Community - China Schools

It takes a village: Involving the community

Quality education extends beyond the classroom walls. It demands engagement of parents, officials, and interested institutional and corporate partners, especially those dealing with education and health issues.

The large number of parents and community members attending opening ceremonies of CSF’s multi-school project in rural Shaanxi Province amply demonstrated the potential for home-school and school-community programming.

To keep the parent and wider community informed of educational issues, school events, and the like, CSF helps schools launch a newsletter – Xiao Shou La Da Shou (Small Hands Lead Big Hands). Among other things, the newsletter provides a forum for teachers to share information with parents, for students to publish their creative writing, and for educators to communicate useful information of general interest. (Read the Chinese PDF version | Read the English PDF version)

School life and education are enriched by reaching out to largely untapped sources of community involvement. Recently, eighty students of the Xi’an Art Institute volunteered at our Shaanxi Province project schools to do art projects and paint interior and exterior murals with students. They are eager to expand these efforts.

Three generations of student families as well as other local villagers participated in ceremonies launching the school improvement project in Fuping County.

Villagers examining display board documenting the transformation of schools and volunteer activities at the schools.

Schools can be transformed into community centers. County officials in Shaanxi Province, for example, agreed to CSF’s proposal that newly installed sports facilities (baskeball/badminton courts and playgrounds) be open to villagers during non-school hours.

We are heartened by the many offers from university students all over China to volunteer as interns in rural school improvement programs during their summer holidays and after graduation. Our institutional partners, including Beijing Normal University (teaching college) and Northwest Agricultural & Forestry University further expand the circle of partners dedicated to assuring better futures for rural children.

Students from Xi'an Institute of Art volunteered to do art projects with the children and painted murals on the school walls

Finished mural in the school's courtyard

(Left) Villagers inspecting renovated classrooms. (Center) Media coverage was instrumental in getting the word out to the community about the new facilities (Right) Students showing off the art projects they did with volunteers from the Xi’an Institute of Art — (Left) Villagers inspecting renovated classrooms. (Center) Media coverage was instrumental in getting the word out to the community about the new facilities. (Right) Students showing off the art projects they did with volunteers from the Xi’an Institute of Art.

Fostering the spirit of community cooreration, volunteer staff and workers from the corporate sponsor, Shaanxi Fuping Cement Co., together with teachers, students and CSF staff helped assemble new furniture and work on the muralsat each of the four project schools. — Fostering the spirit of community cooreration, volunteer staff and workers from the corporate sponsor, Shaanxi Fuping Cement Co., together with teachers, students and CSF staff helped assemble new furniture and decorate interior and exterior walls with mural at each of the four project schools.