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NORTH ATTLEBORO - More than 45 North Attleboro High School students have signed up for an after-school program to learn Chinese language and culture through a partnership with Bryant University.

North Attleboro High School is partnering with the university to create a Confucius classroom that will offer Mandarin Chinese as a formal foreign language course. The effort kicks off this spring with the after-school program, with the hope that Mandarin Chinese can then be offered as a regular class next year.

Students have been signing up for the course during their lunch periods this week, and the cafeteria is strung with blue banners from the Jiayu Language and Culture Center in Beijing. Jackie Wang, who will be teaching the after school program and is the principal of Jiayu, had an array of Chinese items in front of her - from slippers to napkins - in the hopes of interesting students in the program.

The high school received a computer from Bryant University Wednesday to help get the program going.

"We're getting a computer that is loaded with software that will link directly to Bryant University's Confucius Institute," Principal Robert Gay said. "The computer will be dedicated for the use of the Confucius classroom," said Jerome Ma, director of the Jiayu culture center.

In addition, space in the high school library has been set aside for a Chinese culture center with books and resources for students who participate in the program.

The new Confucius classroom program will be funded though a grant provided to Bryant University's Confucius Institute, from the Chinese government's Office of Chinese Language Council International, known as Hanban.