啟明星人| 首位英文教師Suzy Wang：開心從“長大的”啟明星身上看到它小時候的樣子

啟明星人 20/20

加入一個社區的理由可以有很多，但最能讓我們對它產生歸屬感和認同感的，往往是它包容、暖心的小環境。

啟明星就是這樣的社區，20年來，大家受到啟明星的感召加入它，又共同塑造它。

正值啟明星創校20周年之際，我們決定走近20個“啟明星人”，展示他們的故事，進而呈現20年的啟明星社區豐富且真實的一個個側面：

本期《啟明星人》，我們走近的是啟明星學校的第一位教師Suzy Wang：本期也是《啟明星人》系列的終篇，我們愿過往的文字和圖片，讓您讀到了真實和豐富的啟明星。

Suzy Wang（左）和小女兒

今年，啟明星舉行首屆高中生畢業典禮的時候， Suzy Wang回來了。作為啟明星的第一位英文教師、且擔任過校長的她特意從美國趕回來，和曾經作為啟明星學生的小女兒一起，在典禮上發表演講。

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眼見從最初的幾個孩子到今天的千人校園，啟明星的成長讓Suzy感慨萬千：“經過這么多年，啟明星成長了，不管是規模還是學術方面，都和以前非常不同，但我能看到啟明星的社區文化沒有改變，大家還是那么親密。這次回來，我去了泉發校區（啟明星幼兒園）的運動日，不管孩子還是家長都會看著我的眼睛打招呼說，你好！孩子們之間也是雙語交流！很多東西和以前一樣……”

作為創校團隊的一員，看到學校在發展的軌道上沒有偏離初心，是讓Suzy最感欣慰的地方——

“很多學校都強調學術第一，然后才是品格教育等等，然而Dawn（啟明星創始人）認為，品格教育是教育的核心，和學術表現一樣重要，所以啟明星建校就把品格教育放在非常重要位置。”Suzy說。

無論是長期的教育工作實踐，還是幾十年的人生經驗都讓Suzy即便是離開啟明星回去美國之后，也篤定這樣的教育信念：“要把孩子們教育為有愛心和品德高尚的人并不容易，但是這些品質是人之為人的一部分，如果我們的教育只是聚焦于人的一些基本需求，比如單純的技能、知識積累，那會讓無論是被教育者和教育者都錯過很多美好的部分。”

Suzy在啟明星的老照片

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讓Suzy堅信啟明星教育的，還有她在女兒們身上看到的進步和成長。Suzy的2個女兒都曾是啟明星的學生。如今，她們一個在哥倫比亞大學讀書，一個在華盛頓大學深造。“我為她們驕傲，不是因為她們有這樣的成績，而是因為她們一直都努力為身邊世界帶來更大、更積極的改變。”

Suzy的大女兒正在讀物理學博士，她的工作是應用電腦進行分子動力學研究，探索減少向大氣排放二氧化碳的方法；而小女兒有感于在印度親眼目睹的新冠疫情引發的心理問題，已經決定學習心理創傷干預的方法了。

Suzy說，女兒們在啟明星學習的歲月，也是她自己重要的成長時期，更有意義的是，“我和自己關心的人們一起，為我們共同關注的事業一道努力。”

志同道合的人在一起，向著共同的方向奮斗——Suzy今天在啟明星依然能感受到如此熱情。“比如我們的體育老師王印發。他從體育大學畢業后，就是因為喜歡啟明星人人平等、真誠溝通的社區文化而加入這里。現在他又在繼續進修碩士學位，為了成為更好的老師。我認為，啟明星給了他學習的意愿和力量。一位老師如果這樣，我相信，他周圍的孩子們也會有類似的感受和心境！”

Suzy和女兒近照

其實，Suzy自從回到美國后，會時不時回來看看啟明星。她說，現在疫情封控結束，更方便她回來“探親”了——20歲的啟明星依然是當年的那個樣子，讓她覺得親切！……

Daystarer 20/20

There are many reasons to join a community, but we experience the greatest sense of belonging from those with a warm, inclusive atmosphere.

Daystar is such a community. For over two decades, people have been inspired to join Daystar, and together we have shaped it. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of Daystar. In recognition of this moment, we decided to interview 20 Daystar community members so that they could tell their stories and present a detailed image of the Daystar community:

Today’s post is about Suzy Wang, Daystar's first teacher and Head of School.This article is the last post of the "Daystarer" series. We hope you can see a more realistic and three-dimensional Daystar through these words and pictures.

Suzy Wang (left) and her younger daughter

Suzy came back to Beijing this year as Daystar held its first high school graduation ceremony. Suzy Wang, the first English teacher and former principal of Daystar, travelled back from the United States to deliver a speech at the ceremony along with her youngest daughter, who was a Daystar student.

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Seeing the growth of Daystar from the first few children to today's campus of more than 1,000 students, Suzy was overjoyed with emotion:

“After all these years, Daystar has grown quite different both in scale and academic achievements. However, the school culture remains unchanged, and the sense of community among its members remains as strong as ever.When I came back this time, I attended the Sports Day at Quanfa Campus (Daystar Early Learning Center), and both students and parents looked at me in the eyes as they greeted me with a "Hello!" Students were still communicating in both Chinese and English, just like before..."

As a member of the founding team, for Suzy, there is nothing more gratifying than seeing a school on a trajectory of growth that has not strayed from its original vision – "Many schools emphasize academic excellence first, then character education and other aspects. However, Dawn (the co-founder of Daystar) believes that character education is the core of education, and is just as important as academic performance. Therefore, from the very beginning, Daystar has emphasized character education," said Suzy.

Both her longtime practice of working in education and her decades of life experience have reinforced Suzy's belief in such a form of education: "We can view the world in two ways – placing ourselves and others in a zero-sum competitive relationship or treating the world around us with kindness.It is not easy to raise students to be compassionate and morally upright, but these qualities are an essential part of being human. If our education focuses only on basic needs like simple skills and knowledge, it will cause both educators and the educated to miss out on many beautiful aspects of life."

Photos in early times at Daystar Academy

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What makes Suzy a firm believer in Daystar education is the progress and growth she has seen in her daughters. Two of Suzy's daughters have been Daystar students. Today, one of them is studying at the Columbia University and the other is at the University of Washington." I am proud of them, not because of their achievements, but because they have always worked hard to bring about greater and more positive changes in the world around them."

Her older daughter is working towards PhD in physics. Her research involves computer modeling of molecular dynamics with possible future applications in carbon sequestering. Her youngest daughter was deeply impacted by the psychological issues triggered by COVID-19 that she witnessed in India, so she has decided to study psychological trauma intervention methods.

Suzy said that her daughters' years of study at Daystar have also been an important time of growth for themselves, and what’s ever more meaningful for her is "I worked with people I cared about for a cause we all cared about."

Goals bring people together, striving in a common direction - Suzy still feels such enthusiasm at Daystar today. "Take our PE teacher Wang Yinfa for example. After graduating from Beijing Sport University, he joined Daystar because he liked the culture of equality and genuine communication here. Now he is pursuing a master's degree to become a better teacher. Daystar has given him the desire and strength to continue learning.If a teacher sets this type of example, I believe the students around him will also have a similar feeling and mindset!"

Suzy and her younger daughter

In fact, Suzy comes back from time to time to check on Daystar since she returned to the United States. She said that now that the control of COVID is over, it's more convenient for her to come back and "visit her family" - the 20-year-old Daystar is still the same as it was back then, which makes her feel ever so closer to it!

一線教師解碼增益項目：什么樣的學生可以進入這間培優課堂？General Information about Daystar's Enrichment Program

啟明星人｜三里屯校區小學部創校校長Kari King：為市中心的“小而美”涂上文化底色 Daystarer｜Kari King, Founding Principal of Daystar Academy Elementary School, Sanlitun Campus