As early summer begins, everything is full of vitality; stars converge, and we pursue dreams together. Following the team building activity on April 25, the 15th Stars Project of Xiehe Education was grandly held at Xiehe Education Center on May 15. Nearly 50 people, including specially invited experts, members of the Stars Project Steering Committee, representatives of SUIS school leaders, and members of the Stars Project, both new ones and alumni, gathered in the multi-functional meeting room on the second floor of Xiehe Education Center to embark on a star journey of professional growth.
Xiehe Education Stars Project
Xiehe Education has always placed talent training and management echelon construction at the strategic core. Over the past 15 years, as the group’s flagship management talent development program, the Stars Project has continuously cultivated outstanding educational administrators for Xiehe, becoming the core talent engine supporting the group’s high-quality development. Since its launch in 2009, it has trained more than 200 middle and senior management talents for kindergartens and schools. The 15th Stars Project has 19 trainees from Fortune Kindergarten, SUIS schools, Xiehe Education Center and et.al.Each cycle of the Stars Project lasts 8 months, generally with 2-3 consecutive days of curriculum training every month. The feature of the Stars Project training is the integration of expert guidance and peer learning, deepening the learning experience through a multi-scenario linkage model, including cutting-edge concepts, thematic discussions, keynote speeches, internal and external study visits, cross-border seminars, on-site visits and in-depth workshops.
Stars Light the Opening Trace the origin and walk steadfastly
General Principal Ms. Maxine Lu, delivered the first workshop to all trainees of the 15th Stars Project with the theme of “Xiehe Panorama: Rooted in our Heritage, Inspired by the World, Focused on the Future”, officially kicking off the opening ceremony.
Maxine accurately grasped the trainees’ needs based on the pre-lesson questionnaire and designed interactive sessions such as on-site Q&A, Xiehe story sharing, and group role discussions on Xiehe’s development plan. Maxine is well versed in the more than 30 years of development history of Xiehe Education: the establishment of Xiehe’s first Tiandi Kindergarten, the founding of the first Xiehe Secondary School – SUIS Jiaoke, the origin of the name SUIS Shangyin, the accidental and inevitable establishment of SUIS Wuxi and SUIS Wanyuan, the origin of the Pioneer Curriculum and its growth in SUIS schools… In the group activity session, the trainees took on different roles and envisioned the future development of Xiehe Education and its schools from various dimensions such as “maintaining scale, improving quality, emphasizing connectivity, and pursuing innovation”.The workshop was compact and informative. Maxine spoke eloquently, and the trainees listened attentively and participated actively. Fully understooding of Xiehe’s history and current situation enhanced Star members’ sense of identity and belonging to Xiehe Education, and a sense of pride and closeness arose spontaneously.
Chinese and Foreign Joint Bilingual Opening
After the successful conclusion of the “Xiehe Panorama” workshop, the opening ceremony of the 15th Stars Project officially began. Mr. Rowen Gong from SUIS Gubei and Erika Crona from SUIS Qingpu, both are the 15th Stars Project members, co-hosted the event, connecting the whole scene in both Chinese and English, fully demonstrating Xiehe’s multicultural and integrated bilingual education temperament.
The host mentioned that “5” is the lucky symbol of this event – the 15th Stars Project, on May 15th, and Friday. The triple numbers signify a perfect new beginning, symbolizing the endless and inherited talent development cause of Xiehe.
Speeches and Messages Inheriting the Original Aspiration
Ms. Karen Mathieson, representative of the Stars Project Steering Committee and Co-Vice Principal of the Primary EMW of SUIS Hongqiao, delivered the first speech. With warm and sincere words, she sent wishes to the trainees: collide ideas in learning, improve abilities in practice, and grow into educational administrators with both international vision and local feelings.
Alumni Mr. Joe Zhu, the “Top Performer” of the 14th Stars Project from SUIS Qingpu, shared his learning experience. Combined with his own training experience, he provided practical and feasible growth suggestions for new trainees from the dimensions of training gains, peer mutual assistance and practical application, conveying the Xiehe Stars Project spirit of “Stars Help Each Other, Forge Ahead Together”.
Stars Shine Brilliantly Gathering Strength for New Growth
In the trainee self-introduction video session, 19 new Star members appeared confidently showing their campus daily life, personal hobbies and educational insights in colorful video forms. The trainees stood up and waved, with continuous applause at the scene.
Experts Navigate Wisdom Lights Up the Future
This opening ceremony specially invited heavyweight experts in the education sector to attend and guide, injecting authoritative leading power into the Stars Project.Mr. Tang Jiangpeng, Vice President of the Chinese Society of Education and Chairman of the High School Education Professional Committee, delivered a keynote report: ” School Development in AI Era：Documenting, Delivering and Developing People”.
Mr. Tang pointed out that the insight of a leader lies in grasping the essence of things and choosing the optimal method; future leaders need to build a sense of mission by grasping the meaning, and demonstrate responsibility through method selection. Combined with the pain points of the current situation of basic education, he emphasized that China’s basic education is not short of theories, but of solid actions.Faced with the challenges of the AI era and high expectations from parents, Xiehe has created a distinctive quality education model. For Xiehe’s future development, it is necessary to break the inertia of thinking, innovate development paths, and adhere to the core of educating people: excellent learning ability, vision and feelings, and diverse communication skills are the core competencies to control AI. Mr. Tang sent wishes to the trainees to grow into ideal and responsible educational activists.
▲ General Principal Ms. Maxine Lu awarded the Stars Project Mentorship Certificate to Mr. Tang Jiangpeng.
Mr. Cheng Shangrong, Vice Director and Research Fellow of Jiangsu Academy of Education Sciences and expert of the Basic Education Curriculum Reform Steering Group of the Ministry of Education, gave on-site comments.
He was deeply impressed by the trainees’ youthful vitality, personalized creativity and firm beliefs. He proposed that the AI era has given more opportunities to education and put forward higher requirements for teachers, encouraging everyone to “Take the Road of Greatest Resistance with Ideals”, pursue excellence, reject mediocrity, and break through cognitive boundaries.
▲ Ms. Jennier Jin, Acting Vice Chairperson of Xiehe Education Center,
awarded the Stars Project Mentorship Certificate to Mr. Cheng Shangrong.
Fifteen years of stars chasing dreams, a new journey to compose a brilliant chapter. Xiehe Education Stars Project has always adhered to the original aspiration of cultivating outstanding educational leaders, empowering growth with professionalism and realizing dreams with a platform. In the next seven months, the trainees of the 15th Stars Project will temper their management abilities, enhance their educational vision, gather collaborative strength under the guidance of experts, peer mutual assistance and practical exploration, and grow into shining stars illuminating the future of Xiehe Education.May every star members take dreams as horses, live up to their youth; practice knowledge with actions, and jointly build a new glory of Xiehe Education!
