When L. Brooks Patterson, the executive of Oakland County, Michigan, publicly called for the county to become the first in America to teach Mandarin Chinese in every public school district, the Oxford Community Schools responded immediately. Over the past four years, the school district of 5,030 students in southeastern Michigan has elevated the teaching and learning of this language to a completely new level. Learning the Chinese language, culture, and history gives the students in Oakland County a leg up on the competition and a better opportunity to succeed in the global market. Working from this logic and knowledge, the goal is to design a model Mandarin Chinese language and culture program in the Midwest.