We spent an afternoon at what I believe to be called the Shai Xinglong Middle School in Shanghai. (I took a photo of the name chiseled in marble at the entrance which was guarded by a manned gatehouse, but may have cut off a letter or two without meaning to). The sign was both in English and in Chinese characters. Upon arrival we were met with a variable message sign reading "Welcome our American friends!" The pride taken in this four story school building was strongly evident. The grounds were beautifully landscaped with verdant bushes, grass and other lush plantings and included brick planter boxes as well as a beautiful vine covered brick arbor which provided some shade. The walks were tiled and landings were fashioned of attractive stone patterns. There was a nice large basketball court placed inside of running track, and several pieces of shiny jungle gym type equipment. A large white placard featuring read characters adorned the school yard. I am not sure whether this was the typical type of propaganda sign we had been shown in other locations. The school yard was surrounded by high rise buildings. Outside what appeared to be a cafeteria room there was a 20 foot long cement sink in the open air, under an overhang. A pipe ran along the top of the sink, with a number of water outlets. I am guessing that a large number of children would be able to wash up all at the same time at this location after playing outside and before going in for lunch?Scattered around the school were a number of chalkboards with very elaborate lettering and drawings which seemed to be announcing various information about the arts and the music programs. There were also many charts depicting I am not sure what.......and an attractive sign reading "pu tong hua shi xiao yuan yu yan" in red above a series of characters in green.The design of the interior was made to bring in sunlight, with some rooms having interior walls which were windows at the upper half, allowing one to see out through the hall and through the next classroom to the sunny outdoors. The classrooms had single desks arranged in columns and rows, with no two desks touching.
Chairs had been neatly overturned and placed atop the desk for the summer. The front hall displayed a series of Chinese flags and posters of great individuals, such as one who lived from 1889 to 1927. I was unable to read any of the Chinese characters on this particular sign, so I cannot say who was depicted.Walking around the school we captured photos of a few interesting things. A bright blue sign predominantly in English proclaimed that THE HABIT OF READING IS ONE OF THE GREATEST MANKIND RESOURCES. The Chinese translation was written below this and the quote was attributed to a Willi M. Phelps. Another listed a poem in English to tell the days of the week. Mama used to sayWash on MondayIron on TuesdayMend of WednesdayChurn on ThursdayClean on FridayBake on SaturdayRest on SundayProper work at each dayDo it on that day.In the glass display cases where American schools would display sports trophies for the various championships a school team might have won, or the sports jerseys of honored school athletes, this school chose instead to display books. Five separate series of books were splayed in an attractive pattern on shelving behind crystal clean glass.What we were told were the brightest children at this school, had come into school specially to meet our Talented Youth, though their school had closed a few days prior for the summer. There were about 20 or so, with the girls dressed in long pants or capris, and t-shirts. Some of the boys were wearing what appeared to be uniforms of white short sleeve shirts with a white and black striped at the collar and running down the sides of the sleeves and the leg. They led us upstairs to the library which you can see pictured here. The room had no computers, but room for about 48 kids to sit, six at each table in neatly numbered chairs. The wooden tables displayed various kinds of information under a glass top and the front of the room was lined by a magazine rack offering at least 80 different periodicals. Another wall held a short stack of shelves which held what looked like series type reading books, probably specifically designed for the teaching of reading. The stacks housing the library's main collection of books were in a separate room entirely.The children sat at the tables and talked together for quite a length of time, with children of each country seated at each table. The principal of the school addressed us and a teacher welcomed us. Then one of the students got up and spoke to us in perfect English. Our guide told us later that this child was probably the "prefect", the smartest child in the grade and thus was given this honor. They children presented a very nice program for us in which the girls (who, with the exception of the prefect, who was an inch shorter than the others,, all happened to be exactly the same height) lined up at the front of the classroom and sang a lovely and complicated song with beatiful melodies and harmonies. Several of the students then played various instruments for us, including violin, keyboards and a traditional chinese string instrument, the name of which I cannot recall. All did a fantastic job.Our kids then rose to sing Take Me Out to the Ballgame and You Are My Sunshine......which seemed like good bets in terms of everyone knowing the words. One of our students sang a rendition of Amazing Grace. At this point, the parents departed the building to tour the Senior Citizen children, leaving the children behind to work on some crafts with their new Chinese friends.
Chairs had been neatly overturned and placed atop the desk for the summer. The front hall displayed a series of Chinese flags and posters of great individuals, such as one who lived from 1889 to 1927. I was unable to read any of the Chinese characters on this particular sign, so I cannot say who was depicted.Walking around the school we captured photos of a few interesting things. A bright blue sign predominantly in English proclaimed that THE HABIT OF READING IS ONE OF THE GREATEST MANKIND RESOURCES. The Chinese translation was written below this and the quote was attributed to a Willi M. Phelps. Another listed a poem in English to tell the days of the week. Mama used to sayWash on MondayIron on TuesdayMend of WednesdayChurn on ThursdayClean on FridayBake on SaturdayRest on SundayProper work at each dayDo it on that day.In the glass display cases where American schools would display sports trophies for the various championships a school team might have won, or the sports jerseys of honored school athletes, this school chose instead to display books. Five separate series of books were splayed in an attractive pattern on shelving behind crystal clean glass.What we were told were the brightest children at this school, had come into school specially to meet our Talented Youth, though their school had closed a few days prior for the summer. There were about 20 or so, with the girls dressed in long pants or capris, and t-shirts. Some of the boys were wearing what appeared to be uniforms of white short sleeve shirts with a white and black striped at the collar and running down the sides of the sleeves and the leg. They led us upstairs to the library which you can see pictured here. The room had no computers, but room for about 48 kids to sit, six at each table in neatly numbered chairs. The wooden tables displayed various kinds of information under a glass top and the front of the room was lined by a magazine rack offering at least 80 different periodicals. Another wall held a short stack of shelves which held what looked like series type reading books, probably specifically designed for the teaching of reading. The stacks housing the library's main collection of books were in a separate room entirely.The children sat at the tables and talked together for quite a length of time, with children of each country seated at each table. The principal of the school addressed us and a teacher welcomed us. Then one of the students got up and spoke to us in perfect English. Our guide told us later that this child was probably the "prefect", the smartest child in the grade and thus was given this honor. They children presented a very nice program for us in which the girls (who, with the exception of the prefect, who was an inch shorter than the others,, all happened to be exactly the same height) lined up at the front of the classroom and sang a lovely and complicated song with beatiful melodies and harmonies. Several of the students then played various instruments for us, including violin, keyboards and a traditional chinese string instrument, the name of which I cannot recall. All did a fantastic job.Our kids then rose to sing Take Me Out to the Ballgame and You Are My Sunshine......which seemed like good bets in terms of everyone knowing the words. One of our students sang a rendition of Amazing Grace. At this point, the parents departed the building to tour the Senior Citizen children, leaving the children behind to work on some crafts with their new Chinese friends.
2 comments:
Thanks for writing this.
It was quite an experience. Thanks for reading it!
Post a Comment