Peony Evening News Media Reporter Meng Xin Correspondent Zhao Xiaoxian
Eighteen years ago, Gao Xiang and his wife Du Xiaolei came from the town’s middle school to the remotest Yuankudui Primary School, embracing the original intention of dedicating education and making a school with the most backward conditions. Build a green campus for teachers and students, and build a remote rural primary school into a spiritual paradise for children.
Use labor to beautify the campus
In 1996, Gao Xiang and Du Xiaolei and his wife came to Gaozhuang Town Middle School together to teach. They quickly won the trust of colleagues with their rigorous work style and outstanding performance. In 2004, Gao Xiang was transferred to Yuan Kudui Primary School as the principal. Gao Xiang had also heard that the conditions of Yuan Kudui Elementary School were not good, but he did not expect it to be so bad: the school had no walls, only two rows of dilapidated bungalows, and the grass on the roof swayed with the wind. The school buildings are all judged to be D-grade dangerous buildings and need to be demolished within a time limit. The students had no classrooms, so they had to temporarily borrow nearby private houses for class. In summer, the private houses were not well ventilated and the students could not stand the heat. Gao Xiang led the students to class under the shade of the trees. Although the conditions were difficult, the teaching progress was not delayed.
In the fall of 2004, 18 new school buildings built by Yuan Kundui were delivered to use. Students moved into spacious and bright classrooms, and 9 teachers could only be squeezed into one office. Because he was far away from home, Gao Xiang always rushed to school early in the morning. He made some lunch at noon and could only get a warm meal when he returned home in the afternoon. Seeing her husband's hard work, Du Xiaolei couldn't sit still. In 2005, she was transferred to Yuan Kudui Primary School.
After the school is relocated and rebuilt, students only have a stable learning environment, but the task of greening and beautifying the school is still very heavy. After lunch every day, Gao Xiang and his wife picked up broken bricks and small tiles on the campus, piled them into a big pile, and pushed them out of the campus with a car. The teachers and students who arrived early saw their hard work and joined the ranks of labor. After a period of labor, the campus was clean. They bought a variety of seedlings and used the labor class time to make greening activities to beautify the school. The school became more beautiful day by day.
They also made a blackboard newspaper column on the outer wall of each classroom as a platform for students to show their talents. They regularly run blackboard newspapers. Students copy famous sayings, write poems, and describe their dreams.Yuan Mingzhen, a retired teacher who has worked at Yuan Kudui Primary School for decades, has repeatedly admired "unbelievable" when seeing such a big change on the campus.
Silhouette of Xuhe River
Gao Xiang's home is 6 kilometers away from Yuankudui Primary School. There is a Xu River between the school and home. They go to get off work along the embankment of Xu River every day. In the morning, they go to school together with the dawn; in the evening, they go home in the afterglow. It took 18 years to go like this. They rode broken bicycles and replaced them with motorcycles; rode broken motorcycles and replaced them with electric cars. The transportation changed three times, and they also went from black hair to gray hair.
Every morning, they always come to school early, write their names on the check-in form, and then take a broom to clean the leaves and scraps of paper in front of the school. Then stand at the gate of the school to welcome the arrival of teachers and students. Repeatedly, it became a scene familiar to teachers and students.
Gao Xiang and Du Xiaolei are devoted to their work and have no time to take care of their families and children. Their daughter Gao Yaru has lived with their grandparents since they were young. When the daughter was going to school in the city, Gao Xiang and his wife had no time to take care of them, so they entrusted their daughter to relatives. Gao Yaru, who has now graduated from university, recalls the scene of walking on the embankment with his parents, his face is full of poetry: "The sun is shining diagonally, and his body is covered with Jinhui. The parents are on both sides. I walk in the middle and feel that they are particularly tall."
The meal of the elder's house is really fragrant
Bao Jinling, who is now a sales company in the provincial capital, was a student taught by Gao Xiang. Every time she goes back to her hometown, she visits Gao Xiang and Du Xiaolei's home. When it rained, Du Xiaolei would always fry a pot of food, buy more steamed buns, and leave the students far from home to eat. Bao Jinling did not eat less food cooked by Du Xiaolei. Speaking of the food made by Mr. Du, Bao Jinling said: "The meal made by Mr. Du is very delicious, and I still have endless aftertastes."
There are now six classes in Yuan Kundui Primary School. 9 teachers, the teachers have been very nervous. Gao Xiang teaches not only one grade of Chinese, but also two grades of English and science. Du Xiaolei teaches not only one grade of Chinese, but also two grades of music and physical education.Everyone joked that Gao Xiang and his wife were "patch teachers".
In Gao Xiang's house, the two of them had their award certificates stacked together to a height of half a foot, which was affirmation and encouragement for their work. Sitting opposite them, perseverance, love, greatness... This series of full words rushed to my face. They said: "Now, we are in school from Monday to Friday, we are used to it, and we have feelings."
