Last week, SUIS Gubei held the final flag-raising ceremony of this academic year. Mr. Lee, the Deputy Head and Director of Studies, imparted valuable advice on “Summer Plans” with the students, and the House Champions of this academic year were also announced on that day.
上周，协和古北举行了本学年的最后一次升旗仪式。校区副主管兼学术主管Mr Lee先生就即将到来的“暑期计划”向全体同学发表了富有指导意义的讲话，并提出了宝贵的建议。与此同时，经过一学年的激烈角逐与比拼，备受全校师生瞩目的本学年House冠军也于当日正式揭晓，为整个学年画上了圆满的句号。
Safe and Happy Summer
Welcome to the last flag raising of the year. This academic year the school has been vigorously posting your achievements and successes to its public social media account. Social media is a powerful tool when it comes to advertising this school and instilling a sense of pride in our students. But social media also has a very dark side to it. Its ability to manipulate opinions, influence thinking, and persuade you can have adverse effects on your mental and physical health. This summer, I offer you a challenge. Try to reflect on your social media use and how much time you spend on it.
Make no mistake. Your attention and engagement is being purchased and sold. Social media addiction is by design and as a result it is introducing negative effects to your lives. I am currently supervising an EE student whose research is centered around the influence social media has on young people. A lot of you are regularly being bombarded with messages about how you’re not good enough. You are being told to fix the way you look. To fix the way you dress. To fix the way you speak. To fix the way you live. This is not a healthy way to go through life. Where I come from it is also trendy for people your age to record themselves committing dangerous stunts to drive up their social media engagement. These stunts include hopping over dangerous gaps, jumping into bodies of water, and consuming harmful substances. These stunts are reckless and put people in danger.
On my visit to my home country last summer I was absolutely appalled at what I saw. Drivers using the phone on the highway. Lifeguards using the phone while on duty at the beach. I see parents using the phone while their infant children are left unsupervised in crowded markets. Phones all the time. Phones and social media have robbed us of our attention spans. It has robbed us of our social skills and our empathy. It has made us more impatient, more close minded, more careless.
The academic demands at this school are no joke and I commend all of you for pushing through it. You also found time to engage in sports and academic competitions. You found time to rehearse for theatre, music, and art events. You write essays, do research papers, and sit challenging examinations. I speak for all the teachers and staff at this school when I say that we are in awe of what you are capable of doing. I hope that you can see the greatness in yourself too. I hope that you care enough about yourself to be safe this summer and to come back next semester healthier, smarter, and ready to grow.
在这庄严的时刻，我们齐聚一堂，共同参与本学年的最后一次升旗仪式。过去的一学年里，学校始终致力于展示各位同学的杰出成就与成功，并通过学校公共社交媒体账号广泛传播。在树立学校形象与激发学生自豪感方面，社交媒体无疑发挥了举足轻重的作用。然而，我们亦需清醒认识到，社交媒体亦有其弊端。其操纵观点、影响思维与说服他人的能力，可能对同学们的身心健康产生不良影响。
鉴于此，我在此提出一个挑战，希望同学们能够利用即将到来的暑假，深刻反思自己的社交媒体使用习惯及投入其中的时间。请务必认识到，你们的注意力与参与度正成为商业交易的对象，被购买与出售。社交媒体成瘾是精心设计的结果，其负面影响已逐渐渗透到你们的日常生活中。
目前，我正指导一名EE专业的学生开展关于社交媒体对年轻人影响的研究。据我了解，许多同学经常受到“你不够好”等负面信息的轰炸，被迫改变自己的外表、衣着、言谈举止及生活方式。这种趋势显然不利于同学们的健康成长。在我的家乡，一些同龄人甚至通过录制危险特技表演来提高社交媒体上的关注度，这种行为极端鲁莽，严重危及生命安全。
去年夏天，我返回家乡时，亲眼目睹了手机与社交媒体对人们生活的侵蚀。高速公路上的司机在驾车时仍分心使用手机，海滩上的救生员在值班期间亦未能全神贯注，甚至有父母在拥挤的市场中沉迷于手机，导致无人照看身边的婴儿。这些现象令人痛心疾首，凸显了手机与社交媒体对人们注意力的剥夺。此外，过度依赖手机与社交媒体还可能导致我们丧失社交技能和同理心，变得急躁、固执与粗心。然而，协和古北的学术要求严谨而富有挑战性，我衷心赞扬同学们能够坚持下来，并在完成学业的同时积极参与各类体育运动、学术竞赛及艺术表演等活动。你们的付出与努力值得所有人的敬佩。
在此，我衷心希望同学们能够珍视自己的价值与伟大之处，关心自己的成长与健康。愿你们在即将到来的暑假中注意安全，充实自我，以更健康的体魄、更睿智的头脑和更充分的准备迎接新学期的挑战。
House Champions
Amelie: Good morning students and teachers, we are your house captains for the 2023-2024 school year. Over the past semesters, we have seen your hard work and house spirit, and that has all accumulated to house points. We hope you’ve enjoyed the different activities this year, and that this enthusiasm continues into next year.
Amelie: 亲爱的同学们、老师们，我们是2023-2024学年的House captains。在过去的一学年中，我们共同见证了每位同学所付出的努力以及所展现的House精神，这些努力和精神已经转化为具体的House积分。我们由衷希望今年的各类活动能深受大家喜爱，并期待这种热情能够在新的一年中得以延续。
Breanna: This year we were introduced to a new house system, where each house competition was based upon a subject or subject group. Over the year, 8 house competitions, 3 house events, sports day, and daily merits have added to the total house points.
Breanna: 本学年，我们创新性地推行了一种新型的House积分系统，每个House的比赛均围绕某一学科或学科组展开。在过去的这一学年里，我们成功举办了8次House比赛、3次House活动、运动会以及日常积分统计，这些活动共同构成了House积分的总成绩。
Amelie: To acknowledge your hard work, we will be celebrating the winning house within the next few weeks, but before we announce the winning house of the 2023-2024 school year, let us recap the events that brought us to where we are today.
Amelie: 为了表彰大家的辛勤付出，我们将在接下来的几周内公布2023-2024学年的House竞赛优胜者。但在正式揭晓本学年的获胜House之前，让我们共同回顾一下这些活动是如何引领我们走到今天这一步的。
Andrew: Our year started with the Science house competition, where you were all introduced to the new house system. This event drastically differed from what the grade 11s knew house competitions as. We blasted rockets, threw paper aeroplanes, and built spaghetti and balloon towers, ending in a victory for the Green Dragons. A great beginning to a year of house spirit!
Andrew: 本学年的活动以科学House比赛拉开序幕，这一全新的House积分系统让大家有了更为深入的了解。与以往的House比赛相比，本次活动形式新颖，我们发射了火箭、投掷了纸飞机、搭建了意大利面塔和气球塔，最终绿龙House凭借出色的表现荣获冠军。这无疑是展现House精神的美好开端！
Chloe: The theatre house competition soon followed, being one of the house competitions with the highest level of engagement. Each house performed its rendition of the thriller dance routine, taught by the theatre department and the house captains, setting the mood for the costume party that followed. In the end, Red House won with a shockingly organized wave.
Chloe: 紧接着，我们举办了戏剧House竞赛，这是本年度参与度极高的House竞赛之一。各House成员在戏剧组和各位House captain的指导下，对特定舞蹈动作进行了精彩的演绎，为后续的化妆舞会营造了浓厚的氛围。最终，红凤凰House凭借其惊人的组织能力脱颖而出，摘得桂冠。
Shun: In late November after the lip sync event, we held our humanities event, where we got to experience different games from around the world. Students took part in a tug of war and red light-green light, and Green House came out on top. We then held a torch ceremony that modelled the one held during the Olympics, surely one of the highlights of the year.
Shun: 在戏剧House比赛圆满落幕后的11月底，我们举办了一场人文House活动，让大家体验了世界各地的不同游戏。同学们积极参与拔河比赛和红绿灯游戏，最终绿龙House再次凭借出色的表现获得胜利。随后，我们举行了一场模拟奥运会火炬传递的仪式，无疑成为了本年度的一大亮点。
Amelie: The humanities event was great, but the highlight would have to be the lip sync house competition right before the winter break. The event was a standout moment, uniting our houses in excitement. We had the great opportunity to experience our teacher’s talents at lip-syncing and the true magic of our peers’ performances. Their participation added charm to the event, filling the atmosphere with joy and energy.
Amelie: 人文House活动固然精彩纷呈，但本学年最为引人注目的活动非Lip-Sync（对口型假唱表演）竞赛莫属。该活动在寒假前夕隆重举行，为我们带来了难忘的欢乐时光。各House成员团结一心，共同为观众呈现了一场充满惊喜与感动的表演。老师们展现出了非凡的歌唱才华，同学们则充分发挥了自己的表演天赋。他们的积极参与为活动增添了无限魅力，使得现场氛围热烈而欢乐。
Breanna: As we approached the Spring Festival, in celebration of the Year of the Dragon, the Chinese House Competition started strong with a dragon dance and then moved on to enjoying various traditional activities across different stations. This event surely ended the first semester with a blast and left us all in happy spirits as we left to enjoy the holiday.
Breanna: 随着春节的临近，为了庆祝中国龙年，我们特别安排了一场以舞龙表演为开场的House竞赛。随后，大家纷纷前往各个站点，参与各种传统活动。这场活动以盛大的方式结束了第一学期的学习生活，让我们在享受假期的同时依然保持着愉悦的心情。
Peter: Right after the winter holiday, we organized the English House competition centred on the magical world of Harry Potter and the AQA syllabus. This unique event featured a quidditch cup, bringing the entire grade together in a display of teamwork, allowing both wizards and muggles to immerse themselves. This was then followed by activities representing “The Destructors” and “Through the Tunnel”.
Peter: 寒假结束后，我们组织了一场以哈利波特的魔法世界和AQA课程为主题的英语House竞赛。这场别具一格的活动以魁地奇球赛为特色环节，将整个年级的同学紧密地联系在一起。无论是巫师还是麻瓜，都沉浸在这场魔法盛宴中。此外，我们还举办了代表“破坏者”和“穿越隧道”等主题的活动，为大家带来了更多的惊喜与欢乐。
Abby: The spirit of teamwork was demonstrated in the art competition. In it, each of the four houses drew their mascots through their communication and cooperation skills, followed by a game of whispers and post-its. This certainly added to the vitality of our school and allowed every student to participate and feel the power of teamwork.
Abby: 在艺术比赛中，同学们充分展示了团队合作精神。每个宿舍通过密切沟通与协作，共同绘制出各具特色的吉祥物。随后，大家还参与了“传话”和“便条”等趣味游戏。这些活动不仅为我们的校园生活增添了色彩，也让每位同学都能积极参与其中，深刻感受到团队合作的力量与魅力。
Amy: Our last event of the school year was the German house competition, where each student represented themselves in a sudden death general knowledge quiz, as well as an obstacle course, in which we incorporated the festive traditions of Oktoberfest. Let’s not forget the fierce competition shown in Topf Schlagen, where we watched our peers compete to be the first one to hit the Topf blindfolded.
Amy: 本学年的最后一项活动是德国House竞赛。在这场竞赛中，同学们积极参与了一场知识竞赛和障碍赛等环节，我们将慕尼黑啤酒节的传统元素巧妙地融入其中。此外，“敲顶”比赛中的激烈竞争也让人印象深刻，同学们戴着眼罩争相敲打啤酒桶，场面十分热闹。
Breanna: Along with the 8 house competitions, the Earth Day photo event, Pi Day, the house Chess competition, and the annual Sports Day had also contributed to the final house points of the 2023-2024 school year.
Breanna: 除了上述8次House竞赛外，我们还举办了地球日摄影活动、圆周率日庆祝活动、House国际象棋比赛以及年度体育运动日等一系列丰富多彩的活动，这些活动同样为2023-2024学年的House积分做出了重要贡献。
Amelie: Through these events, we were able to witness immense collaboration and house spirit, and we would also like to take a moment to thank those who made these events possible, including our school staff, media team, subject departments, SLT, and our house coordinator, Mr Ledger.
Amelie: 通过这些精彩纷呈的活动，我们见证了同学们之间深厚的友谊和卓越的团队合作精神。在此，我们也想向那些为这些活动付出辛勤努力的人表示衷心的感谢，包括我们的学校工作人员、媒体团队、学科部门、学校领导以及我们的House协调官Mr. Ledger先生。
Breanna: Without further ado, let us welcome the four heads of houses, Mr Deschaine, Mr Lloyd, Mr Sedighi, and Ms Percival to help us announce the house rankings. Each head of house is holding a balloon of their house colour, and once popped, confetti will fall from the balloon of the winning house.
Breanna: 在此，让我们热烈欢迎四位House负责老师——Deschaine先生、Lloyd先生、Sedighi先生以及Percival女士上台，共同为我们揭晓House的排名结果。每位House负责老师手中都握着一个象征着各自所代表的House颜色的气球，戳爆气球，气球内的缤纷的彩纸将从冠军House的气球中洒落，象征着荣耀与成就。
First place: Green Dragon House
Second place: Blue Shark House
Third place: Yellow Tiger House
Fourth place: Red Phoenix House
第一名：绿龙House
第二名：蓝鲨鱼House
第三名：黄老虎House
第四名：红凤凰House
Congratulations again to Green House! We are looking forward to the pizza party, but for other houses, don’t be discouraged. We can’t wait to see your growth and house spirit next school year!
再次向绿龙House表示热烈的祝贺，敬请期待即将举办的Pizza庆祝活动。同时，我们亦希望其他House不要因此感到沮丧，我们满怀期待地希望大家在下个学年的成长与展现出的House精神。