LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. -- The Lee's Summit middle schools are adding a new language to their foreign language studies program this year.

For the past two years, they've been teaching Chinese in Lee's Summit high schools. Starting this year, they're making it available to middle school students as well.

Two new teachers are starting in the district, part of a cultural exchange program designed to prepare the next generation for a rapidly changing world.

"We know these students, their future is going to be vastly different than ours. The 21st century is an interconnected world, and they're going to be living and working in a global economy," said Dan Lumley, Lee Summit's director of curriculum.

Over the next year, teachers Carol and Lee will learn more about America while they teach middle schoolers and high schoolers in Lee's Summit about their country and how to speak their language.

"I think it is my honor to act as a cultural ambassador. And I think, you know, China has a lot of history and rich culture, so I think it's my duty, it's my responsibility to have more and more people to know about China," said Carol.

"If you learn Chinese, you will have another head. And two heads are better than one for anyone, I think," said Lee.

Lee's Summit R-7 was the first Missouri school district to offer a Chinese language program.