SHSID campuses are coming to life as spring comes. On the 17th of February, 2022, the middle and primary school opening ceremony took place across different campuses. The teachers and students are gearing up to welcome the beautiful journey of the new semester in the Year of Tiger.

Puxi Campus G1-3

The opening ceremony of Puxi campus grades 1-3 started lively in the auditorium of the primary school building. Grade 2 students began the opening ceremony first. The masks could not hide their joy of returning to the SHSID family as students talked and laughed with each other.

The auditorium suddenly became quiet at 8:40 a.m. as Ms. Zhang Yi, the director of SHSID Puxi campus grades 1-3, walked up to the stage with a smile. Director Zhang Yi sent the first greetings of the year of the tiger to all the students, and then the teachers sent their new semester blessings to the students through the video.

The little protagonists also want to share their speeches in the new year and semester. The representative of the grade two students shared some of her learning strategies and what she gained from school activities. The grade three student representative shared her growth in learning independently, emotion control, and understanding of passion. And the representative of the grade one students shared how she grew up from a starter to a qualified primary student. These words are what all students want to convey. SHSID is a place for students to learn, to play, to grow, to try, and to laugh together. Here we create memories and fill every corner with them. The students retraced all the memories of the past six months in the auditorium through a 6-minute video.

After the video, Director Zhang Yi sent a message for the new semester to all the students. She hoped that all students could try their best to learn more, not be afraid of mistakes and failures, bravely challenge themselves with honesty, enthusiasm, hard work, kindness, responsibility, and faith, and become their own heroes. She also took the Winter Olympics athlete Gu Ailing as an example to encourage students to use enthusiasm and hard work as the wings to leap the platform of life and continue growing and gaining.

Mr. Liu Lian, SHSID middle and primary school principal, also attended the opening ceremony and gave a speech. Principal Liu Lian encouraged students to set goals about learning, reading, and helping others, as well as work hard to achieve these goals in the new semester.

At the end of the ceremony, Principal Liu Lian, Ms. Miao Xiaoling, SHSID middle and primary school principal assistant, Director Zhang Yi, and all homeroom teachers announced the excellent class and twelve stars for the last semester. All the children applauded the awardees and expressed their encouragement to their peers.

Puxi Campus G4-5

Students of Puxi campus grades 4-5 celebrated a magnificent and meaningful opening ceremony at the auditorium. Students who returned to campus had smiles on their faces, and their eyes were full of expectations for the new semester.

At 9:40 a.m., the opening ceremony started amid cheerful music. Through the video, teachers and students reviewed the exciting activities of the last semester. Stephen, representative of grade four students, and Caitlin, representative of grade five students, shared their learning experiences from the previous semester and the qualities needed to be an independent learner. Stephen shared three tips to become an independent learner and encouraged everyone to find their interests, keep asking questions, and learn from doing. Caitlin started with the Winter Olympics and encouraged everyone to set goals and try hard.

G4-5 honored the students who performed excellently in the last semester, including the Stars of Progress, the Stars of Art, and the Stars of Sports. The new Stars of Critical Thinking, Stars of Smart Planning, and Stars of Reliable Collaborator were added to recognize students who have excelled in independent learning in the last semester. Mr. Liu Lian, SHSID middle and primary school principal, and Ms. Chris, the director of SHSID Puxi campus grades 4-5, presented the certificates and trophies to the Stars of the Semester to praise students whose overall performance was great. Meanwhile, Sophie from Class 5-7 participated in the Winter Olympics exhibition and won an award for her painting, which was presented to an athlete. Let’s give her applause!

The students also recorded their productive winter break in a video, sharing what new skills they learned during the break, what Chinese New Year traditions they experienced, and how they arranged their study life on their own. Let’s take a close look at the wonderful things they did over the winter break.

Next, Director Chris invited all teachers and students to welcome the six new students of the section with the warmest applause. Director Chris first highly recognized the progress made by the students last semester in improving their independent learning skills, which were recorded by the personalized assessments in the new evaluation system. She then shared her insights from watching the Winter Olympics and raised expectations for the students in the semester ahead, hoping that they would find their inner drive, gather courage, believe in themselves, overcome difficulties, and move forward firmly towards their dreams.

To encourage the students to face the challenges, the teachers recorded a video. Also, students received a video from parents of 4-6 Jamie and 5-2 Katharine. They wished all the students good luck for the new semester.

Principal Liu Lian reviewed with the students the new evaluation system launched last semester, highlighting the three modules of Academic Literacy, Interest Achievements, and Planning Reflection, encouraging them to be proud of their efforts and to think about their goals for the new semester to become a more independent and self-directed learner.

Grades 4-5 is committed to creating a positive learning community where each class contributes to the grade and school. We also announced awards to each class for their excellence in these five areas—“Beautiful Learning Environment,” “Independent Learning Community,” “Unified Team Spirit,” “Remarkable Activity Participation,” and “Outstanding Daily Performance.” As a new semester begins, we wish every student dreams and strives to exceed themselves.

Pudong Campus G1-5

At 9:50 a.m., all the teachers and students assembled in the auditorium at the Pudong campus for the opening ceremony.

At the beginning of the ceremony, Mr. Wu Xiaodong, the director of SHSID Pudong campus, warmly welcomed the students and gave his expectations for the new year. He encouraged the students to learn from the Winter Olympic Games’ athletes, have an open mind, and start exploring the beautiful world around them using the IL skills they learned in school. He also recommended finding a passion for their interests. With passion, our students will be strongly motivated to enjoy all of the challenges that they might face.

Then, representatives from each grade gave speeches to share their experiences and thoughts. From Class 1-2, Aaron mentioned that he felt a warmth from his teachers and classmates that helped him quickly adapt to life in primary school. From Class 2-1, Jasmine shared how important it is and how to become an independent learner. From Class 3-2, Aidan stressed the attitude of staying optimistic while studying and advised us not to be afraid of failure, for failure can lead to success. From Class 4-2, Serena discussed how an independent learner should balance her studies and interests. From Class 5-1, Sissi focused on how to keep interested and passionate about learning. These inspiring speeches won warm applause from all the teachers and students.

Finally, it came to the exciting part of the opening ceremony: Lucky Draw and Twelve Stars Awards. The students’ pre-written aspirations for the new semester were put into the lucky draw box, and one of each grade was drawn by Mr. Rory. The lucky students’ aspirations were shared, and they were given a prize. Then, the homeroom teachers announced the “Twelve Stars” awardees selected last semester and awarded them the certificates. The ceremony ended with laughter and happiness.

Lingang Campus

Stepping into the spring sunshine of the year of tiger, our lovely kids are finally returning to school. At 10:15 a.m., all students and teachers at the Lingang campus gathered in the auditorium for the opening ceremony of the new school semester.

The ceremony started with a happy and warm melody. Firstly, Jayden from Class 1-1 and Angelica from Class 1-2 made speeches, sharing their thoughts and gains at the Lingang campus of SHSID. Jayden summed up his first semester with the word TIGER: T is for Terrific school life, I for Interesting projects, G for Gaining good habits through day-to-day work, E for the Educational and thought-provoking activities, and R for the Respect given to teachers and friends. From the perspective of a grade one student, Angelica reviewed how to develop good study habits such as note-taking and listening with total concentration under the guidance of teachers. Also, she summarized the things she has learned in different subjects and set higher goals for the coming new term.

Afterward, students watched a review video of the past semester together. The Twelve Stars Award Ceremony finally began in an enthusiastic and cheerful atmosphere. This first Twelve Stars Award ceremony had special meaning to the children of the Lingang campus, as it was a recognition of their efforts over the last semester. It also contained a great deal of hope for the future from parents, teachers, and the children themselves.

Ms. Liu Fang, SHSID middle and primary school vice principal, and Ms. Fu Bing, the director of SHSID Lingang campus, gave their best wishes to the students for the new year and the semester. They motivated the students to set their own goals and take actions to achieve them in the new semester, using the motto of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, “Higher-Faster-Stronger-Together.”

G6-8

The middle school opening ceremony for the new semester was held at 2:30 p.m. in the auditorium.

First, three student representatives shared their experiences and growth over the last semester. Xiaoxiao from 6-9 spent five years at the Pudong campus. On her first day at the much bigger Puxi campus, she practiced walking from her homeroom to her math classroom around twenty times because she was afraid she would get lost in the maze of hallways and classrooms. Xiaoxiao enjoyed various activities and courses that involved lots of learning, thinking, running, art, and physical exercise. The athletes inspired her never to give up when encountering difficulties and setbacks. As a kid born in the year of the tiger 12 years ago, she would learn from the athletes and the spirit of the Olympics to achieve more in the new semester. Teresa from 7-1 first expressed gratitude to all her teachers and friends for helping her in the previous semester. Then she talked about how she succeeded in improving her math learning and overall GPA by reviewing and analyzing mistakes weekly. She also spoke about her after-school clubs and the importance of collaborating with others and seeing oneself as a member of a larger group. Rosa from class 8-3 mainly focused on improving efficiency by managing time. She shared some of her tips: facing all the work positively, putting phones and iPads out of sight, and leaving time for clubs, and enough sleep was helpful to reduce the stress. She suggested that the new semester starts with making one’s plan.

Following the speeches from three students, Mr. Shen Tianyuan, SHSID middle and primary school principal assistant and the director of grades 6-8, emphasized the VUCA time we are living in. Critical thinking and inquiry spirit were essential abilities when the unknown new things appear. He hoped students cultivate their abilities in learning, become excellent independent learners, and take on challenges bravely.

Mr. Liu Lian, SHSID middle and primary school principal, started his speech by talking about the school’s new assessment system. The final report of last semester included the Academic Achievements, Teacher Comments, and many other different sections, such as Character and Moral Education, Interests and Achievements, Personal Goals and Achievements, where students’ strengths, talents, and growth were illustrated more comprehensively. There was also an online personal growth center where students could see how the final report was mapped out with their efforts. He inspired students to find a goal, make a plan, and stick to it to make progress. Tigers in Chinese culture symbolize strength, courage, and confidence. Principal Liu Lian wished all the students forge ahead with the spirits represented by the tiger to reach their goals and become truly independent learners in the new semester.

At the next awarding part, Principal Liu Lian, Director Shen Tianyuan, and the grade heads presented awards such as “Star of Study,” “Star of Activity,” and “Grade 8 Independent Learning Award.” The awardees came to the stage and received the certificates. Amid the students’ applause and cheers, the opening ceremony ended successfully.

The new semester marking a fresh start, comes with new opportunities. We hope that every student will take on challenges and enjoy the process as much as the achievements to be made in the productive Year of Tiger.

(Written by Chelsea Chen, Qinli Chen, Qingjia Yang, Bing Xue, Chen Liu, Jess Scott Pictures by Ginger, Amilia Wu, Thea Chen, Chelsea Chen, Surong Chen, Gina Edited by Huang Shiyuan,BriePolette)