Lei Hong, the principal of Tucson Chinese School, is about to step down (picture)

Lei Hong, the principal of Tucson Chinese School, is about to step down (picture) "Alberta Times" special reporter Yang Li reported from Tucson on May 20, 2012: Tucson Chinese School...

"Alberta Times" special reporter Yang Li reported from Tucson on May 20, 2012: Lei Hong, the principal of Tucson Chinese School, is about to step down. He officially announced the news at the graduation ceremony of Tucson Chinese School on May 20.

>The Tucson Chinese Association’s special plaque “Spring Breeze Turns into Rain” was presented to Principal Lei Hong

in recognition of his contribution to Tucson Chinese School (Photo by Yang Li)

> Lei Hong has been actively involved in the school affairs of Tucson (Zu Sun) Chinese School as the vice principal since the spring of 2007, 2009 In the fall of 2016, he officially served as the principal of the school and has been there for three years. During Lei Hong's tenure as principal, he, together with the two vice-principals Cai Zhikun and Cao Peiqin, and the provost Chen Rongji, made the Tucson Chinese School a great success and achieved rapid development, with the highest number of registered students reaching 180. Regarding the traditional teaching project of Chinese traditional and simplified characters, Lei Hong led the reform of the teaching system, shortening the original 12-year system, but adding literature elective courses, and officially included assisting students in passing the AP Chinese exam into the teaching plan. This system takes into account both situations: some students are satisfied with completing the basic teaching content, and some students are still "not enough to eat". In addition, he added a new "Ma Liping" Chinese class and introduced a new teaching method. He also further improved the teaching system of bilingual classes and adult classes, and extended the teaching target from Chinese children to other ethnic groups.

In terms of training teachers, he works closely with the Chinese Consulate and the National Association of Chinese Schools, selecting Chinese school teachers to return to China for training every year, and also inviting lecture groups from the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council to the school. In order to create a learning and working atmosphere of "learning happily and working comfortably", he also improved the Chinese school's reward system for teachers and students, and successfully served as a bridge between the school and the board of directors. As the principal, Lei Hong actively encourages the school’s extracurricular activities to be diversified and interesting. The school holds literacy contests, essay contests, speech contests, science days and summer camp activities every year. Some of the activities are closely integrated with related activities held in China, which not only expands the horizons of teachers and students of Tucson Chinese School, improves the teaching level of Chinese schools, but also enhances the influence of Tucson Chinese School.

In terms of community activities, he works closely with the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center to bring traditional projects such as folk dance, lion dance, dragon dance, and diabolo to various cultural activities in Tucson. Tucson Chinese School is therefore not only a place for Chinese children to learn their native language and culture of their mother country, but also attracts many Americans from other ethnic groups to come here to learn Chinese and understand Chinese culture.

While serving as the principal of Tucson Chinese School, Lei Hong also works full-time in the Department of Neurobiology at the University of Arizona. He took the initiative to resign. On the one hand, he firmly believed in the concept of "new leadership, new creativity, and new heights", and on the other hand, he wanted to devote more energy to his family. However, he said that he would continue to contribute to the cause of overseas Chinese education as always.