Contributed by:
Hunter Yang, parent of alumna Angela
(attended Pao School from Year 3 to Year 7)
In March 2008, my daughter Angela entered Year 3 at Pao School. At the time, Pao School was still in its fledgeling years, having been launched just six months earlier. At the time, the school only had three years and four classes in total, and, as it did not yet have a campus of its own, was using a building that belonged to Shanghai No. 3 Girls’ High School as its campus.
In those early days, Pao School only had a few foreign teachers. The one who impressed me the most was Mike Young, who was in charge of teaching physical education. Mr. Young was an English gentleman, who stood tall and upright, and had a hardy spirit.
As I recollect, it was in Year 4 that the school organised a hike to Moganshan, which was the first long-distance hike of its kind at Pao School. As the school did not have many staff at the time, just two to three teachers were responsible for leading more than 20 students. Only one Year 4 mother signed up to be a volunteer parent. As Chinese parents at that time did not generally have much outdoor hiking experience, it is said this mother needed to be rescued herself after arriving at Moganshan.
That night, it rained heavily on the mountain. As he was concerned that the next day's hiking route would be dangerous, Mr. Young got up in the middle of the night and set up an emergency rescue rope next to the hiking route to ensure the students’ safety. By the end of the trip, everyone was completely soaked from head to toe. After returning to Shanghai, it took more than a week for everyone to recover, with many catching a cold afterwards.
Despite this, Mr. Young did not labour in vain: quite the opposite. This trip helped plant a passion for outdoor activities in Pao School students. Sports such as mountain climbing, hiking and cycling have long since become popular with the entire Pao School community. There is even a long-established school club dedicated to such activities, the Run-A-Way Club, while hiking on Moganshan has also become a regular activity for Primary School students.
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