Spotlights type: Alumni stories

Yew Chung International School of Shanghai (YCIS Shanghai) has received a generous gift from alumnus Clark Wu to create a seeding fund for the YCIS Puxi robotics programme that will further strengthen the school’s STEAM programme and inspire other students to reach their full potential.

Clark and his parents offered their incredibly kind donation as a way to express their gratitude to the faculty and community of YCIS for building such a strong foundation for his academic goals, as he sets off to the United States to study at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire this autumn.

Clark entered YCIS at six years old, having studied previously at a local kindergarten. “I genuinely feel that I learned all of my English at YCIS. At first, I found it challenging, but the year I spent in the English as an Additional Language programme was fantastic and helped me so much to progress in my learning,” he said of his beginnings at the school, during a recent visit to campus to discuss his donation. Starting in the YCIS Puxi Primary programme, he later moved on to the YCIS Puxi Secondary programme during his seven years at the school.

Clark’s mother, Ms Shen, highlighted that one of the main reasons they chose YCIS for Clark was that they wanted to further enhance his already high level of Chinese language skills, whilst also studying in an international environment.

Clark found his teachers very supportive and shared particularly wonderful memories with Ms Gu and Ms Hua, his Chinese language teachers. He also said that the music programme at the school helped him develop a true passion for music. During his time in the YCIS Puxi Secondary programme, Clark was selected as a Prefect and was also part of the Student Council. Clark also reminisced about the fantastic friendships he had with his classmates and noted that another main highlight of his time at YCIS was his involvement in the Robotics Co-Curricular programme, with three very good friends – Frank, Emma, and Gabe.

Clark’s donation will be allocated to support the Robotics programme, providing even more opportunities for the robotics and engineering activities which will take place starting next year in the new Innovation Incubator Space in the YCIS Puxi Secondary ‘C Building’. The renovation project for the ‘C Building’ starts this month and is scheduled to open in August 2020. Designed by Fielding Nair International, Yew Chung’s partner in providing exceptional, world-class learning spaces, the new building will feature a robotics space, project and design studios, a fabrication shop, an A.R.T. ideation suite, and specialty equipment rooms that feature the latest technologies, and will provide an enhanced, ‘Learning Community’ environment for YCIS students.

Ms Isabel Xu, Co-Principal at YCIS Puxi Secondary was delighted to welcome Clark back during his visit and was thrilled and very moved to hear of his donation, saying, “Clark has the heart and spirit that we aim to instil in our students. We are delighted to see how generous he is, and we are certain that he will make a change and impact the future of the world.”

Beyond his donation, YCIS Puxi is looking forward to welcoming Clark back to the school in the future to talk to students and inspire them with his message about giving back. As an alumnus of YCIS, Clark is also part of Yewtopia, the Yew Chung Education Foundation’s global alumni community. To learn more about Yewtopia, please visit https://ycefconnect.com/.

In thrilling news, YCIS Shanghai Puxi alumnus Zakea Page (Class of 2017) has been announced as the winner of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)'s medal design competition for the Winter Youth Olympic Games Lausanne 2020.

Zakea’s winning design, entitled ‘Beauty in Diversity’, was selected by a panel of judges from among nearly 300 entries from 60 nations. His design will be cast in the form of gold, silver, and bronze medals for the Winter Youth Olympic Games, which will be held in Switzerland in January 2020. Zakea will attend the Games, including the Opening Ceremony, and will witness first-hand the athletes being awarded the medals featuring his design. In addition, he will receive his own set of medals.

The 20-year-old, who graduated from YCIS Puxi Secondary, is now a creative media student at Massey University in his home country of New Zealand. He has combined his love for art and hockey into an incredible work of performance art, coating a ball in ink and using his stick to create art, integrating sporting equipment into his artist's toolkit. His next dream is to perform his live performance art with his painting at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.

In March, Zakea came back to visit Gubei Campus while hosting an art exhibition in Shanghai and shared his excitement as he awaited the results of the competition.

Zakea explained the background of his design, saying “It was inspired by Maya Angelou’s quote, ‘In diversity there is beauty’. This is fitting because the Youth Olympic Games are not only a celebration of human excellence but also of culture and humanity. The spiral represents a culture of respect, friendship, and excellence as young athletes gather at the Youth Olympic Games to celebrate their success. The spiral also celebrates the journey of hard work and dedication made by each individual athlete. These journeys are specific to each athlete, but they all lead to the Youth Olympic Games, where the athletes will compete and showcase their abilities.”

During his visit to campus, Zakea looked back fondly of his time at the school and shared that the highlights of his time at YCIS were the people that he met, the long-lasting friendships that he made, and the myriad of opportunities that YCIS provided for him.

According to Ms Isabel Xu, Co-Principal of YCIS Shanghai Puxi, “Zakea’s passion and talent for art is amazing! We were absolutely delighted when he joined YCIS Puxi because of the Arts department. He is now not only pursuing the art career he dreamed of, he’s doing it at such a high level! We are thrilled that his studies in our IB programme helped him to realise his dream. Personally, I am very happy to hear the news of his success, and to have witnessed his transformation from a gifted student to becoming an award-winning artist.”

YCIS Puxi Secondary Art & Design Teacher, Mr Regimon Augustine, who taught Zakea during his time at the school, said that he is also exceptionally proud of his talented former student, stating, “Everyone at YCIS Puxi Secondary is so proud of Zakea and his achievement. He is a fully-fledged artist, full of creativity. It was clear when he studied in my class that he was especially talented and that he possessed a creative outlook and was very forward-thinking, drawing inspiration on the latest, modern trends in art and design. His medal design was definitely the worthiest winner.”

Of this time at YCIS Shanghai Puxi, Zakea said that he wholehearted recommends the school to other students, stating, “YCIS Puxi is a place where you learn and you grow. The teachers and people at the school are phenomenal, and it’s a fantastic and safe place in which to be challenged. YCIS is a wonderful environment from which I have really benefited.”

Zakea’s visit served as a fantastic illustration of the enormously positive impact a YCIS education has on shaping the exciting career and life paths of our alumni. We warmly congratulate Zakea on his win and look forward to his future visits to campus!

YCCECE’s students come from diverse backgrounds and various parts of the world, many of whom require financial support to pursue tertiary education, but all of whom share a dream of serving and nurturing their country’s next generation.  Listen to two of our students on how scholarship has made their dreams come true.

YCCECE is reaching out to like-minded people in the community to support our work towards making our unwavering mission a reality.  Together, we will nurture a new generation of Yew Chung Educators!

We very much welcome you to come for a personal visit to the YCCECE campus.  In the meantime, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at secretariat@alumni.ycef.com.