On the Saturday before Thanksgiving, 10 little girls, all of Chinese heritage and younger than 6 years old, were having their hands and feet outlined onto paper plates and colored paper so the tracings could be turned into turkey feathers for the day's craft project, paper bag holiday turkeys.

Teacher Amy Min Gong had gone through a series of flash cards where the children used Chinese words to identify pictures such as a family, an old man and a child. Some then used crayons or pencils to write out the Chinese characters their teacher showed them.

	Chinese culture teacher Amy Min Gong in her Hempfield home. The Chinese characters say "The Simple Life." Click photo for larger image.

Although the girls were born in China, they're Americans now, part of American families since they were infants or toddlers. They also are interacting with each other and building a network, though they don't realize it yet.

For the past three years, Ms. Gong has been holding Chinese class for adopted Chinese children and their American families in a classroom at Westmoreland County Community College. About 25 children are enrolled, but not all of the children attend every class.

Ms. Gong is Chinese and moved to the United States with her husband, University of Pittsburgh professor Xuri Zhang, eight years ago. She teaches classes at WCCC and at the University of Pittsburgh Greensburg, and is an accomplished musician, coach of a Hempfield club swim team and assistant coach of the Hempfield High School swim team.

But she'll tell you one of the most important things she does is hold this class so that the Chinese orphans who are now happy American children taking tap dance class or learning the violin also will know their heritage.

"I think it's very important for everybody to know their background," Ms Gong said.

Maybe because children this young learn languages faster than adults can, the girls repeat Ms. Gong's pronunciations impeccably.

"They're like sponges," said Nasreen DeRubeis, mother of Isabella, 3. Mothers, fathers, grandparents and siblings are encouraged to attend Ms. Gong's classes.

Mrs. DeRubeis and her husband, Jim, brought Isabella to their Greensburg home on Father's Day 2004. She's their only child, and they believe learning about her native culture is an important part of her development.

Patricia Neil, of Greensburg, mother of Calli-Marie, 5, and Alasandra, 2, agrees.

She said Asian culture stresses respect for each other and for family, and her girls are demonstrating those traits even now. Sometimes she notices, even in her very young girls, a sense of caring and thoughtfulness beyond their years "like it was inborn."

The families involved in the Westmoreland County class worked through several adoption agencies, both regional and national, to find their children.

The common thread is that they are all girls.

According to one agency's Web site, America World Adoption, the Chinese cultural preference for a male child combined with China's one-child policy has led to healthy female babies being abandoned and placed in orphanages. As a result, thousands of Chinese infant girls are put up for adoption to people around the world.

But Ms. Gong's class is going beyond those harsh statistics.

Her pupils learn the culture and language and have joined with a sister school in Hangzhou City, where each has a pen pal. They write in English and receive their answers in Chinese.

Her husband will take a poster the children are working on to the school on his next visit to China.

They also are learning music and dance unique to China with drums and ribbons on wooden sticks that they move to music. Ms. Gong plays a small accordion to accompany them.

The parents love the classes as much as their children do. They share stories and develop friendships they wouldn't have had otherwise.

They also say, without the teacher, their children would have missed a lot.

"[Ms. Gong]) has been like a godsend for these kids," said Cindy Martinchalk, of Connellsville. Her daughter, Mia Burd, 5, entertained the other children that day with selections she played on her violin.

Ms. Gong waves away the compliments and sends tributes back to the parents.

"I think those people did a really good thing," she said.

Ms. Gong's class will be at Powers Hall, Room 100, Pitt Greensburg campus, at 7 p.m. next Wednesday to perform some dances and show off what they've learned in an event that's open to the public. Parents will give some details about the adoption process and their experiences.

The performance and talk are sponsored by Pitt's La Cultura China series, which also will include several lectures and a dinner Jan. 13.

Call 724-836-7741 or visit www.upg.pitt.edu for further information.