Contributed by:
Lou Jian, Alumni parent (Louisa, entered Year 6 at
Pao School in 2013, graduated from high school in 2020, and is now
an undergraduate student at the University of Bristol in the UK)
In 2013, my daughter entered Pao School at age 5 ½ and started a life-changing experience. The aspect of her experience at the school that had the greatest impact on her was the Pao School Run-A-Way (RAW) club.
In the summer of her first year of Pao School, my daughter decided she wanted to join Pao School’s RAW club cycling activities. To accompany her, I purchased a bicycle and joined the various cycling activities organised by the club.
By participating in RAW's cycling activities, many Pao School students, like my daughter, have gone from being novices in the sport to experienced cyclists and even top performers in amateur cycling competitions. They are familiar with the classic routes: starting from Miaojiang Road and Century Avenue, from the Primary School to the High School, and then even to Jiulong Mountain for training.
But cycling with RAW extends beyond Shanghai. The club established a cycling objective for each member: "two lakes and three islands" (later adjusted to three lakes and three islands). Take out the map of China, and ride around the three largest islands: Taiwan Island, Hainan Island, and Chongming Island. After that, there are islands to cycle around: Thousand Island Lake, Taihu Lake, and Qinghai Lake. My daughter and I both took up the challenge and had a great time, and we also learned a lot from the experience.
Run-A-Way cycling around Taiwan, December 2014
Run-A-Way cycling around Taiwan, December 2014
I have watched my daughter grow up through our participation in RAW. There were two years between our first and second journeys around Taiwan, and the same amount of time between the second Taiwan trip and the first one to Xinjiang. During these cycling journeys, I witnessed my daughter learn to take care of not only herself but also her friends when they needed help. Cycling really is beneficial for one’s personal growth!
In December 2016, Run-A-Way cycling around Taiwan
Cycling is also quite an experience for a parent. The journey can be painful, but it is ultimately rewarding, and feelings of discomfort give way to a strong sense of camaraderie. And when parents ride together with their children, they learn from one another. Parents learn they must allow the child to grow up, and that they must let go, and think about planning the future with their children.
In March 2016, Run-A-Way parents teamed up to complete the 200-kilometre
challenge of non-stop cycling on Chongming Island
In general, cycling helps participants to build camaraderie, which is especially important for children. As the children ride together towards their common goal, powerful bonds of friendship are forged in their shared trials and tribulations. Whether in Taiwan, Hainan or elsewhere, the children together ride through weather good and bad, brave the wind and the rain, and finally experience the luminance of a rainbow after a storm. Finally, when they reach the end of the journey, they celebrate jubilantly, giving each other high-fives.
Another great aspect of cycling at Pao School is that children from different age groups participate in the activities. The children, therefore, have a chance to make friends that are both older and younger than they are. My daughter has really benefited from this opportunity. Indeed, she has discovered that regardless of which year they are in, everyone who participates in RAW is outstanding. She was so proud to have the chance to cycle around Taiwan with all her classmates from the inaugural class of Pao School.
Since Ah Ni became secretary of the group, the RAW club has also begun to organise activities with other schools. We can think of it as a “cycling friendship” with other schools that involves alumni of Pao School as well as other bilingual schools with cycling enthusiasts. These events attract many like-minded students from other schools and have at times even focused on philanthropy. For instance, my daughter participated in a charity cycling activity that encouraged donations of 1 yuan for every kilometre ridden to support children from impoverished households.
Another benefit of the RAW club is that it exemplifies the ethos of Pao School. The club’s events receive strong support from both parents and the school’s founders and senior management, including Founder Philip Sohmen and the previous principals. Former Pao School President Wu Zijian’s participation in RAW is especially notable. In June 2021, President Wu successfully rode nearly 65 kilometres in the rain at the age of 72 (he was the oldest cyclist in the competition). This was inspirational for everyone in the RAW club. Although my daughter has left Pao School to pursue her studies in the UK, the club has become an important part of my life and I continue to serve as a volunteer, just as I did when my daughter was a student at Pao School.
In April 2017, the first "Cycle for Love" charity cycling event
Run-A-Way also embodies Pao School’s philosophy of whole-person education. Children ride on bikes in the club to experience the world, challenge themselves mentally and physically, and see Chinese culture in its many manifestations. After multi-island and multi-lake rides, the children’s horizons have broadened significantly. They have learned that in life, we fall down so we can get back up again. They have put into practice Pao School’s core values of compassion, integrit,y and balance. As a parent, I am deeply grateful to Pao School for all the opportunities the RAW club has given not only my children but all the students at Pao School who have had the good fortune to participate in the club.
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