Liberty teacher one of few in district trained to teach Mandarin Chinese

Denise Tatum spent nine weeks during the summer of 2008 at Middlebury College in Vermont speaking only in Mandarin Chinese. If anyone at the college heard a word of English from her, she would get a warning. The second time, she would forfeit her payment and be kicked out.

"It was a long summer," said Tatum, who now teaches Chinese and English at Liberty High School, 2700 Liberty Heights Ave. "But it was worth it."

Keeping in touch with the ones she loved was a challenge, too.

To speak with her kids, Tatum would sneak out of her dorm late at night, hide behind shrubs or trees and whisper to them on the phone.

"It was a very rough period," Tatum said. "It was so much harder than being in China."

She would know. Tatum has participated in four Chinese language immersion programs in Chengdu, Changchun and Shanghai, China, since 2006, when she was first introduced to the idea.

Liberty High School principal Jeff Geihs, who was principal at Cheyenne High School at the time, asked the English department for someone to learn and teach Chinese at the high school. Tatum took on the challenge, and less than two months later, she was whisked away to China for six weeks.

Tatum spent four of the next five summers in China. She also earned a bachelor's degree in Asian studies with a minor in Chinese language and culture from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Geihs became principal at Liberty last year and hired Tatum this year to teach English and Chinese, as she is one of a few teachers in the Clark County School District licensed to teach it.

The Chinese program has nearly 100 students at Liberty, and Geihs expects that number to keep growing.

"If any student has any inclination to go into business in any capacity," said Geihs, "parents should strongly push Mandarin Chinese.

"China is the world's fastest-growing economy," he said. "For American students to be competitive in a worldwide business environment, kids need ... a holistic understanding of the Chinese culture. It's going to give that student a great advantage. ... That individual would be so highly marketable on the Las Vegas Strip alone."

Tatum started teaching Chinese in fall 2006 while only about a semester ahead of her students in the curriculum. She is fluent and considers herself to be at an intermediate level as of this school year. She's not going to be satisfied until she's an advanced speaker, a level that could be four or five years away at her current pace, she said.

Tatum felt helpless in the beginning, she said, and she uses that fact to encourage her first-year students.

"I'm able to say to them, 'If I can do it, you can do it,' " she said.

Tatum said she appreciates all her time in China, but there are a few things she won't miss.

Bathrooms there don't have toilet paper or seats. Many do not have stall doors. The food ---- most of the time Tatum didn't know what she was eating ---- led to many subsequent sick days. Pig's blood, or soup in China, was one that stood out.

People in China also aren't accustomed to waiting in line for anything, she said. Standing behind someone at a cab stand does not mean you're next.

One of her favorite memories came while in Shanghai when Tatum first felt confident enough to speak up when two women cut in front of her in line. They apologized, and Tatum reclaimed her spot at a coffee shop.

"It was a turning point," she said, "when I could stick up for myself."

Geihs said Tatum probably would be teaching only Chinese I and II courses next school year. The year after that will be "a challenge," said Geihs, when he'll need to find another teacher for the first- and second-year students so Tatum can teach the upper-level courses.

Contact View education reporter Jeff Mosier at jmosier@viewnews.com or 224-5524.