June is a month full of poetry with its gentle breeze, elegant drizzle, warm sunshine and fragrant flowers. For students at ECNUAS, June also means a month full of hopes and expectations to celebrate their 10-year-old birthday.

In order to enable parents to share the joy of growth with their kids, Primary School has thrown a big 10-year-old birthday party to celebrate grade three students reaching their tenth birthday here at ECNUAS.

Cindy Tian from G3A and her mom host this event. Her mom brings a special gift to Cindy this time, a story about a chick named Qiuqiu and a sunflower. The story is presented in the form of a stage play, bringing parents, teachers and students a visual feast.

When Qiuqiu the chick first meets the sunflower, the sunflower is nothing but a mere seed, just like kids in their fresh year at campus. Love from parents and teachers is the same as the expectation from Qiuqiu to the sunflower breaking through the soil, nurturing the kids to grow up and see the wonderful world.

Just like sunflowers, children grow up with great vitality. The process, however, is not a smooth one. Children need to face the challenge and overcome the barriers in life. Growing up means one has to fight against the storm bravely. 

After the storm, Qiuqiu harvests a lot of sunflower seeds. Children also grow up after experiencing the storm in life. In this process, parents and teachers take the role as their guardians so that kids can enjoy the joy of growing up. 

With the passing of autumn, the sunflower has spread its seeds and lived its life. Seeing her old buddy fading away, Qiuqiu cries sadly. For kids growing up, it is also inevitable for them to experience the pain of departure and embark on their own journeys without their parents and teachers standing by them. But whenever they look back, they will see their parents and teachers always standing right there, ready to shelter them.

Another spring comes, sunflowers are blossoming all over the hill. Qiuqiu is rejoiced to find her friends. They dance and sing together with frogs, ladybugs and butterflies. At this moment, Qiuqiu finally realizes the meaning of life. So for our dear children, do not feel discouraged after one defeat because even the sun can be shielded by clouds sometimes and do not rush growing up for only when you are armed with the skills can you soar up high in the sky like an eagle.  

The stage play dropped its curtain in applauses and cheers. At the end of the celebration, every student from grade three received a rose corsage from teachers and parents on the stage. Principal Gong made a speech and here are some of the excerpts: 

Reaching the tenth year in your life represents the passing of time; soaring up like an eagle signifies the value of your growth. Be ambitious and learn for better and always pursue the true meaning of life. 

What will we become when we grow up? We believe our 10-year-old children have already found the answer. With the encouragement and expectation from Principal Gong, all students’ dreams are lighted up. 

In the flickering candle lights and heartfelt laughter, Principal Gong cuts the cake and wishes all the kids from grade three happy birthday. We believe the future of our kids is as sweet as the cake in their hands.  

To all the 10-year-old students at ECNUAS, keep on running without fear and welcome the future with widespread arms.