YCIS Shanghai Graduation Highlights

Yew Chung International School of Shanghai (YCIS Shanghai) celebrated the impressive achievements of its graduating class at the end of May during commencement ceremonies at both YCIS Shanghai's Century Park and Gubei Campuses. This year, a number of exemplary students received awards recognising their excellence and accomplishments in a variety of different fields.

At the Century Park Campus graduation ceremony, the Valedictorian, Ha Yeon Park, gave a very moving speech focused on her fellow graduates and her classmates in the lower year levels. Each graduate proudly crossed the stage to shake hands with the school's Superintendent, Mr Tom Ulmet, and the Co-Principals, Mr Chris Connellan and Ms Mary Yu. For Park, who studied at YCIS since 2004 – and her classmates – the night was the crowning moment for their efforts, and a time for reflection upon the journey.

The evening also celebrated the accomplishments of the campus' Secondary Students, with awards presented in the areas of academics, the arts, service, and cultural integrity. For Key Stage 3 and IGCSE curricula students, awards for outstanding achievements were presented in a host of different academic, artistic and athletic areas, including: Humanities, Mathematics, Science, Male and Female Sports, English, and Visual Arts. Specialist Awards were distributed to top-ranking students in the fields of Music Service, Musical Performance, Performing Arts, Design and Technology, Action and Service, and Chinese Performance. The student with the highest grade point average earned the Academic Award, while the Co-Principals' Award for Service honoured students who have demonstrated a deep and passionate commitment to serving their communities. The Bicultural Award, which recognises a student who has demonstrated great cultural appreciation and the ability to integrate cultures and cultural mores into their lives, was bestowed upon a student who embodies the multicultural outlook and lifestyle that the YCIS educational approach strives to impress upon its students. A Shanghai International Schools Association (SISA) awards was also presented during the event.

Two days later, at the schools' Gubei Campus, 49 young men and women walked across the stage as graduates, ready for their future studies. The composition of this year's graduating class is a representation of the diversity offered at YCIS: the students represented 17 different nationalities, and as a class, they will go on to study at 34 different universities in seven different countries.

The global-minded graduates of YCIS Shanghai took time during the ceremony to thank their families, teachers and classmates who helped them reach this major milestone, and with the graduation ceremonies finished, the newly minted graduates are now busy preparing for their enrolment in prestigious universities around the world. This year's YCIS graduates' interests and talents are extremely diverse, promising a very bright future in their future fields of study, which range from business, medicine, architecture, and science, to arts, design, film, and fashion. The students will go on to pursue their passions at respected universities including the London School of Economics and Political Science, the University of Hong Kong, McGill University, the University of Amsterdam, Northeastern University, the University of Edinburgh, the Art Center College of Design, the University of Rochester, New York Film Academy, Parson's School of Design, the Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine, Singapore Management University, University of Warwick, and Atelier de Sevres.

The graduation ceremonies encapsulated the values of unity and community that YCIS strives to instil in its faculty, staff and students, and the events also demonstrated the promise that these graduating classes have. As these students begin their new academic lives in University, their global worldview and the myriad of skills they have learned and developed at YCIS Shanghai will support their continued success.

About YCIS Shanghai
Yew Chung International School of Shanghai (YCIS Shanghai) offers the unique richness and diversity of both Western and Eastern cultures, equipping children to be bilingual, competitive, and caring global citizens. YCIS students are nurtured in a multicultural environment with a well-rounded and balanced education, which transforms them into global-thinking individuals. YCIS Shanghai has served the needs of Shanghai's expatriates since its establishment in 1993, with campuses in prime locations in Puxi and Pudong to accommodate the growing number of Early Childhood, Primary and Secondary students within the Shanghai expatriate community. The school serves more than 2400 students, ages 2 to 18, from over 50 countries. In recognition of the schools' longstanding commitment to providing a world-class, global education, YCIS was presented with the "Cambridge Award for Excellence in Education" in 2012, a top honour from the University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE). Notably, YCIS is the first, and only, group of schools in China to receive this award. YCIS is accredited by NEASC, CIS, and NCCT, and is authorised as a Cambridge International Examination Centre and an International Baccalaureate World School.