Good rain knows when it is the best time to drop. The beginning of spring has passed, and a light rain has brought a touch of green and vitality to our school. With the return of students from SHSID middle and primary school department, this vitality is particularly lively.

Puxi Campus G1-3

On the morning of February 15, students from grades 1 to 3 in Puxi Campus held three new and significant opening ceremonies in the auditorium of the primary school section.

Zhang Yi, director of Puxi G1-3, sent her warm greetings to the students and announced the formal start of the opening ceremony. Then the warm greetings were from teachers, who showed their colorful holiday life with pictures. This semester, a total of 15 new students joined the big SHSID family. After Ms. Zhang Yi introduced them one by one, there was thunderous applause in the auditorium to welcome the new students.

The little protagonists also wanted to share their speeches in the new year and semester. Braden, a student representative from the second grade, introduced his learning experience during the online learning at the end of last semester. With great tips such as using time wisely, listing daily to-do list, and completing daily tasks efficiently, he is sure to be moving towards becoming an independent learner. Leon from the third grade talked about his wonderful campus life. The excellent teachers not only taught him the knowledge that he could put into practice, but also encouraged him to recognize his shortcomings and build confidence. The colorful activities and sports taught him how to face failure and be proud of his progress. He said that his study and life in school gave him confidence to become a valuable person in the future. Angelina from Grade one also shared her campus life in the first semester with us. As a young student who has just entered school for half a year, she can't wait to see her lovely classmates and friendly teachers when she opens her eyes every morning. Campus life is precious. We create memories here. These beautiful memories also fill every corner of the primary school. The students recalled their life in the past semester through the video of memorabilia. They were surprised that we had done so many rich and interesting activities in a short semester and were even more surprised at their growth. They were full of expectations for the coming semester.

Later, Director Zhang Yi's speech also brought us back to this unique experience of last semester. She said that although the last semester was full of challenges, through the feedback from many parents, the teachers knew that the students had achieved extraordinary growth. Children can arrange their time more reasonably, set their own alarm clocks and adjust devices to join online classes on time, can still concentrate on listening to lectures during online classes, improve their self-care ability, can upload homework without help, and can set up self-reward and punishment mechanisms. Such praises are priceless. Such independent children are examples of exactly the training goals of our school.

Mr. Liu Lian, principal of SHSID middle and primary school, also sent a message for the new semester to the children. He used the story of the tortoise and the hare to encourage our students, as learners, to run hard with confidence and courage and to achieve more learning ability, instead of learning from the rabbit.

Finally, the award ceremony of the "Twelve Stars" started. Waves of cheering and applauses rose throughout the auditorium, as radiant smiles shining with the hope for both better selves and a better future.

Puxi Campus G4-5

Spring is coming, full of vigor and vitality. At 9:40 a.m. on February 15, the fourth and fifth grades held the second semester of 2022 school year opening ceremony in the grand auditorium.

First of all, the screen showed the highlights of all the major activities of the students in the previous semester, to review the wonderful activities we participated in and the campus life we spent together.

We invited two outstanding student representatives to have speeches. Ethan Lee from Class 4 (8) shared his experience of campus life last semester and his wonderful winter holiday experience. Jeffrey from Class 5 (1) talked about the challenges he faced last semester, and shared his experience in overcoming difficulties and making progress. Then, we watched the video of students’ wonderful winter holiday. Some students shared their new skills, and others introduced the traditional customs of the Chinese Spring Festival…

The awarding session is what the students are most looking forward to. The school leaders, Chinese and foreign teachers presented the Star of Semester, the Star of Independent Learning, and other outstanding students of the previous semester. At the same time, three students who won the prize of "Independent Learner" shared their award-winning feelings and learning experience. Through the whole semester cooperation and efforts, each class also received an honor.

1. Beautiful Learning Environment: Class 4-7, 5-2, 5-5

2. Independent Learning Community: Class 4-2, 4-4, 5-4, 5-7

3. Outstanding Daily Performance: Class 4-6, 5-1, 5-8

4. Unified Team Spirit: Class 4-1, 4-3, 5-5, 5-6

5. Remarkable Activity Participation: Class 4-5, 4-8, 5-3, 5-4

The parents' representatives of the fourth and fifth grades sent their wishes and expectations to the students through the video. The school leaders also made speeches at the opening ceremony, encouraging students to face the new semester and new challenges for the new year. Ms. Zhu Dan, director of Puxi G4-5 summed up the wonderful results of the past semester and affirmed the progress made by the students. She also shared feelings with the students through the movie "Wandering Earth 2" and the popular AI ChatGDP, and put forward expectations for the new semester. Mr. Liu Lian, principal of SHSID middle and primary school, put forward expectations and wishes for students in the new semester. Looking back the past three years, we had faced many challenges, but also gained a lot. In the new semester, hope our students can support and encourage each other more.

We wish the students to harvest knowledge, friendship, happiness and enjoy every day of campus life in the new semester.

Pudong Campus G1-5

At the beginning of the new semester, students from grades one to five in Pudong gathered in the auditorium to participate in the opening ceremony of the new semester! The students’ eyes were full of joy and expectations for the new semester!

The ceremony started with a cheerful applause. Mr. Wu Xiaodong, director of Pudong Campus, expressed greetings and expectations for the semester to all students. He related the AI systems, the hottest topic worldwide, to the students’ daily lives. Studying is not only for knowledge and information anymore. It’s more about finding out what you want to know, where and how you get the information, and how to sift or figure out the true information from the false. It has more to do with training our brains. In other words, it is more important to know how we study instead of only the result or test scores we get.

Then, student representatives from each grade came to the stage to share their experiences and insights from last semester. First, Esther, the representative from grade one, shared her memorable time at SHSID and expressed her love for the school. Then came the second-grade speaker, Grace, who shared how to show integrity and find solution instead of worrying when something happens. Olivia from grade three, shared how she manages her time wisely and balances her hobbies and academics. As the fourth-grade speaker, Andrew talked about his fascinating holiday activities and how to overcome obstacles and learn from the failures. As the representative of the highest grade, Jasmine gave out some useful tips for self-management and how to deal with arguments with peers respectfully. The students’ speeches covered all aspects and left a deep impression on the teachers and students.

At last, it came to the most exciting part -- Lucky Draw and Twelve Stars Awards. The students’ pre-written aspirations for the new semester were put into the lucky draw box, and one from each grade was drawn by Mr. Rory. The lucky students’ aspirations were shared, and they were given a prize. The teachers of all grades announced the excellent “twelve-star” students selected last semester and presented them with awards. The ceremony ended with a lot of laughter.

Lingang Campus G1-2

After a joyful and peaceful winter holiday and an unforgettable Chinese New Year festival, we are welcoming a new year and a new semester. On the morning of Feb. 15, the children of Grades 1 and 2 of SHSID Lingang Campus gathered in the auditorium with great enthusiasm to welcome the new semester.

The “Semester Milestones” video kicked off the opening ceremony of the school year. Looking back at every festival we celebrated, every activity we participated in, every novel experience we felt, and every beautiful picture we saw on campus last semester, the children and teachers present were fascinated by the video, which recorded several things related to our students and teachers in Lingang.

Afterwards, Olivia from class 1-1 and Alex from class 2-2 shared their experiences of the past semester and their prospects for the new semester as student representatives. Olivia from Year 1 was attracted by the rich and interesting decoration of the classroom when she first came to school. She enjoyed the warm and friendly classmates and the kind teachers in the school. She looked forward to making more progress with her classmates in the new semester and to continue to grow up healthily and happily! Alex, a second-year student who joined SHSID last semester, said he feels lucky to have friendly teachers and a warm classroom community to overcome his nervousness caused by unfamiliarity, a student-centered curriculum that gives him a stronger sense of time management and the ability to solve learning tasks independently, and the practice of teamwork in project work that makes him enjoy working with his classmates more. He also enjoys the sense of accomplishment of working with his classmates to complete a task. He is looking forward to an exciting campus life in the future!

The following “Twelve Stars” award ceremony filled the auditorium with endless applause and cheers. Every time the teachers issued an award, the children were inspired to start again in the new semester and work hard towards their goals. Two students from the first and second grades also celebrated the new semester with their individual performance in the form of music and dance. The melodious violin sound conveyed the blessings of the new semester to everyone’s heart, and the energetic street dance performance inspired the children to meet the new challenges of the new semester. Director of SHSID Lingang campus, Ms. Fu Bing, and other teachers of Lingang also sent their blessings for the new semester, wishing the children to step on wisdom, wield diligence, and look at the guidance to write success into this semester’s annual cycle.

Middle School G6-8

On February 15, 2:20 pm, teachers and students of the middle school section gathered together in the auditorium to attend the opening ceremony. Students came back to school after their wonderful winter holiday in an energetic, vigorous spirit, wishing an adventurous journey in the new rabbit year.

As the host walked onto the stage, the opening ceremony officially began. First of all, students representatives of G6, G7, and G8 shared their learning experience and techniques that may be helpful for other students in studying. Jamie form class 6 (2) reviewed the challenges of online classes last semester, such as the PCR tests at noon every day and how to maintain good learning habits. After warm rounds of applause, Dora from class 7 (10) introduced her method of balancing her time of study and entertainment to complete various tasks efficiently. Furthermore, she also shared her own way to relax by practicing the piano and violin. Finally, Helen from class 8 (1) delivered her speech focusing on the importance of reasonable time management. She reminded us of the importance of finishing our homework efficiently, but with plenty of rest and breaks in between, too. Proper relaxation and exercise, such as playing basketball, dancing, and sleeping, are also the key to maintaining a good learning habit.

After the sharing from students, Mr. Shen Tianyuan, director of grades 6-8, delivered his message to welcome the new semester. Mr. Shen began his speech with two questions worth thinking about -- “How to survive in an increasingly complex and changing society?”, as well as “What is reality or real?”. The speech mentioned the epidemic and poverty, the challenges brought by global climate change, and how to better prepare for the future as an independent learner and responsible global citizen when the inflection point of AI development comes, which triggered strong resonance among the students and teachers. Finally, Mr. Shen asked the question "Am I growing today?", in order to raise an expectation for students in the new semester: to become a lifelong learner with a growth mindset.

Mr. Liu Lian, SHSID middle and primary school principal, delivered a cordial speech praising the students and teachers for their impressive achievement in the last three years. He also expressed his expectations to our students in the new semester: to support each other and work hard to make it an awesome semester.

Finally, the awarding ceremony that all students have been attentively waiting for began. Principal Liu, Mr. Shen, and head teachers of all grades from G6-8 presented the individual awards including "Star of Study", "Star of Activity", and "Star of Progress", and section star classes. With the warm applause of teachers and students, the opening ceremony ended in bursts of cheers.

At the beginning of spring in 2023, everything is new and fresh. As the new semester begins, we wish every student at Shanghai High School International Division a fruitful new semester. We hope that all the students can continue to advance towards the goals of becoming a better independent learner and a responsible global citizen!

Written by Thea Chen, Lei Liu, Haoruo Li, Xiaoting Shi, Xinyu Ma

Pictures by Thea Chen, Chelsea Chen, Everly He, Ginger, Surong Chen, Chunai Xu

Edited by Serene Yang, Niall Keenan