Oneida-Herkimer-Madison BOCES has been awarded a $284,717 federal grant that will be used to continue the teaching of Mandarin Chinese in local school districts.

The New Hartford-based BOCES currently has three Mandarin Chinese instructors who teach 15 classes to about 175 students in the Adirondack, Clinton, Frankfort, Holland Patent, Ilion, New Hartford, New York Mills, Oriskany, Sauquoit, Utica, Waterville, Westmoreland and Whitesboro districts.

The Foreign Language Assistance Program grant is funded through the U.S. Department of Education.

"Through the use of distance learning, New York state certified teachers of Mandarin Chinese will deliver real-time instruction to students in grades six through 12," said Kenneth Ford, director of the BOCES Information & Technology Division. "This program expands and improves upon the current Chinese Language and Culture Initiative that offers instruction in Chinese to grades six through eight students."

The kindergarten through grade five portion of the program will feature teacher training and support provided by Hamilton College’s department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, said a BOCES announcement. The grades six through 12 component is a full-year traditional foreign language program provided by instructors using videoconferencing.