Following the 2020 Jingkids International School Expo (JISE) in October this year, which brought together more than 70 schools, daycares, and educational centers, we’d like to acknowledge the people who make those schools and institutions truly great. Many of Beijing’s esteemed international schools submitted their nominations for the Jing Educators Award 2020, celebrating those who dedicate themselves to education, create innovative learning experiences, and maintain outstanding environments for our kids. In this #JingEdAwards series, from now through the end of this year we’ll share these committed individuals and why they were nominated by their schools.

This category is all about the support staff who keep schools running like clockwork behind the scenes, from custodial staff to IT wizards to operations directors. Teachers may take headline billing, but schools couldn’t run without the efforts of these dedicated individuals.

Name: Zhu Wanyin 朱婉银
Position: Assistant to the Principal/Head of Operations
School: Jack & Jill Academy

Ms. Zhu Wanyin graduated from Beijing Normal University majoring in early childhood education. She was an intern at Jack & Jill in 2016 and officially joined the school upon graduation. After joining Jack & Jill, Ms. Zhu has served as a classroom teacher, marketing specialist, and assistant to the principal. She is a quick learner and has shown enthusiasm and a proactive work attitude in each of her positions. As a result, she was promoted to the position of Head of Operations in 2020.

Ms. Zhu is an advocate and practitioner of a “people-oriented” concept. She is an excellent representative of the younger generation of educators: energetic, creative, forward-looking, eager to take on challenges, and always able to deliver work that exceeds expectations. She is good at systematic thinking and is empathetic, which allows her to be able to upgrade the operation and management of the school in a way consistent with the modern management concept.

Name: Jing Huaxin 景怀信
Position: School Maintenance Department (SMD)
School: Yew Chung International School of Beijing (YCIS)

Shandong born Jing Huaxin is one of the YCIS Beijing School Maintenance Department workers and one of the longest-serving members of staff. With 25 years under his belt, Mr. Jing was recently awarded a long service award by Dr. Chan at the YC YW Founder’s Day celebration and YCIS Beijing 25th Anniversary for his hard work and dedication over the years.

Mr. Jing has been nominated by YCIS Beijing’s School Leadership Team for the tremendous amount of work he has contributed over the years in maintaining the campus and also ensuring it was ready for the students to return post lockdown. His other responsibilities include maintaining school safety, warehouse management, engineering assistance, and the day-to-day running of the school.

Name: Song Zhiqiang 宋志强
Position: School Maintenance Department (SMD)
School: Yew Chung International School of Beijing (YCIS)

Mr. Song Zhiqiang hails from Lingyuan in Liaoning Province and is one of the YCIS Beijing SMD (School Maintenance Department) staff since 2017. He has been working in the education industry for five years and has been nominated by YCIS Beijing’s School Leadership Team for the tremendous amount of work he has contributed over the years in maintaining the campus and also ensuring it was ready for the students to return post lockdown.

Some of Mr. Song’s responsibilities include electrical work, hydralics, classroom maintenance, campus inspections, providing support during school events and activities, and assistance in site coordination and technical support. He enjoys his role and the cooperation between himself and his colleagues and is looking forward to more time at YCIS Beijing.

Name: Delia Wang Jingjie 王京洁
Position: Head of School Maintenance Department (SMD)
School: Yew Chung International School of Beijing (YCIS)

Delia has been at YCIS Beijing for two years now after working in the hospitality industry. She was nominated by YCIS Beijing’s School Leadership Team for the tremendous amount of work she has put in over the years in maintaining the campus and also ensuring it was ready for the students to return post lockdown.

Some of her responsibilities are to guarantee the smooth running of school operations and ensure they meet or exceed local regulations on safety and hygiene, to provide leadership and support School Maintenance Department staff to improve constantly their overall service quality and meet international school standards. Delia and her team also take care of the day to day running of school services such as school uniform service, school bus engagement, and cafeteria management.

Name: Song Lei 宋磊
Position: Head of IT Department
School: Yew Wah International Education School

Song Lei joined Yew Wah in 2007. As head of the IT department, he is involved in information technology (IT) operation, servers and network operation, application development, website maintenance, project management, and team management.

After 13 years of working in an international school, Song Lei has developed a unique perspective on IT. He believes that technology itself isn’t complicated but that it should always be driven by the real human need behind it. His vision is to make IT “simple and easy” for everyone and use it to solve problems to the best of his ability.

KEEP READING: Jing Educators Award 2020: Marketing and Communications

Images: courtesy of the schools

It makes sense and didn’t come as a surprise: parents aren’t allowed on campus to watch the holiday shows this year. I assume it will be the same for Lunar New Year performances. Even older year groups, such as WAB’s Dance and Drama performances, are live-streaming and not allowing anyone outside of the school’s students and staff to attend.

I know that many of us are grateful that our kids can have a performance at all. In so many of our home countries right now, families still need to balance their work schedules with virtual school or weigh the risk of sending their preschooler to a smaller classroom with how much they trust the other parents. Giving up the ability to be in the audience of a child’s live performance is a small sacrifice, but it is something to consider so we know how to make the best of it.

As I sat at my desk watching the WAB Dance shows on Thursday, I wondered how it would feel to be a teenager and know that I wouldn’t be greeted with flowers and a hug by my parents after such an accomplishment? How do my friends, who would normally have been as close to the front as they could to watch their little babies blossom into elegant dancers, feel at this moment knowing how hard they worked after school and in their bedrooms to get the moves just right, timing perfected, and also worked tightly as an ensemble?

My husband and I experienced it ourselves today. We’d spent a good bit of time explaining to our kids, especially our youngest, why we couldn’t be there. Our four-year-old didn’t quite understand what a live stream is, so we told them it’s like we have a private YouTube channel that’s just for the parents of their classmates, and that lit up their faces! We checked with them in the morning before the bus and they did seem to understand.

And so it was that on a day we would normally spend the morning as a couple, proud parents of a small child singing his little heart out to spread the “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer” story around, waving at him from the audience against all our theater etiquette (for me at least), we watched separately from our respective desks at work. It was normal for us to have our WeChat conversations on the side, but a new kind of bonding happened that I wasn’t really expecting.

During the performances, the school’s parent WeChat groups lit up with praise. Instead of trying to whisper or give friends a thumbs up in the audience when their kid’s class was up, we could chat together. We assured each other when the live stream paused that it wasn’t just on their end, it was for everyone, and we took a moment to enjoy all the little cuteness that kids aged two to five singing and dancing completely out of sync but absolutely enjoying themselves could bring. Friends sent private messages to say how well each other’s kids did and share a bit of community joy for the bravery and resilience of these little creatures who’ve been through so much this last year and are able to end it singing bravely with their peers.

My husband shared the joy with his co-workers and I cried quietly into my headphones, wishing I could see their sweet and happy faces in person instead of through pixels, but so, so happy that we are all able to share the joy of song in our communities. It’s been a bear of a year, and if live streams are still how we must celebrate amidst precautions, then I think next time we’ll have a little viewing party, either in our homes or offices.

KEEP READING: Gratitude Journal 2020: “It Wasn’t the Pregnancy I’d Imagined”

Photos: Unsplash