Grateful students celebrate Teachers’ Day

ACTIVITIES are being organized around the city to celebrate the 35th Teachers’ Day today.

These include a movable studio set up by the Shanghai Education Commission at the downtown Sinan Mansions, where people can express their gratitude to their teachers.

Lu Yiwei, who won a gold medal in floristry at the 45th WorldSkills Competition in Kazan, Russia, 15 days ago, showed up at the studio yesterday to thank his teachers Zhu Yingying and Lu Duojia for their contribution to his success in the “Olympics for skills” event.

“In the past two years, they have helped me with the training, which made my winning possible,” he said. “They nitpicked so much that they always found fault when I was proud of my performance and pushed me to hone my skills further. I had complained about that but when I was at the competition, I realized it was all worth it. Many competitors made mistakes during the process, but I didn’t because I had been trained by them to the highest standards. Here I want to say ‘thank you’ to them sincerely and wish them a good Teachers’ Day.”

The 18-year-old presented a bouquet to Zhu. “It’s shaped like the sun, symbolizing the role of teacher that benefits a lot of people,” said Lu.

The studio also attracted some foreigners.

Hong Hi-ju, a South Korean student of Zheng Minhua, a surgeon at Ruijin Hospital, said she had been living in Shanghai since childhood as her father was posted in China by his company.

“Later my parents returned home, but my younger brother and I decided to stay in Shanghai as we grew up here and love the city. Dr Zheng has not only been mentoring my studies, but also my life. For example, when I was unable to join my family at traditional festivals, they would invite me to their home to enjoy home-cooked dishes as one of their family,” she said.

On the Bund, the walls of skyscrapers in the Lujiazui area are being lit up with words carrying blessings for teachers from 8pm to 9pm from September 8 to 16. The messages were collected from the social media accounts of the commission and local universities. More than 100 were received and about 30 of them were chosen to be displayed.

On Sunday, over 40 students and teachers from local universities and schools gathered on the west bank of the Huangpu River with their messages.