Program Summaries
2019 (Under Construction)
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What is the Youth Ambassadors Program?
The Youth Ambassadors Program is the BXSCC’s student leadership development program, which may include a trip to China. The chaperoned trip consists of site visits, educational classes, and cultural immersion. Baltimore / DC-area site visits may also be included as part of the program.
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Where Do We Go?
Every trip, we go to our sister city, Xiamen. Additional city visits may also be included as part of the itinerary.
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When is the Youth Ambassadors Program?
Every summer, between late June and mid-August
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Who is Eligible?
All Youth Ambassadors trip student participants should be 14 to 18-year-old Maryland residents (or Maryland-based), with priority given to Baltimore City residents or students. Rising high school freshmen and graduating seniors are eligible.
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What Does the Program Cost?
The value of the program is over $6,000, inclusive of all transportation, lodgings, meals, and group activities. Actual program costs will vary from year to year*, pending fundraising levels. As a nonprofit organization, the BXSCC will do our best to make the program affordable through fundraising and grants. Leftover funds after the program has completed are refunded to the Youth Ambassadors. If you are interested in donating to this program, please follow the link below.
*As a reference, the 2018 and 2019 out-of-pocket costs per individual participant were less than $2,000. Note that past costs are not a guarantee of future costs.
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When Do I Apply?
Applications will be available no later than February 1st of each year during which there is a trip to China.
If you are interested with getting involved in the Youth Ambassadors Program, please contact the BXSCC.
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Key Program Staff for 2018 and 2019 Programs
Danny Evans was the BXSCC’s Vice Chair and the manager of the Youth Ambassadors Program. Danny was a chaperone for the 2018 and 2019 programs. He has served as a WorldTeach and Chinese Red Cross volunteer. For WorldTeach, he was named Teacher of the Year for Changsha, Hunan Province, China because of the students’ achievements and for serving as an international ambassador for delegations. As a Chinese Red Cross volunteer, he assisted seniors with medical support in underprivileged areas. Since his return from China, he has been committed to providing study-aboard programs for high school students, encouraging them to pursue careers in China affairs.
Xin (Cindy) Wang is the BXSCC’s Chair and responsible for overseeing the organizations’ overall structural support for the Program. Cindy is a past recipient of the Gates Millennium Scholarship for high-achieving ethnic minority students with significant financial need, studied abroad through the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) during college, and has served as a volunteer English-language lecturer in rural Jiangxi Province, China. She presently handles international sales operations for a Maryland machinery manufacturer.
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Key Take-Aways and Testimonies from Past Programs
2018 Student Ambassador Alexander G.
4 Years of Chinese Studies
“The trip to Shanghai taught me that people are more similar than you think. I have learned and experienced so much this past trip to Shanghai. I met so many kids from different backgrounds and cultures on this trip: kids from Japan, Serbia, France, England and New Zealand all converged in one place. They taught me some of their languages, slang and culture. It gave me insight into how each of them lived and their cultures.”
2018 Student Ambassador Kolby L.
9 Years of Chinese Studies
“My experience in Xiamen was amazing and I would love to visit again. Everything was so picturesque and there were even palm trees everywhere. The first day in Xiamen we went to see the 2017 BRICS XIAMEN SUMMIT venue, where some of the world’s most powerful leaders met. Later that day, we went to visit the Xiamen Youth & Children’s Palace and had dinner with members of the Xiamen Municipal Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office.”
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Media
Article in The Afro: Baltimore Man Takes Students to China to Educate and Be Educated
Article in Xiamen News: Xiamen Shining in the Eyes of Two Baltimore Area Brothers
Article in Xiamen News: Baltimore Teenagers visit Xiamen in Sister-Cities Exchange Trip
Article in Shanghai News: Long Live With Our Friendship
Article in 厦门网: 巴尔的摩学生代表团访厦 携手英文小记者体验厦门文化
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Sponsors
The Youth Ambassadors Program staff, participants, & parents thank the following entities and individuals for their generous grants and donations to the 2019 program: Baltimore City Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young’s P.L.A.Y. Campaign, the Baltimore Community Foundation‘s Van Buskirk International Exchange Fund, Baltimore Sister Cities, Inc., Constellation, the MECU Foundation, and the Lerner family. We also thank Mr. W. Fontaine Bell & Mrs. Ellen Bell, Blaze Pizza, Mr. Hosea Chew, Chick-Fil-A, Nalley Fresh, Papa John’s, Shake Shack, and Starbucks for their in-kind donations.