启明星人| 首位英文教师Suzy Wang：开心从“长大的”启明星身上看到它小时候的样子

今年，启明星举行首届高中生毕业典礼的时候， Suzy Wang回来了。作为启明星的第一位英文教师、且担任过校长的她特意从美国赶回来，和曾经作为启明星学生的小女儿一起，在典礼上发表演讲。

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眼见从最初的几个孩子到今天的千人校园，启明星的成长让Suzy感慨万千：“经过这么多年，启明星成长了，不管是规模还是学术方面，都和以前非常不同，但我能看到启明星的社区文化没有改变，大家还是那么亲密。这次回来，我去了泉发校区（启明星幼儿园）的运动日，不管孩子还是家长都会看着我的眼睛打招呼说，你好！孩子们之间也是双语交流！很多东西和以前一样……”

作为创校团队的一员，看到学校在发展的轨道上没有偏离初心，是让Suzy最感欣慰的地方——

“很多学校都强调学术第一，然后才是品格教育等等，然而Dawn（启明星创始人）认为，品格教育是教育的核心，和学术表现一样重要，所以启明星建校就把品格教育放在非常重要位置。”Suzy说。

无论是长期的教育工作实践，还是几十年的人生经验都让Suzy即便是离开启明星回去美国之后，也笃定这样的教育信念：“要把孩子们教育为有爱心和品德高尚的人并不容易，但是这些品质是人之为人的一部分，如果我们的教育只是聚焦于人的一些基本需求，比如单纯的技能、知识积累，那会让无论是被教育者和教育者都错过很多美好的部分。”

Suzy在启明星的老照片

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让Suzy坚信启明星教育的，还有她在女儿们身上看到的进步和成长。Suzy的2个女儿都曾是启明星的学生。如今，她们一个在哥伦比亚大学读书，一个在华盛顿大学深造。“我为她们骄傲，不是因为她们有这样的成绩，而是因为她们一直都努力为身边世界带来更大、更积极的改变。”

Suzy的大女儿正在读物理学博士，她的工作是应用电脑进行分子动力学研究，探索减少向大气排放二氧化碳的方法；而小女儿有感于在印度亲眼目睹的新冠疫情引发的心理问题，已经决定学习心理创伤干预的方法了。

Suzy说，女儿们在启明星学习的岁月，也是她自己重要的成长时期，更有意义的是，“我和自己关心的人们一起，为我们共同关注的事业一道努力。”

志同道合的人在一起，向着共同的方向奋斗——Suzy今天在启明星依然能感受到如此热情。“比如我们的体育老师王印发。他从体育大学毕业后，就是因为喜欢启明星人人平等、真诚沟通的社区文化而加入这里。现在他又在继续进修硕士学位，为了成为更好的老师。我认为，启明星给了他学习的意愿和力量。一位老师如果这样，我相信，他周围的孩子们也会有类似的感受和心境！”

Suzy和女儿近照

其实，Suzy自从回到美国后，会时不时回来看看启明星。她说，现在疫情封控结束，更方便她回来“探亲”了——20岁的启明星依然是当年的那个样子，让她觉得亲切！……

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.

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! 

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