The Hundred Families Banquet is a long-established Pao School tradition that honours teachers. Organised by the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), this banquet is a potluck feast featuring a wide variety of dishes prepared by the parents of our students for faculty and staff. The delicious home-cooked dishes are a way for parents and students to express their sincere appreciation to Pao School's teachers.
Hundred Families Banquet event at Middle School Hongqiao Campus
Photos by Y6 Cindy's Dad
This year's Hundred Families Banquet was unique in that it marked the first time the event was held on our Hongqiao campus. David, Chairperson of the Hongqiao campus PTA, remarked that "Golden Autumn" was the theme of this year's banquet, and as such, golden leaves were used for decoration at the event, along with beautiful flowers and rows of small red flags symbolizing the auspicious future of the Hongqiao campus. More than 200 families prepared a total of 80 dishes. Enthusiastic parents prepared the dishes in the morning and students brought them to school. Parent volunteers handled the set-up of the banquet. President Wu Zijian was also invited to attend the event.
"For our new teachers, including foreign teachers who have just arrived in China, the Hundred Families Banquet is a Pao School tradition that symbolizes the close ties among parents, teachers and students in our community. It's also a chance to explore the richness of Chinese cuisine; the great home-cooked dishes represent parents' warm feelings for our teachers and gratitude towards them."
David, Chairperson of the Hongqiao campus PTA
Maggie from Y6D played the song "On Wings of Song." When asked why she chose this song, Maggie explained that this is her first year at Pao School and that her first impression of Pao teachers is that they are willing to listen to what students have to say. With this song, she feels she can express her love towards her teachers.
Photo by Alpha's Mom
In the spacious and bright dining room, everyone enjoyed the students' performances and the delicious home-cooked dishes prepared by parents. Parent volunteers shuffled about busily, ensuring that the event went smoothly. Chris Zhuang, Middle School Director of Academic Affairs, who joined Hongqiao campus from the very start, shared her thoughts:
"I am very honoured to participate in the first Hundred Families Banquet to be held on the Hongqiao campus. All of our teachers, Chinese and foreign, can feel from this event that respect for teachers is an integral part of Chinese culture and is fully reflected in our school's tradition. Teachers are deeply grateful for the parents' heartfelt efforts."
Hundred Families Banquet event at Primary School Wuding Campus
As the parents of a transfer student to Pao School earlier this year, I wanted to present something special and easily shared among the hardworking teachers at the traditional Pao School Teachers Appreciation Luncheon. We felt that the attentive care provided by the nurturing and encouraging teachers is what made my daughter’s journey so successful. As parents, we anxiously waited each day to hear what she has discovered at her new school if she made new friends, and it was absolutely the amazing teachers at Pao School that made her transition so positive. THANK YOU, TEACHERS!
Y4C Nora's Mom (USA)
Hundred Families Banquet event at High School Songjiang Campus
Photos by Parents -
Lan Li, Daiwei Liu, Ke Xu, Xiaobo Zhang, A Ni
One parent, Feifei's Mom, who has been part of our Pao School community for more than ten years, dating back to the when we had no campus of our own and were located in the Shanghai No. 3 Girls School campus, has watched with pleasant surprise as her daughter has made steady progress and grown as a person, much as Pao School has grown to three campuses of its own: Wuding, Songjiang and Hongqiao.
"I am grateful that over the past decade, the founders have always stayed true to their vision; teachers have worked diligently, and parents have been supportive. As a parent who has been with the school on this journey for 11 years, I have benefited a lot too - in this community, I have grown alongside my child. In the future, I believe Pao School will continue to get better and better."
At the Hundred Families Banquet, Madam Tan Fuyun, Co-founder and Deputy Chairman of Pao School, expressed her gratitude to the parents on behalf of the faculty and staff of the school.
"The journey to establish a new school is full of challenges, and we owe our success of enrolling over 1,500 outstanding students to everyone involved in our school. We are grateful for the government's support and deeply touched by the parents and teachers who chose us and followed us from the beginning. We are grateful for the perseverance and patriotism of the three generations of the Pao family. Last but not least, thanks to the efforts parents and teachers who have developed fine character traits in the children."
It was the hard work of parents, who meticulously prepared all these delicious dishes, that made the banquet a success. To learn more about how they did it, we interviewed several parents and asked them about their recipes and preparation techniques.
On the third day of school, after seeing the first group photo of the 6D class, the smiles of each child and the teachers' enthusiasm made a profound impression on me. Shortly thereafter, we set about preparing dishes for the Hundred Families Banquet to be held on the Hongqiao campus. Like all of the parent volunteers involved, we thought about how to use the dishes to convey the unique joy of the precious childhood of our children.
Mini coloured burger
Ingredients: Hamburger buns (stained with vegetable juice), tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese slices
Preparation:
1. Slice tomatoes and cucumbers into large pieces
2. Slice hamburger bun down the middle
3. Put tomato, cucumber and cheese slices between the two halves of the hamburger bun
4. Insert a small toothpick flag into the middle of each mini-burger
——By Y6D Diane’s Mom
Avery's mother came to Pao School in the morning to do volunteer work for the Hundred Families Banquet. At around 10 am, she "took a break" to go home; in fact, she went home to prepare a dish - fragrant scallion noodles.
Ingredients and Instructions:
1. Mix seasoned soy sauce for seafood, a little dark soy sauce, oyster sauce and sugar together in a small bowl
2. Cook noodles; once noodles are done, rinse with cold water
3. Add cooking oil to the wok and cook scallions on low heat until they change colour; then add sauce
4. Wait for the sauce to cool and then pour it onto the cold noodles; mix and enjoy
——By Y7C Avery’s Mom
Spicy Avocado Tuna Roll
As part of the traditional YK Pao Teachers Appreciation Luncheon, our year was asked to prepare seafood dishes. I chose spicy avocado tuna rolls, which are relatively simple to make. Different sized cuts of tuna can be used and spiciness can be easily adjusted.
Ingredients: Seaweed sheets, white rice, rice vinegar, avocado, cucumber (optional), scallion (optional), tuna (fresh or canned), 1 tbsp mayonnaise and 1 tsp Sriracha spicy chilli sauce
Instructions:
1. Cook white rice, let cool and mix with rice vinegar to desired taste
2. Mix mayonnaise and sriracha chilli sauce to make “spicy sauce”
3. Thinly cut tuna and mix with spicy sauce
4. Slice cucumber, scallion and avocado
5. Cover nori sheet with sushi rice, and lay about 2 tbs of Spicy Tuna along the centre
6. Add scallion, cucumber and avocado slices and roll
7. Cut into 6 or 8 pieces and serve with soy sauce, wasabi
8. ENJOY!
——By Y4C Nora’s Mom
