So, now the uploads work and it’s time to put closure on our time at Nanjing High School. We finished or final day with a tour of the school museum (the past), taught 3 classes (7:20 AM, 10:55 AM & 4:20 PM-the present) and in between went to visit the construction of the new Nanjing Senior High School (future)-opening this September! It was a “nice red bow on the whole package”/experience (Hi Jeff Crow!)
Professor Huang-Founder of Nanjing High School
The amusing part for us Yosemite-ites is that the high school was founded before our park! But, so as not to make us feel bad about being “younger” than a high school, Nanjing University is also younger than the high school as one of the school’s principals, after steering the school, went on to found Nanjing University.
Former principal of HS & founder of Nanjing University
Mara & Mr. Zhang in the museum
Hey Mr. Zhang, sorry if we changed your name! We also learned that sometime in the 1930s the school went co-ed (first photo of female students was 1933) and that from 1937-1942 the school and students were moved to Shanghai as it was safer. After the museum tour and visiting the on-campus art gallery, donation by an alumni who is also president of the Calligraphy Society, we went east about 10 km to visit the construction site of the new school. The junior students will move from their current school lodgings to the current site of the senior school. This will allow the original school site to remain part of the school. The new site will house the senior school and an international center. The school is also going to work on getting certification to teach Chinese to foreign students so when sister schools have exchanges the Western students will get the opportunity to learn Chinese. It also means that teachers like us will not have to live in a hotel! So check out the shots Hugh took!
construction entrance
There will be 6 buildings that contain classrooms, all will have 4 or 5 stories. Capacity for the school will be 3000 students if we remember correctly.
administration building on right, teacher offices on left
The classrooms are also to the left and the teacher offices will connect to them. There are 3 construction companies working on the project and an interesting sidenote is that they all have temporary housing for their construction workers. Now, that in itself is not that unusual. When we worked at Great Basin National Park we were housed in modular units at the Border Inn along with construction workers who were working on Hwy 50-the loneliest highway in the US! And in Yosemite the contract construction workers are housed down the road from us as well. But here, not only are the construction workers given housing, but also their families. And there’s more! The construction company also provides temporary schools for the workers children-translated directly they are “peasant” schools. But each company provides their own school, so on the construction site there are pre-fab residential zones in 3 separate locations.
one of the classroom buildings
construction in action
There will also will be a sports field/track, swimming pool, dorms, dining hall, and all backed by a hill with the trees and many hectares that have the potential to be used for a hoped-for environmental sciences component to the curriculum. Funded by the government. So, if, no, when! we get to come back it will be exciting to see the new campus all landscaped and teeming with students!