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G8: Together for a Shared Future: Grade 8 Graduation Expedition

May 8, 2023

On May 4th, following the Labor Day holiday, the eighth-grade students finally set off for the graduation expedition they had been anticipating. At 8:30 in the morning, the eighth-grade students gathered in their homerooms and prepared for the trip.

The graduation expedition included a number of interesting group training activities, which integrated competitiveness and fun. It aimed to cultivate students' sense of cooperation and stimulate personal possibilities during teamwork.

After more than an hour's drive, they finally arrived at their destination, Oriental Land, Shanghai Teenagers Extra-Curricular Activities Campsite. Students in each class lined up orderly in the theater and waited for teachers to check on each class’s arrival. Their first activity was to recite the graduation slogan, and everyone enthusiastically shouted out the chant in union. At that instant, the theater saw passion and zeal of jaunty students filled with youth. For the students who will graduate from middle school in the next few months, it’s about a great day that they will remember for a long time.

After finishing taking graduation group photos, the students were divided into groups according to their classes. Classes 8(1)-8(6) followed the staff to the dragon boat dock for the long-awaited dragon boat competition. After the coach’s detailed and clear explanation, the students quickly grasped the key techniques for dragon boat rowing and lined up in groups of ten to wait for their turn. During the dragon boat rowing activity, the students showed their competitive spirit and actively fought for the chance to win for their own team while also considering the safety of the other team. After all, friendship comes first, while competition comes second.

Meanwhile, classes 8(7)-8(13) stayed in the theater and enjoyed team-building activities that required cooperation between each other. In the first activity, the team members continuously raised the ball on the middle drum at a height of not less than 25 centimeters by controlling the ring, and the maximum number of groups in 2 minutes won. In the second activity, team members should relay the U-shaped water pipes to each other in a row and pass the golf ball to the end container until the shortest time wins. During the activities, some teammates demonstrated excellent communication and coordination skills to collaborate with each other and finished the game proficiently. Other groups appeared to be a little flustered and had a relatively clumsy start. After the final round of the competition, students cheered for each other and guaranteed that if there is another chance in the future, they will certainly make more efforts and new breakthroughs. Some homeroom teachers also participated and shared a wonderful time with their students, while others assisted nearby to ensure their safety.

After both groups of students experienced the dragon boat competition and group activities, everyone gathered in the theater and enjoyed their lunch to get prepared for the final activity of the day’s field trip — an environmentally friendly 3-kilometer walk.

Each class was divided into A and B groups to explore the beautiful scenery inside the park, but their main task was to find and record the text labels hidden along the route. Finally, the words they saw would be combined to form a sentence. Some groups completed tasks with astonishing efficiency and returned to the theater to rest while waiting for the remaining groups to return.

After all groups completed their task, everyone queued up again and embarked on the return journey. Thunderstorm in the morning was nowhere to be seen, uder the bright sunshine, the eighth-grade students who are about to graduate returned to their buses and prepared for their next day of learning adventure. This graduation expedition implements the teaching concept of "independence, experience, cooperation and innovation" of Oriental Land, bringing an unforgettable experience to SHSID eighth-grade students.

Written by 8-9 Alison, 8-7 Teresa

Pictures by Aaron Shen

Supervised by Ma Xinyu, Sally Gibbs

Edited by Serene Yang, Niall Keenan