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我們歡迎Jonah Olken-Dann出任啟明星新任中學校長！

Jonah校長來自美國，擁有喬治華盛頓大學學士學位、哈佛大學教育學碩士學位，曾在北京大學完成中文學習。Jonah校長擁有涵蓋小學到高中的15年教學及管理經(jīng)驗；也擁有豐富的課程設(shè)計、職業(yè)發(fā)展和學校管理經(jīng)驗。

Jonah Olken-Dann校長對啟明星并不陌生，因為去年一整年，他在啟明星擔任中學副校長兼IBDP協(xié)調(diào)員：

他會定期為老師們培訓。

他還是力求改變的項目（PFC）的指導(dǎo)老師。

極限飛盤是他特別熱愛的運動，每周五他都在飛盤課后課做教練！

熟悉啟明星，熟悉中國文化，講流利的中文，新學年的工作對Jonah校長來說就是妥妥的絲滑過渡！

不過，為了讓更多人了解Jonah校長，了解新學年里中學會有哪些新動作，我們還是對Jonah校長做了一個簡短的采訪：

問

為什么你能這么熟悉中文和中國文化呢？

J

我從7年級開始學習第二外語，中文是我的第一選擇。后來，讀大學三年級的時候，我在北京大學交流了一個學期。那是2008年，北京正在準備奧運會，所以交流結(jié)束后我沒有馬上回國，而是留在中國直到8月份奧運會開始。那段日子我過得很愉快，也是從那時起，我就決定要來中國工作。現(xiàn)在我已經(jīng)在中國工作很多年了。

問

在工作中，你會依據(jù)自己的優(yōu)勢為學校帶來哪些特別的貢獻呢？

J

作為校長，我的主要職責是支持老師和學生取得最出色的成果。我會和老師們緊密合作，因為他們是學生成功的真正推動力。在哈佛讀碩士的時候，我曾經(jīng)有幸和一位教授對馬薩諸塞州一些特別的“創(chuàng)新學?！边M行過深入的研究。所有這些學校都以不同的方式進行創(chuàng)新，而我也發(fā)現(xiàn)它們的共同點之一是，它們都非常有意識并成功地將教職員工納入學校的規(guī)劃和發(fā)展中，這對學校產(chǎn)生了深遠的積極影響。我一直把這樣的經(jīng)驗記在心里，所以在啟明星，我會持續(xù)地和老師們合作，共同建設(shè)讓所有人都感到自豪和有信心的學術(shù)項目。

另一方面，我的雙語能力使我能夠和啟明星社區(qū)的所有家庭和成員順暢溝通，我想確保啟明星能夠回應(yīng)所有學生和家長的需求，提供他們想要的教育。

最重要的，我希望我們的員工繼續(xù)努力為學生創(chuàng)造機會，支持他們探索自己的熱愛，找到適合自己的教育路徑。

問

你已經(jīng)在啟明星工作1年了，能說說對學校和學生的觀察嗎？

J

啟明星是很獨特的學校，一個特別地方就是它的社區(qū)，充滿幸福感。我能感到無論家長、學生還是老師，都在按照他們的想法努力建設(shè)這個社區(qū)。啟明星的老師們努力工作，支持我們聰明又有創(chuàng)造力的學生獲得成長。我們的家長也常常表示自己愿意為學校做些什么。

啟明星的學生關(guān)注學業(yè)，也尊重他人，愿意支持和服務(wù)自己的社區(qū)，這是他們這個年紀的學生不容易做到的。比如，在我們的特色社會創(chuàng)新活動——鳳凰論壇和社會創(chuàng)新市場活動中，學生們相互之間真誠地彼此支持。他們在一起做真心喜歡的事情，享受共同做事的快樂。他們是一群朝氣蓬勃的孩子，也追求積極的個性發(fā)展，是成長中的社會創(chuàng)新者！

問

作為資深教育者，你觀察到時代變化對中學生提出的新要求了嗎？

J

學校和教育者都要應(yīng)對時代的變化，這是學校的責任，但教育的核心并沒有變，比如怎樣提問，怎樣成為批判思維者，怎樣合作，如何正確使用新技術(shù)等等？這些依然是學校教育的重要內(nèi)容。

啟明星采用的IB課程體系和時代發(fā)展趨勢需要一致，所以，我們也需要不斷反思和改進我們的學術(shù)課程。

在新學年，我們將對高中課程進行一些改進，使9年級和10年級英文課程與11年級和12年級的IBDP課程結(jié)合得更加緊密，豐富學生的人文課程和音樂課程的學習機會。

問

你認為在學生要在從小學向中學學習過渡取得成功，需要在小學階段做些什么準備？

J

對于啟明星中學課程的學習，我們自己的小學課程做了很好的準備。我們的小學采用IBPYP課程，為升入中學向IBMYP課程過渡奠定了堅實的基礎(chǔ)。

學生們已經(jīng)學會了很多關(guān)于成為探究者和批判思考者的知識，這為他們面對中學學習具有挑戰(zhàn)性的問題和難題非常有幫助。

我建議學生在小學階段嘗試各種各樣的活動，比如參加豐富的體育和藝術(shù)項目，嘗試一下，看看自己真正感興趣的是什么。這樣，當學生進入中學時，他們會發(fā)展出很多興趣愛好，這些興趣愛好可以和他們中學的學科探索相結(jié)合。

總之，我們鼓勵學生在生活中保持平衡，追求自己熱愛的活動和知識。

We welcome Jonah Olken-Dann as the new Executive Principal of Daystar Academy Secondary School!

Principal Jonah comes from the United States, holding a bachelor's degree from George Washington University and a master's degree in education from Harvard University. He has also completed Chinese language studies at Peking University. Principal Jonah has 15 years of teaching and management experience spanning from elementary to high school, along with extensive experience in curriculum design, professional development, and school management.

In fact, Principal Jonah is not unfamiliar with Daystar, as he served as the vice principal of the secondary school and IBDP coordinator for the entire last year:

He leads training sessions for teachers.

He is also the mentor for the Project for Change class.

Ultimate frisbee is his favorite sport, and he coaches every Friday after school!

Familiar with Daystar, well-versed in Chinese culture, and fluent in Chinese, we can be sure that it will be a smooth transition to his work this school year for Principal Jonah!

To help give you a better understanding of who Principal Jonah is and what new initiatives the secondary school will undertake in the year ahead, we conducted a brief interview with him:

Q

How did you become so proficient in Chinese?

J

I started learning my second language in 7th grade, and Chinese was my top choice. Later, during my junior year in college, I spent a semester studying at Peking University. That was in 2008, when Beijing was preparing for the Olympics. After my exchange ended, I didn’t return home immediately but stayed in China until the Olympics began in August. I had a wonderful time during that period, and it was then that I decided I wanted to work in China. Now, I have been working in China for many years.

Q

What special contributions do you plan to make at Daystar?

J

I see my main role as principal as being able to support both our staff and our students to achieve their most outstanding results. This includes working closely with our teachers, who are truly the driving force behind the success of our students. While at Harvard studying my masters, I had the unique opportunity to conduct an in-depth independent study with one of my professors on a special group of schools in Massachusetts called Innovation Schools. All of these schools were innovating in different ways, but the one common thing I found at each school is that they had all been very intentional and successful in including their teaching staffs in the planning and development of the school, and this in turn had a profound positive impact on the school. That lesson has always stuck with me, and so I want to constantly be working with our teachers to cooperatively build an academic program we all are proud of and believe in.

On the other hand, my bilingual ability allows me to communicate smoothly with all families and members of our Daystar community, and I want to be sure that our school is also being responsive to and able to deliver the type education that our students and parents want. Most importantly for that, is I want our staff to continue to strive to create opportunities for students to truly explore their passions and find the educational path that is the right path for them.

Q

After working at for a year, what are your observations about the school and its students?

J

Daystar really is a truly unique school; one special aspect is its community, which is filled with happiness.I can feel that parents, students, and teachers are all working hard to build this community together into the school that we want.Our staff works incredibly hard to support the development of our bright and creative students, and our parents also often express their willingness to contribute to the school.

Our students are focused on their studies, respect each other and others, and are willing to support and serve their communities, which is not common for students at their age. For example, during our signature social innovation activities—the Phoenix Forum and Social Innovation Market—students genuinely support each other.They engage in activities they truly enjoy and relish the joy of working together.They are a vibrant group of kids, pursuing positive personal development and growing into social innovators!

Q

As a seasoned educator, have you noticed how the changing times present new demands on secondary school students?

J

School education must respond to the changes of the times; this is the school's responsibility and the responsibility of every educator. However, the core of education hasn’t changed—such as how to ask questions, how to become critical thinkers, how to collaborate, and how to use new technologies positively. These remain important elements of school education.The IB curriculum system used at Daystar by is very much in line with the trends of the times.That said, we also need to be continuously reviewing and improving our academic program.In the new school year, we will be making some improvements to our high school curriculum, more closely aligning our 9th and 10th grade English courses with the Grade 11 and 12 IBDP courses, as well as expanding access to humanities course offerings and music study for our students.

Q

You are currently managing the secondary school. What preparations do you think are necessary for students to succeed in the transition to secondary school from elementary school?

J

For Daystar's secondary school program, our own Daystar Academy Elementary Schools do an excellent job in preparing students for our secondary school program. Our elementary school’s utilize the IB PYP curriculum, which build a strong foundation for the transition to our IB MYP curriculum in our middle school. The students will have already learned a lot about to be inquirers and critical thinkers, and this will serve them well when faced with challenging questions and problems in secondary school.I also encourage students to explore widely different activities during their elementary years, including participating in sports and arts programs, to try out and see what it is they are truly interested in. This way, when they reach secondary school they will bring with them a host of their own interests, which will combine with their exploration of many new subjects such as design technology, in middle school.Ultimately we want to encourage our students to develop balance in their lives and pursue activities and knowledge that they are passionate about.