The Northern California Chinese School Association held a press conference on May 29th in Miao Bida, announcing the candidates for the 49th President and Vice President. Liao Xiuqing is running for President and Wu Meizhu is running for Vice President. They expressed their commitment to serving the schools, teachers, and students with enthusiasm and creativity, aiming to continue shining a light on Chinese education in Northern California.
Current President Fu Qijun stated that the Northern California Chinese School Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing opportunities for overseas children to learn Chinese and Chinese culture, with approximately 80 member schools. All the association’s staff are volunteers who serve the member schools and students with enthusiasm.
Fu Qijun mentioned that the association organizes various activities each year, including student competitions and teacher seminars, with a large team supporting the schools behind the scenes. He expressed his honor in leading the team to successfully complete these activities over the past year and thanked everyone for their support.
During the meeting, the Election Committee composed of principals Chen Meihua from West Valley Chinese School, Zhang Liwen from Bay Valley Chinese School, and Bai Jie from Happy Mountain Chinese School explained the nomination and qualification review process for the candidates.
Zhang Liwen stated that both the presidential candidate Liao Xiuqing and vice-presidential candidate Wu Meizhu have passed the qualification review and recommendation procedures. She pointed out that Liao Xiuqing has many years of teaching experience, a spirit of service, teaching enthusiasm, and creativity; while Wu Meizhu has been dedicated to education and association activities, serving as a judge and volunteer, demonstrating commitment to education and community service.
She mentioned that both candidates are qualified, possess service-oriented spirits, and enthusiasm for education, which gives the Election Committee full confidence in them.
Liao Xiuqing presented her platform with the theme “Leading with Passion, Inheriting with Creativity.” With 24 years of experience in the education sector, she believes in the unchanging initial intentions of education, but emphasizes the need for innovative, lively, and down-to-earth methods for cultural inheritance. She expressed gratitude to the past presidents, current team, and volunteers for their dedication over the years, and hopes to work together with vice-presidential candidate Wu Meizhu to continue the association’s spirit of service.
Liao Xiuqing shared her plan to focus on three main directions: supporting schools by being a backbone for principals, integrating resources, and expanding alliances; supporting teachers by utilizing AI and technological tools to reduce lesson preparation and paperwork burdens, allowing teachers to rediscover their passion for teaching; attracting students through activities such as cultural creative design, cultural markets, idiom comics, short film contests, to make learning Chinese enjoyable for children. She used the symbolism of the aster flower to signify the gentleness, determination, and diversity of the overseas education spirit, hoping to bring out creativity and promote inheritance in Northern California Chinese education.
Vice presidential candidate Wu Meizhu, who hails from Taiwan with a major in horticulture, shared her journey into education after graduation, teaching in rural areas for three years, then transitioning to promoting digital education by partnering with technology companies to introduce digital teaching software to campuses. From 1996 to 2001, she visited various elementary and middle schools across Taiwan. After moving to the United States, her children joined the Sin Yuan Chinese School, where she immersed herself in volunteering and administrative work, eventually serving as vice principal and principal for six years.
Looking back, Wu Meizhu has always had a deep connection with education. She expressed gratitude to Liao Xiuqing for inviting her to serve as Vice President, admitting that she initially declined due to her love for Olympic ball. However, after joining the Northern California Chinese School Association and witnessing many volunteers dedicating their time and effort to serve selflessly, she was deeply touched and decided to take on the responsibility. She believes in Liao Xiuqing’s good ideas and direction, and pledged to assist to ensure that the 49th association continues to shine brightly in Northern California.