Denise Tatum teaches an English class on April 19. Tatum is learning Mandarin Chinese so she can teach it in the fall at Cheyenne High School. Photo by Clint Karlsen.

Cheyenne High School English teacher Denise Tatum has been studying Chinese in some strange places lately.

The sixth-year teacher is learning the language by using flash cards during her downtime.

She cuts hair once a week at a salon and brings her cards with her. She even totes the cards when she's shaking it up country and western style.

"In between the line dances and the two-step, I look at my flashcards," Tatum said.

Tatum, who has a bachelor's degree in secondary education and a master's in teaching students whose primary language isn't English, is embarking on the challenge of learning enough of the language in order to competently teach a few introductory courses in the subject during the fall at Cheyenne.

She knows the task ahead of her is a tough one.

"I'm a high school teacher and I have hope for everyone, including myself," Tatum said. "I truly believe if you have expectations that you will succeed, you will do it."

The language class to be offered at Cheyenne is more evidence that Chinese is garnering interest in Clark County's public high schools.

Spring Valley High School was the first in the district to offer the subject during the 2004-05 school year. The school has since lost its teacher and is searching for one. Durango High School is searching for a teacher and will offer the course if they land one. Legacy High School, which opens in the Northeast region in the fall, will offer the course.

Las Vegas Academy Principal Stephen Clark decided last year that the German language program at his school will be phased out as he began searching for a teacher to implement a Chinese program. Dozens of parents, students and alumni had lobbied the School Board in November in an attempt to save the German program. Clark said he hopes to offer the Mandarin course if he can find a teacher.

Asia's dominant country will soon be home to the world's largest economy, experts say, and American students need to learn Chinese in order to better compete in a global economy.

Cheyenne Principal Jeff Geihs said he chose Tatum to lead the school's Mandarin courses, the dominant language of mainland China, when he was unable to find a teacher in the subject after a yearlong search.

"There's just no Chinese teachers out there. So we had to be innovative," he said.

Tatum's crash-course in Mandarin will be in full swing beginning in June when she travels to the Asian country for five weeks. There, she will participate in an immersion program through the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She also will head back to China during the summer of 2007 for nine weeks to take additional classes.

She also will begin classes at UNLV in August, where she needs to complete 16 credits in the subject in order to be state certified. Her courses at UNLV will extend until next summer. Tatum's studies and her trips to China will be paid for through a $6,000 grant by the Public Education Foundation, and matching funds paid for through campus-generated funds at Cheyenne.

Geihs said he's confident that Tatum will be ready to teach Mandarin in the fall, even though she will not yet be state certified.

"She'll have knowledge, she just won't have state certification," Geihs said. "But that's OK for one year."

If Tatum completes all of her studies, she will be fully certified by the state to teach the language by August of 2007. Geihs said Tatum will have to be granted a waiver to teach the class in the fall, which he expects will happen.

Geihs said that 79 students have expressed interest in the subject. He expects Tatum to teach three classes in the fall in addition to two English courses. The classes will focus on elements of the spoken and written language. It will also teach students about Chinese culture.

But Guo-ou Zhuang, an assistant professor of Chinese at UNLV, said he's skeptical Tatum will know enough Chinese to adequately teach an introductory course by the fall. He said it typically takes a person two to three years to master the basics of the language.

"If she's starting from scratch, I have very serious doubts," Zhang said. "She could teach the language if you don't expect much for a beginning class."

Regardless, Zhuang said, it's important for school districts to teach the language because of China's growing influence in the world economy. School Districts in Boston, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles are offering the language to their students, Zhuang said.

Ed Barlow, President of Creating the Future, based in St. Joseph, Mich., said China will have the world's largest economy and military within 30 years. China has the world's largest population with about 1.3 billion people.

Barlow spoke to the School Board in December about the importance of offering Mandarin to students. He's also been working with officials in the Northeast region to help start up the language at Legacy.

Barlow said U.S. businesses need to interact more with Chinese businesses, which has not been the case in the past. Barlow said other Asian countries are teaching their students Mandarin in order to better collaborate with the China.

"What has been hurting this country is we don't have people in our workforce who understand China in general, let alone are able to speak the language."