From : Professor Shin Liu
A Legacy of Partnership
Our journey began ten years ago, with our first group landing in 2017. Over the last nine years, Cerritos and Rio Hondo Colleges have built strong partnerships with five universities and three Departments of Education.
Teaching & Service
To date, we have sent over 150 students to support English classrooms and rural schools at:
- Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology (Tainan)
- National Dong Hwa University (Hualien)
- University of Taipei (Taipei)
The Pandemic Online English Camp
Even during the pandemic (2020–2021), our mission continued through remote English camps, reaching hundreds of middle schoolers in Taipei and New Taipei City.
The Great Book Drive
Our community stepped up to send 16,500 books to Yilan County and New Taipei City Education Departments.
Note: Every book and all shipping costs were generously donated by our volunteers, neighbors, and community members.
A special thank you to Karen Kuo-Limb (郭秀梅), President of Macro International and Ball Brite. Ms. Kuo generously donated her warehouse space and covered the shipping costs for 16,500 books.
A Meaningful Exchange
In gratitude, the University of Taipei provided free Mandarin classes through the Cerritos College Community Education program.
Current Programs
We now focus on immersion, sending 50 students annually to Providence University and Chihlee University.
MOU Signing: Rio Hondo & Chihlee (June 2025)
Special Acknowledgments
Success like this requires a village. I would like to thank:
Our Leadership:
- Mr. David Lee, Director of the Education Division at TECO, for his essential guidance.
- Dr. Jose Fierro, President of Cerritos College.
- Teresa Dreyfuss, former President of Rio Hondo College.
- Dr. Adam Wetsman, our Study Abroad Program Manager.
- The Education Departments of Taipei, New Taipei, and Taichung.
Our Community Volunteers:
- Our Speakers: The parents and alumni here to share their wisdom.
- Lily Yeh: A dear friend and pillar of our program. Thank you, Lily, for your endless heart and for providing food and drinks for today’s event and nearly all our cultural events.
- CIT Students: My Computer Information Technology students serving as hosts, photographers, and staff today. Thank you for your hard work!
Thank you all for being part of this mission.
Let’s make this year’s trip to Taiwan the best one yet!