kong to New York City – and back again on New Year’s Day.
Casey’s time in China will be the longest he’s been away from his 18-year-old son, Darren, who attends Bridgton Academy and will spend the year playing hockey and baseball.
“Originally, Jane [Kinney, his partner] and my son were considering joining me this year in China,” he said, but “due to jobs, family dynamics and education, that didn’t work out.”
Kinney, an operating room nurse at Southern Maine Medical Center in Biddeford, will maintain the couple’s home in Lower Village Kennebunk while Casey is away.
Kennebunk is where Casey’s roots are, he said, adding that he misses walks on the beach, football and meeting with the “think tanks” in local bakeries.
Casey uses Skype – a way to make free calls over the Internet – to talk to Kinney and his son several times a week.
“I miss my family very much,” he said.
In the meantime, it won’t be all work for Casey while he’s in China, 12 time zones away from his native country.
“I have made some wonderful contacts and will be attending pro basketball games, comedy clubs and movies, all with ties to the USA,” he said.
Casey has had a difficult time picking up on the language, but said there are many people who have some English speaking skills.
Casey described the city of 12 million people as “very modern,” and said it is the center for computers and electronics in China. Shenzhen’s neighbor is Hong Kong, a city of 7 million people.
“Doing business and living in China offers new challenges daily, with the most oppressive being the heat and humidity,” he said.
Casey said he hopes to use this experience in future educational endeavors.
“I hope to return to Maine and expand upon this experience and do some educational exchanges with Chinese students coming to America– summer youth camp visits, college placement advising and curriculum design. The electronic age has kept people well informed and we have already been contacted by a school in Alabama asking for assistance there,” he said.
Casey’s contract with the school will be up in two years and said he’s not sure how long he will stay in China.
“As much as I miss everyone and my native state, I know that I am on a once-in-a-lifetime experience here and it is all quite amazing.”
Molly Lovell can be contacted at 282-4337, ext. 223 or news@kennebunkpost.com.
Staff Writer
In a city of 12 million people, Kennebunk native Sean Casey is standing out.
Casey was chosen to be principal of the Shenzhen American International School in Shenzhen, China, for the next two years after being recruited for the job by the headmaster of Lee Academy in Lee, a sister school to the Shenzhen school.
“It’s a great adventure. It’s a part of the world I never would have seen on my own,” Casey said. “It’s a whole other side of the planet I don’t know about.”
The school, which started Sept. 1, offers Western-style education for students in Shenzhen and surrounding areas who have international family roots. At least one parent of each student must hold a passport from another country, Casey said.
It is the only American international school to be sanctioned by the Peoples’ Republic of China in the last 60 years, he said.
Classes are being taught in a temporary location until the school’s $100 million school is completed in Futian District in about two years, Casey said.
“The finished school will look more like an Olympic venue than a school building,” he said.
Students in grades one through 12 are accepted at the school. Educational goals are based on the Maine Learning Results system.
The school will be able to accommodate about 1,000 students once the new building is complete. The school is currently teaching students up to grade six.
Casey finished hiring the five teachers at the school when he arrived in China during early July. Four of the teachers are from Maine and one is from Washington.
He said the school was expected to open earlier but there was a delay in some of the staff’s working visas.
The school year is comparable to that of any American school, except for a few Chinese holidays “sprinkled in,” Casey said.
To celebrate Christmas with his family, Casey will fly home Dec. 18 – an 18-hour direct flight from Hong Kong to New York City – and back again on New Year’s Day.
Casey’s time in China will be the longest he’s been away from his 18-year-old son, Darren, who attends Bridgton Academy and will spend the year playing hockey and baseball.
“Originally, Jane [Kinney, his partner] and my son were considering joining me this year in China,” he said, but “due to jobs, family dynamics and education, that didn’t work out.”
Kinney, an operating room nurse at Southern Maine Medical Center in Biddeford, will maintain the couple’s home in Lower Village Kennebunk while Casey is away.
Kennebunk is where Casey’s roots are, he said, adding that he misses walks on the beach, football and meeting with the “think tanks” in local bakeries.
Casey uses Skype – a way to make free calls over the Internet – to talk to Kinney and his son several times a week.
“I miss my family very much,” he said.
In the meantime, it won’t be all work for Casey while he’s in China, 12 time zones away from his native country.
“I have made some wonderful contacts and will be attending pro basketball games, comedy clubs and movies, all with ties to the USA,” he said.
Casey has had a difficult time picking up on the language, but said there are many people who have some English speaking skills.
Casey described the city of 12 million people as “very modern,” and said it is the center for computers and electronics in China. Shenzhen’s neighbor is Hong Kong, a city of 7 million people.
“Doing business and living in China offers new challenges daily, with the most oppressive being the heat and humidity,” he said.
Casey said he hopes to use this experience in future educational endeavors.
“I hope to return to Maine and expand upon this experience and do some educational exchanges with Chinese students coming to America– summer youth camp visits, college placement advising and curriculum design. The electronic age has kept people well informed and we have already been contacted by a school in Alabama asking for assistance there,” he said.
Casey’s contract with the school will be up in two years and said he’s not sure how long he will stay in China.
“As much as I miss everyone and my native state, I know that I am on a once-in-a-lifetime experience here and it is all quite amazing.”
Molly Lovell can be contacted at 282-4337, ext. 223 or news@kennebunkpost.com.
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