On January 23 at the Shanghai Children’s Art Theatre, more than 70 students from YK Pao School performed in a spectacular charity benefit show – ‘2017 Future Stars: Dreaming of an Art-filled World’ – that raised funds for impoverished migrant children in Shanghai. The Pao students performed together with the Future Star troupe, the China Welfare Institute Children’s Theatre troupe, and the China Welfare Institute Children’s Palace troupe.
Pao School co-founder Philip Sohmen and several other guests kicked off the performance by releasing origami cranes into the air to symbolise letting one’s dreams take flight.
Year 3 student Zhou Minghan served as one of the hosts for the charity show.
The guzheng duet ‘Liu Yang River’
The dance ‘Never Say Never’
The song ‘When I Close My Eyes’
The comedy sketch ‘Who is the CEO’
The song ‘Legend’
The recitation of a passage from ‘China’s Young Generation’
The choral song ‘Flying Higher’, which marked the high point of the show
Before the performance began, more than 20 volunteer students and parents from Pao School sold various items at a mini-bazaar. All proceeds from those sales will be donated to the Shanghai Children’s Fund for the Future Stars project.
‘Charity work shows us how rewarding it is to give back to society,’ said Annie, a volunteer parent from Pao School. ‘I hope this charity event can help Pao students see the value of altruism. If we all work together, we can make society a better place’.
Launched in 2014 as a three-year initiative, the Future Stars project aims to enrich the lives of more than 400 children of migrant workers by offering them learning opportunities in the visual and performing arts free of charge.
‘I am delighted that Pao students and the Future Stars troupe performed so impressively’, Philip Sohmen said, adding that the highlight of the passage recited from the essay ‘China’s Young Generation’ is ‘When a nation’s youth is strong, the country is strong’. He continued: ‘The idea that children are the nation’s future is in line with Pao School’s vision of building a school for tomorrow’s China. Pao School has been engaged in Future Star charity art projects for two years. In both the Future Star winter camps and charity performances, the children who participated grew together and forged new friendships. Pao students also learned about benevolence and personal responsibility’.
Character education is a central tenet of Pao School’s mission of whole-person education. Pao School has developed a comprehensive character-education curriculum that incorporates eight character strengths (compassion, integrity, balance, respect, reflection, responsibility, resilience and self – management) as well as events to support character education. These include Read To Feed, The Giving Tree and the Founder’s Challenge swimming competition. Pao School cultivates in students a sense of social responsibility and teaches them how altruistic behaviour can transform society for the better.
We would like to extend a special 'thank you' to Pao parent Judy, who did an outstanding job as event photographer. This year's 'Future Stars, Dreaming of an Art-filled World' charity benefit show will be broadcast on Shanghai Education Television on 27 January (Chinese New Year's Eve) at 17:30 and again the next day at 00:37.
