Pao Highlights

Primary School

Talent Show

Under the guidance of primary school ICT teacher Wilson Scott, the students created magazines to present their project results in various areas such as art, design, engineering, and programming. The magazine not only highlighted the students’ skills in these areas but also demonstrated their creativity and innovation.

In June, Hongqiao Campus held an online art exhibition with the theme of All Art at Once. The exhibition, which was organised by Chen Yunzhi, Head of Art, and supervised by Lili Zhu and Wing Wu, included diverse works from students in Years 6-8.

Combining different aspects of online learning, Ms. Zhu introduced a special unit "Floating Like the Clouds" which was based on colour theory the students had studied in Year 6. The course was inspired by Ming Dynasty prints of different landscapes that allowed literati and writers to appreciate China’s splendid scenery without leaving home. In art class, the students also shared their best travel photos and most interesting travel experiences. They then used colour theory to create their own unique landscape paintings. These works allow students to enjoy the world’s vast beauty even while they are at home.

Year 6 student artwork

Y6C Maxine

Y6E Yolanda

Y6E Tangtang

Y6D Venus

The Year 7 students’ works mainly focus on poster design, lines, and principles of light and shade. The “meta-exhibition hall” aimed to immerse visitors in the art.

Year 7 student artwork

Y7C Rachel

Y7C Lareina

Y7C Sophie

Y7E Emma

The exhibition of Year 8’s 30 young artists is a collection of their works showcasing what they have learned in art class. The exhibition allows visitors to see the different artists’ distinct renderings of blooming flowers, with many different artistic styles on display. 

Year 8 student artwork

Y8A Emma

Y8E Yan Ru

Y8A Wendy

Y8C Elvin

Following the Middle School’s first online concert, the young musicians performed twice more for their classmates and teachers. The concert brought the school year to a triumphant conclusion and inspired everyone to look forward to the new academic year.

Pao Paper team: 

Chief Editor: Y8F Selina 

Deputy Chief Editor: Y7B Jochen 

Layout: Y8B Angel, Y7B Olivia, Y7D Alice, Y6D Connie 

Editors: Y8B Aina, Y8F Angel, Y8B Jonney, Y8C Cedric, Y8D Eden, Y8F Jamie, Y7B Heidi, Y7B Elsa,  Y7C Lareina, Y7C Rachel, Y7C Ann, Y7D Izzy, Y7F Emily, Y7F Kevin, Y6A Yoyo, Y6B Olynn 

Advisor: Sharpay Cao

Year 7 Pao News team collaborated seamlessly online in conducting interviews, copy editing and magazine production. The informative and rich content included interviews with Pao Stars and answers to students' letters.

Team: Sarah 7B; Elsa 7B; Susie 7B; Eric 7B; Eric 7F; Lele 7B; Olivia 7B; Kelly 7E; Sally 7B; Rito 7B

Ms.Haneen Hamadeh with students

Ms. Hamadeh enjoys challenges and exploring the world. She came to China with 

her love for music. As time went by, her initial concern regarding adapting to the 

new environment disappeared. Ms. Hamadeh tells us that YK Pao School is “one 

of the very few places that I’ve worked at where I feel I am part of a community 

and part of the group of teachers that will always be there for each other 

and help each other out. 

—— Excerpt from Pao Paper “The Endless Road of Music”, Authors: Y8B Jonney and Y8F Jamie 

In February, the High School held welcomed in a number of events for Philosophy Week. Organised by members of the Advanced Philosophy club, the highlights included a talk from Professor Qi Tao from Fudan University, a student seminar featuring student presenters, a Pao Symposium, the distribution of the second edition of the Pao Journal of Philosophy, a philosophy poster contest, and a philosophical movie night.

In late April, the High School saw the announcement of its winners for the 2022 Talent Quest, a talent competition that sought entries in two areas: physical and artistic. The contest saw a flood of entries, showing a diverse range of interests such as singing, playing musical instruments, dancing, practising card tricks and skateboarding, alongside shows of sports and physical strength.

“The Talent Quest was implemented as a way to encourage extra-curricular engagement during the online learning period,” says Ryan Funnel, High School PE teacher and organiser of the contest. In the Talent Quest, winners were selected from each house, congranulations to the winners for both categories:

Category: Physical

1st Summer:  William (Y12)

2nd Autumn:  Alex and Leon (Y9)

3rd Spring: Frank (Y9)

4th Winter: Ariel (Y9)

Category: Arts

1st Winter: Kitty, Dora, and Joey (Y10)

2nd Spring: Elina (Y10)

3rd Summer: Aimee (Y10) and Miller (Y12)

4th: Autumn: Leef Liu (staff member entry)

Congratulations to this year’s United States Academic Decathlon (USAD) teams. One USAD Seed Team led by Caco Liu and consisting of Taylen Huang, Raina Ni and Chris Tian (all in Y9), came 1st in China and have now qualified for the Global finals. The other USAD Seed Team, consisting of Adelina, Candy, Emily, and Minnie, came second and would have qualified for the Global finals but only one team from a school is allowed to do so. In the senior USAD competition, the team led by Isabel Chang and consisting of Paris, Mary, Teresa, Minjun, Peter, Gavin, David and Bowen came first and qualified for the Global Final whilst the team of Vivian, Joyce, Sophia, Susie, Risen, Jerry, Fiona, Noah and Eric came second (all in Y10). All these students have worked very hard to prepare for this competition, assisted by Ms Dream Xia and Mr Yingkai.

In the Quill and Scroll International Writing, Photo, and Multimedia Contest National Finals：

•  - Amaris (Y11) received the Gold Prize for Editorial Writing, the Gold Prize for Profile Writing, and the Silver for her podcast；

•  - Jenny (Y10) received the Gold Prize for political writing；

•  - Mandy (Y11) received an honourable mention for her photo illustration

Congratulations to James (Y11) who has just received a Gold Medal and the honour of Summa Cum Laude (the highest honour) on the US Advanced Prose National Latin Exam, the best performance on the exam in the world. James has also become the secretary of the Junior Classical League for China.

Congratulations go to Robin, Kaikai and Jane (all in Y9) who worked together to win 2nd place in the 37th Shanghai Adolescents Science and Technology Innovation Contest.

Congratulations to Ethan (Y10) who was awarded a Gold certificate in the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust Intermediate Mathematical Challenge and a Silver Award in the British Physics Olympiad Online Intermediate Physics Challenge.

In the International Linguistics Olympiad China (IOLC), Grace (Y9) was awarded the Senior Level Individual Distinction. As a team, Grace was joined by three Y11 students, Lily B, Lily X, and Clare to be awarded the Senior Level Team High Distinction.

Congratulations to those students who recently took part in the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) competition. In particular, congratulations to Ashley (Y9), Lisa (Y9) and Nema (Y10) who came 1st in China for their Sales Presentation and Tom (Y9) who came 1st in the Networking Infrastructure and 2nd in the Insurance and Risk Management.

Congratulations to our students who had qualified for the Global Final of the National Economics Challenge：

•  - Angela (Y11), Peter (Y10), Kevin (Y11) and Allen (Y11) impressively took First Place globally in Critical Thinking and sixth in the Overall Team awards

•  - Teresa (Y10), Noah (Y10) and Daniel (Y10) – also did really well to be placed seventh in International Economics and Current Events (International) and tenth in Microeconomics (International)

•  - Kevin (Y11) who came fourth globally in Outstanding Students in Qualifying Test

Angelina, David, Jane (all Y9) and Steven (Y10) performed extremely well in the Envirothon China Final, gaining “National 10th Place” and the 4th highest score for their case study and presentation.

Congratulations to Victor (Y9) who recently earned an "A" rating for the USA Fencing classification, the highest rating possible, by winning a silver medal in a major competition. Victor becomes the 12th A-rated fencer born in 2007 and the only non-US citizen among them. 

Finally, congratulations to Maria and Lisa (Y11) who filmed and produced a documentary entitled “365 Days” which was awarded the Golden Rice Award in the Beautiful Country International Film Festival.

To boost young people’s ability to communicate internationally and tell stories about China to the world in English, the "English Corner" of China Pictorial held a video creation contest. Bobby Y7D and Jerry Y7D, from the Middle School, submitted their piece: "Intangible Cultural Heritage on Fingertips —Approaching Traditional Chinese Dress Craftsmanship”. The work stood out among more than 1,000 entries and won first prize in Shanghai.