Though the heat of summer has not faded away, the new semester has arrived. On the first day of school, the air is filled with excitement and anticipation. The spirits of the students and teachers are as warm as the hot weather.

Grades 11-12 · Opening Ceremony

In the afternoon of August 31st, the 11th- and 12th-grade teachers and students gathered in the auditorium to welcome the new school year with a grand opening ceremony.

The ceremony was hosted by Ms. Yu Zhen, the 12th-grade director, and Principal Ma Feng of the high-school section made the first speech. After wishing everyone good luck upon entering a new stage of learning and growth, Principal Ma proposed the notion of “integrity” (being true to oneself and doing the right thing when no one’s watching). The school will enhance the guide of students' self-management ability. Principal Ma also pointed out the importance of social activities and hoped that students could strengthen teamwork and make appropriate trade-offs as well as balance their studies. In the end, Principal Ma said, "Be responsible, stay happy, and never stop learning" to the students, wishing they would cherish the remaining time and keep making progress.

Following Principal Ma's speech were speeches from the students and teachers. Firstly, Ms. Wu, the Director of Grade 11, congratulated the students for entering XMB and hoped that they could carry on the legacy of XMB. Two students from Grade 11 then spoke, sharing their thoughts on the summer and their life lessons.

The next speech was given by Ms. Yu Zhen, Director of Grade 12, who emphasized time management and creating a flexible schedule with room to spare. At the same time, Ms. Yu also highlighted that self-awareness is a critical part of growth, and that the process of growing up is to constantly understand and improve oneself. Then, two student representatives from Grade 12 shared their tips on time management.

Then Ms. Liu Qin, Director of the SAO, gave her speech. Echoing Principal Ma's speech, Ms. Liu once again said that "those who achieve great things must be disciplined" and hoped that students would study and follow the "five self-management" pillars proposed by the school to lay a solid foundation for their immediate study and future development. In addition, Ms. Liu also advised students to manage their health during the epidemic, to "think big, do small things, and complain less", and to keep their physical and mental health safe. The ceremony concluded with the announcement of the students who received the Social Activities Award, the Academic Excellence Award, and the Principal's Award from the previous school year.

Grades 11 and 12 are the last two years of high school, and the importance of academics is self-evident, as is the critical transition to independence. The opening ceremony is the prelude to all of this, and the bright futures of our students unfold.

Grades 9-10 · Opening Ceremony

In the morning of September 1st, the opening ceremony for Grade 9 and Grade 10 took place at the Grand Auditorium. Vice Principal Ms. Liu Min hosted the opening ceremony.

First, Principal Ma gave a speech. He stressed the importance of being self-disciplined and expected that, in the new semester, all the students could adapt to the new schedule, make some changes in attitudes to studying, and learn to relax and release anxiety.

Transition is the key word for Grade-9 students. Director of Grade 9 Ms. Zhang Yueyue gave a speech to the high-school freshmen. She first introduced the differences between high school and middle school: you will have more choices in course selections based on your personal interests and goals, but with more demanding schedules and higher requirements in each course. She then suggested that developing the habit of making plans and records would help make a smooth transition.

Following Ms. Zhang, a G9 student representative came to the stage and shared how she prepared to transit from usual style of study into a high-school study mode. In her mind, getting started as soon as possible and efficiency are of great importance to fighting procrastination. It is key to not only try and find your passion and strength during competitions, but also to enjoy the process as a whole.

For Grade-10 students, decision-making is of great significance. Director of Grade 10 Ms. Gu Ying gave a speech to students from G10. She started from recalling the colorful and delightful events students experience during the summer vacation and then talked about the positive reward mechanism given by the brain. By contrast, when faced with difficulties and pain, people will escape, which is actually a human instinct. Ms. Gu suggested that students set small goals and tasks every day for those things we find difficult in order to overcome the escape instinct.

Following Ms. Gu, a G10 student representative shared his story from last year through a video. A year before, he moved here from Beijing and first entered SHSID. In the beginning, he felt isolated, unconfident, and even got lost easily on campus. But today, by setting goals and doing the right things like being attentive in class, he is now confidently expressing himself in front of all of his teachers and classmates.

After that, Ms. Chen Lin introduced two important changes of the TA Office, which could provide better help to students. Finally, Ms. Zhang Yueyue and Ms. Gu Ying presented the students with social activity awards, academic awards, and Principal's List scholarships. With the students' warm applause, the opening ceremony came to an end. We hope that students have a happy semester!

Summer-Vacation Activities

Looking back on this fulfilling summer vacation, as the epidemic was gradually controlled, SHSID students overcame difficulties and participated in various extracurricular activities, gaining personal growth and good memories.

SHSIDers Gave Thematic Speeches at the ICME-14

The team from SHSID participated in the 2nd FRC Exchange and Sharing Conference

The SHSID teams achieved an excellent performance at Envirothon

In the HOSA competition, students achieved one global second-place, one global third-place and three global top-ten

Students studied and practiced speech recognition and gesture recognition in in the Tencent Spark Challenge Week

Several students won multi-subject awards in the Global Academic Marathon

SHSIDers have made outstanding achievements in the Harvard Model United Nations China 2021

Students actively participated in the Peer Potential Mock Trial Competition and won awards

In addition, students also enthusiastically participated in many meaningful activities. The students who applied for the Duke of Edinburgh Award completed a nine-day adventure in the summer, improving their ability holistically while exploring in the field to help others and contribute to society,our school community organized education-support activities and provided local Gansu primary-school students with more learning resources. Bnanaheads (BNH) Club also held an art exhibition and fund-raising event called "Xinying" for children with autism in the summer.

Summer is gradually fading. Facing the cool autumn wind, all SHSID teachers and students ushered in the new school year. With the new knowledge gained in the summer, all the students are looking forward to entering the classroom and starting a new journey. With a series of activities waiting ahead, best wishes to all students and teachers in the following school year.

Warm greetings from alumna Annabel Yao, Class of 2016

（Written by Winnie Xiong, Brandon Wu, Meijun Shi, Chloe Wang Pictures by Wenqian Wu, Ruijie He, Hao Sun Supervised by Meijun Shi, Hazel Gu, Jialong Liu, Sijia He Reviewed by Qian Zuo）