启明星人｜创始人Dawn Vermilya：为身边带来积极改变的努力永无终点！

“创校之初，我们对于培养什么样的学生有着非常清晰的目标——他们不但要在学术表现方面优秀，也要拥有良好的品格和强健的体魄，并以自己所受的教育致力于人类社会的进步……” 

尽管距离创立启明星已经过去了20年，说起彼时的初衷和理念，Dawn Vermilya不假思索且态度坚定，让人一下子便能感受到她对启明星的坚定初心，还有尽管身在美国、与中国远隔重洋，但依旧热度满满、扑面而来的热情。

“走在正确的道路上”

Dawn Vermilya和丈夫、前世界银行IFC总裁蔡金勇是启明星的联合创始人。

2002年前，因为在北京找不到符合他们教育愿景的双语双文化学校，夫妻俩决定自己为孩子们创办一所。

创建一所学校是艰难的，个中艰辛只有真正运营过学校的人才能真切体会。

幸运的是，还有和他们怀抱同样教育愿景的热心家庭，簇拥在这所新生的学校周围，帮助建立了启明星的第一个校董会。

每个人，老师、家长、教育专家为着相同的理想，从各个领域支持小而美的启明星一路成长......

| 启明星老照片

短短几年，英文流利的启明星学生参加东城区中文水平测试时，有着和公立学校学生同样优秀的表现。不但如此，因为当时启明星还没有中学部，而不得不在高年级转入其他学校的启明星学生，也因为学术、品德等各方面表现突出而特别受欢迎。

| 启明星老照片

“事实证明，我们的办学方向是对的，走在正确的道路上。” 回想当初，Dawn很欣慰。

而大家共同磋商共同努力正是为什么启明星能够突破当时的种种局限，一路挺过重重挑战走到今天。

“所有人”的学校

家长们提供资源，积极参与学校的成长和发展，也让启明星这座小而美的学校更有“家”的感觉——这是启明星与众不同的印记之一，也是众多家庭选择启明星的重要原因。

于是在运营学校的日常中，她总是尽力吸纳所有人融入，并且做的比“广泛倾听意见”做的更多、走的更远。

| 启明星老照片

比如，在学校特别关注的美德教育中，她发动全社区共同养育学生的美德。早年加入启明星、如今担任政府关系总监的游佳回忆说：“无论校车司机、阿姨还是老师、员工，凡是能接触到学生的人，学校都提供美德培训，向大家传递帮助孩子培养美好品质的意识和方法。”

兼收并蓄的管理思路加强了社区成员间的互信和归属感，让大家都能体会到对教育的责任和参与，共同滋养社区的成长。

| 启明星老照片

一个早年便加入了启明星的家庭曾经这样告诉我们：“学校就像个家一样，关注和尊重家长的意见，乐于和家长沟通，相比于那些大学校，我们愿意一直留在小而美的启明星，和它一道成长。”

永远的“孩子”

启明星培养出一批批优秀的学生，也包括蔡金勇夫妇的3个女儿：蔡安樱毕业于斯坦福大学，主修计算机科学；蔡安蕾主修经济学和数据科学，毕业于芝加哥大学；最小的女儿蔡安玫也以认知科学和心理学专业学位毕业于美国顶尖私立大学莱斯大学。

谈到教育出3个优秀的女儿的经验，Dawn说，他们对自己孩子的教育秉持着和创办启明星学校相同的理念，对女儿们的期待是品德、学术、身体健康全面成长和发展，并服务于自己的社区。

Dawn也特别强调，父母同等参与子女教育的重要：“我们对孩子的成长有着一致的看法和理念。金勇虽然工作非常忙，但他也会以自己的方式参与到孩子的教育当中。”

对于Dawn和蔡金勇先生，启明星也仿佛他们的另一个孩子，尽管已经淡出学校管理的一线，但启明星的每一步发展，他们仍然全力支持和记挂着——

“我们期待启明星扩大规模，拥有更高的声望，也特别看好学校正在全力推进的社会创新项目的发展。”Dawn说，“启明星本身就是一个社会创新项目，从一开始就拥有社会创新的DNA。社会创新项目以为社会带来积极的改变为目标，我们认为这样的教育特别有意义！”

尽管身在美国，Dawn依然会在线参加董事会会议；蔡先生也在去年利用回中国工作的间隙，来到启明星发表演讲；而Dawn也表示，特别希望能够等疫情缓解后回到启明星，参加它“20岁生日”的庆典！而我们也期待那一天的来临！

| 启明星老照片

“When we first founded Daystar, we had a very clear goal regarding what kind of students we wanted to cultivate. Daystar students should be excellent in academic achievement, character, and physical strength and use their education to advance humanity.”

Now, 20 years have passed since the founding of Daystar, but Dawn Vermilya still remembers her original intention and vision for Daystar clearly. Though she lives far away in the United States, you can still feel her passion for educating students in China.

“Staying on the right track”

Dawn Vermilya and her husband, Cai Jinyong, former Executive Vice-President of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank, jointly founded Daystar.

Prior to 2002, they were unable to find a bilingual school that fit their educational philosophy, so they decided to build one themselves.

Building a school is difficult, and only those who have run a school can fully appreciate the hardships. Fortunately, several families shared their vision and offered help and support, forming Daystar’s first board.

To work toward this shared dream, everyone, teachers, parents and education experts, consulted together and provided their expertise to support this tiny school as it took shape with just a few students.

| Historical photos from Daystar's beginning years

In just a few short years, Daystar students who had grown in an immersive bilingual environment attended a Chinese proficiency test in Dongcheng, Beijing, and they performed just as well as the public school students. At that time, Daystar did not have a secondary school, so when our students transferred to other schools, they were viewed favorably because of their excellent academic performance and character.

| Historical photos from Daystar's beginning years

"It turned out that we were on the right track," said Dawn with relief. 

Consultation is the secret of how Daystar has been able to overcome so many obstacles and continue to make forward progress.

A school that belongs to everyone

Parents provided resources and participated in Daystar's growth to support the school's progress. Thanks to their efforts, it became more than a beautiful school—it became a community that feels like home. This quality quickly became a distinct characteristic of the school and a critical reason why families wanted to join the Daystar community.

Dawn is aware of this, and she fully recognizes the contributions from all individuals of the community—parents, teachers, and staff.

During the day-to-day operation of the school, she tries to help everyone become a part of the Daystar culture, listens to their opinions, and gives them respect and freedom.

| Historical photos from Daystar's beginning years

For example, she encouraged the whole community to take part in the moral education of students, which is a pivotal part of Daystar's educational philosophy. “Daystar provides moral education training to everyone who interacts with students, be they school bus drivers, teachers, or staff. In this way, the school raises everyone’s awareness of developing good qualities and character,” said You Jia, who joined Daystar many years ago and now serves as director of government relations.

This all-embracing management style builds up mutual-trust and belonging among community members so that everyone can feel a sense of obligation and participation in education while nurturing the growth of the Daystar community together.

| Historical photos from Daystar's beginning years

A family that joined the Daystar community years ago told us, “Daystar is like a home. Here, they care about and respect parents’ opinions and often communicate with us. So, we would rather stay in this small community and grow with it than send our children to those large schools.”

Always Centered Around Students

Daystar cultivates outstanding students, including the three daughters of Mr. Cai Jinyong and Dawn Vermilya: Isabella Cai graduated with a degree in computer science from Stanford University, Sophia Cai graduated with a degree in economics from the University of Chicago, and the youngest, Eva Cai, graduated with degrees in cognitive sciences and psychology from Rice University, one of the top private universities in the United States.

Speaking of her experience in raising three excellent daughters, Dawn said that she and her husband still have the same philosophy as when they founded Daystar. They want their daughters to grow and progress in academic achievement, character, and physical strength and be of service to their communities.

Dawn also highlighted that both father and mother play equally important roles in parenting, “We see eye to eye on parenting. My husband is busy, but he tries his best to get involved in teaching our daughters in his own way.”

Daystar is like another child to them. Though they are no longer at the forefront of running the school, they still give their utmost support and maintain high expectations:

“We hope that Daystar will expand and earn higher prestige, and we are particularly optimistic about Daystar’s core project, the Social Innovation Program,” said Dawn. “Because Daystar itself is a social innovation. It has had the DNA of innovation since day one. This program is dedicated to making a positive difference in society, and we think it is a very meaningful education method.”

Despite living in the United States, Dawn continues to attend board meetings online, and Mr. Cai gave a speech at Daystar when he was in China on a business trip last year. Dawn also shared that when the pandemic is under control, they plan to come back to China and attend Daystar’s 20th anniversary celebration. We are also looking forward to that day!

| Historical photos from Daystar's beginning years

社会创新实习项目：怀抱理想，在现实中“冲浪”！Social Innovation Internship Program: “Surfing” in the Real World While Embracing Dreams

盘点夏日佳音：为孩子们的成就鼓掌！Let’s Take a Look at Our Good News and Applaud the Growth of the Students