Every year, many elite overseas returnees and experienced foreign teachers at China (Hong Kong) English School (CHES) are preparing to welcome Teachers' Day. This year, two teachers from the primary and secondary schools, Kristy and Zhou Yingtong, are excitedly chatting about their experiences of celebrating Teachers' Day at this international school.

▲Kristy, the American foreign teacher, emphasizes making her English speaking class both educational and entertaining.

Kristy, an American teacher from Utah, met her husband from Hong Kong during her college years. After marriage, she moved to Hong Kong with her husband and worked as an English teacher for many years. In 2022, it was her three children who prompted Kristy to make up her mind to teach at CHES.

To provide her children with better international and traditional Chinese cultural education, after much selection by the couple, their children were sent to study at CHES. In 2022, with the youngest son Yishan also transferring from Hong Kong to this school, Kristy's family has all moved to Zhongshan. Thus, by chance, Kristy also quickly joined the same school as her sons, becoming an oral English teacher in the primary school.

Her colleagues all say that as an English oral teacher, Kristy not only carefully corrects the pronunciation of her students in class but also actively participates in many after-school educational activities and various extracurricular activities. Her standard American accent seems to accompany the children at every moment on campus. "Because of this, she is deeply loved by the students."

In the past, whenever the children needed to make various shaped cards, blessing letters and other handicrafts to give to the teachers, Kristy would help them carefully select materials and offer suggestions. It was not until she received flowers and handmade greeting cards from her students that she truly experienced the surprises and sense of achievement. She is looking forward to her third Teachers' Day at CHES.

▲Secondary school teacher Zhou Yingtong who returned from overseas poses for a photo with her students.

Zhou Yingtong, a graduate of Columbia University in the United States, had only been teaching at CHES for 10 days when she suddenly received many flowers and greeting cards from her students on September 10 in 2021. "At that time, I couldn't believe it was real. I was a bit nervous." Of course, her teaching achievements have been remarkable since then, and she has become more and more composed when facing colleagues' praise and students' love.

Zhou Yingtong is a native of Zhongshan and mainly teaches IELTS reading comprehension, writing and listening. She studied at Purdue University in the United States for her undergraduate degree and at Columbia University for her master's degree. She has lived and studied in the United States for many years and has rich experience in taking exams. "While completing her teaching tasks, Zhou also takes on many other responsibilities." Teacher Cai from the school gave the example of the 2024 Guangdong English Film Dubbing Talent Show. Although Zhou is not an oral English teacher, under her organization and guidance, several students from the school formed a team and stood out among 21 teams from all over the province. They won the second place (silver award) with a difference of only 0.04 points from the champion team. Zhou said that through imitating the original film dubbing, it not only helps students master authentic English pronunciation but also the process of assigning roles, understanding roles, and expressing different characters in the movies helps students improve their reading comprehension ability.

Zhou Yingtong had dreamed of becoming a teacher since childhood, and it has been five years since her dream came true. "I enjoy the process of accompanying my students as they grow up quickly. In recent years, more and more students have been admitted to prestigious overseas universities such as Imperial College London, the University of Edinburgh, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Sydney, the University of Melbourne, and the University of Hong Kong with our team's support."