Meet the Unsung Heroes of Beijing’s International Schools

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Every school is run by a kaleidoscopic cast of dedicated individuals – from teachers and administrators to support staff and cleaners. However, while it's great that we celebrate Teachers’ Day and honor those who provide a direct service to our students, there's an unfortunate lack of Janitorial Staff or Canteen Ayi Days to recognize these irreplaceable people in our communities who often operate behind the scenes. Jingkids decided it was time to appreciate these unsung heroes of our kids’ campuses, so we asked schools to nominate their less visible staff members for all their hard work!

Without further ado, Jingkids presents the Unsung Heroes at School Awards!

Dou Shifu, Beijing International Bilingual Academy (BIBA), Property Engineering

“The Walking Map”

His name is Dou Jianjun and we’d like to call him Dou Shifu. He is in charge of the Property Engineering Department of BIBA. He has been working in BIBA for over 15 years. He loves his job. We call him "the walking map of BIBA" Because he knows all the facilities of school and even every pipeline. Whenever we need him, he will show up with a bright smile. No matter how hard his work is, he always keeps a pure and peaceful mind, which perfectly demonstrates BIBA’s educational concept of "Let Children be fulfilled because of us."

Zhou Ayi, British School of Beijing, Sanlitun (BSB Sanlitun), Classroom support

“Going Above and Beyond”

Zhou Ayi has worked at the British School Of Beijing, Sanlitun Early Years for 14 years, quietly going about her daily role. Zhou Ayi is amazing with our Tadpole children (under 2 years old), she not only cares for them, attending to their personal needs (changing diapers, feeding the children, helping them to settle to sleep) but also goes above and beyond her role by playing with the children in the classroom, joining in at carpet time and even learning some English Nursery Rhymes and Makaton actions, helping the children to develop their communication and language skills. Zhou Ayi is a friend to everyone in our Early Years, she is patient and kind and is always happy to lend a helping hand or go that extra mile.

“As a new teacher to Tadpole class this year, I really appreciated Zhou Ayi’s help and experience, it made all the difference in making me feel happy and welcome in the new classroom.’’ says Rebecca Zhang – Tadpoles Class Teacher

Brenda Leung, British School of Beijing, Shunyi (BSB Shunyi), PR and Community Development Manager

“Always Ready to Help”

Brenda has worked at the British School of Beijing, Shunyi for seven and a half years as the Public Relations and Community Development Manager. Her dedication and love for BSB and education can be seen in her enthusiastic attitude coming to work every day with a great smile and her professional work ethic in doing what is best for the school and the students. Everyone can always count on her and she is always there to help.

Originally from Hong Kong, Brenda has lived abroad for more than 30 years, completed her IGCSE in England, and her BSc from the University of Toronto. She often shares her own international education and expat experiences with parents and students and assists in organizing school events to help new parents settle down in Beijing. She is an integral member of the team and has built many great relationships with our parents and community partners over the years.

Yajing Chen, Canadian International School of Beijing (CISB), Director of Finance

“Longest Service”

We would like to nominate our Director of Finance, Ms. Yajing Chen! The delightful Ms. Chen has worked with the AKD Education group for 25 years and as the Financial Director at CISB since it opened in 2006. Ms. Chen works incredibly hard, is always positive, and underpins so much of the behind-the-scenes of CISB. Ms. Chen, in many ways, is the unsung hero of our school, whose work all too often passes unnoticed because of her humility and attitude of service to the school and the CISB community.

Images: Courtesy of the schools

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