Report of our first group meeting -By SEP China Trip Team Members: Lucas Shi, edited by Erin Zhao, Eliana Kwan, and Ailing Wang.
On February 8th, in the NCLS after-school classroom, our China Trip team held our first in-person group meeting after all ten team members were selected through interviews. The goal of the meeting was for students, teachers, and parents to get to know one another since we are now officially one team — the 2026 China Trip Team. During this gathering, we discussed the overall trip planning, code of conduct, presentation preparation, and performance arrangements. We began with a fun activity. Before the presentations, everyone enjoyed a potluck where each family brought a variety of dishes. There was tanghulu, salmon sushi, orange chicken, and many other delicious foods. The potluck helped everyone feel relaxed and excited before presenting. Most importantly, it served as a great icebreaker, since many of us did not know each other well, despite being part of the same SEP team. The meeting was officially kicked off by our two China Trip captains and teachers, Eric Shi and Amy Yang. They congratulated the ten students representing NCLS SEP on being selected for the 2026 China Trip. They also introduced the school we will be visiting, Shandong Jining First High School, from April 20–24. The school was established during the Qing Dynasty in 1902 and has over 120 years of history. It currently has more than 5,000 students and teachers. The school has many outstanding students; however, some may require financial assistance due to their family situations. One of the purposes of our trip is to support 10–20 disadvantaged high school students through funds we raised during year-long fundraising activities, such as bake sales, dance parties, tennis tournaments, and online tutoring. The ten students on our team were divided into three groups to prepare presentations for the trip. After the teachers’ introduction, each group shared the first draft of their presentation. The goal of our presentations is to introduce our studies, schools, daily lives, and hobbies to the students at Jining First High School. The first group presented on extracurricular activities and school life in the United States. The second group focused on popular American foods and common school subjects. The third group introduced Boston and explained the SEP program at Newton Chinese School. Overall, although there is still room for improvement, we did very well for our first presentation — especially since we presented in Chinese. This experience helped us practice teamwork and communication skills as we prepared to travel to China and live with high school students there. Below are some photos of the gathering:
After the group presentation, we practiced our Zootopia group dance, which was the fun part. All the students and the teachers danced together as a team!
Overall, we had a great event and a successful first China trip team meeting.
📚 SEP Book & Digital Corner 启动啦！ 🎉 3月8日，周日。SEP 正式启动全新的 Book & Digital Corner！我们在原有数字素养项目基础上，新增二手书义卖区，希望为牛顿华人社区提供平价好书，同时为支教项目（SEP）筹集善款。 💡 欢迎大家捐书 & 加入志愿者团队！ 如果您家中有有闲置的： 🎓 各类考试备考书（SAT/AP/TOEFL 等） 📖 英文、中文读物 🔬 STEM 类书籍 都可以选择 捐赠或寄售，让好书重新被阅读、知识继续被传递 ❤️ 👉 Book & Digital Corner 说明文档: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19HeR6wX0T7KDa8EPCLTzvXSdU2jIr-EAZNmBgP3Mx7c/edit?usp=sharing 👉 Book & Digital Corner在售图书: https://sepncls.github.io/bookcorner/ 📆 活动时间：每周日1-5 PM 📍 地点： F.A Day Middle School Cafeteria, near the bake sale table 让我们一起行动，用书香与爱心助力 SEP ❤️📚
(Report by – Evan Shi) On October 25, 2025, five students from various high and middle schools — Evan Shi, Jasmine Gu, Tony Wu, Alex Wang, and Lucas Shi—who attend Newton Chinese Language School, visited Maplewood Senior Living in Weston, MA, as part of the SEP Senior Home Initiative.
Maplewood Senior Living in Weston is the third senior living center that SEP students have connected with. Having previously visited Stonebridge in Burlington and Maplewood earlier this year, this was the students’ second visit to Maplewood. The group was delighted to reconnect with familiar residents and meet new ones, making the afternoon both meaningful and joyful.
The visit took place around noon, while residents were enjoying lunch and socializing. The students distributed handmade greeting cards created by SEP participants to all the residents, bringing smiles and warmth throughout the dining hall. During the visit, students engaged in conversations with the residents—listening to their personal stories, life experiences, and heartfelt advice.
Revisiting Maplewood was a wonderful and rewarding experience. The SEP students look forward to continuing their outreach by visiting more senior living centers in the future, spreading kindness, love, and positivity to the community.
As many of you already know, the President’s Volunteer Service Award (PVSA) was paused earlier this May. In response, Newton Chinese Language School is proud to introduce a new and prestigious award that recognizes and honors individuals who have demonstrated a strong commitment to volunteer service.
As the largest nonprofit weekend language school in New England, NCLS has served as a certifying organization since 2015. Each year, we carefully review all applications and celebrate the outstanding achievements of our students.
The application for the 2025 ELSA is now officially open! Please see below for detailed guidelines:
When you send us the application materials: 1) Email subject line should be in this format: ELA + your name; 2) In the email body: a) Write a short application statement summarizing what you did, why you did them, and what you learned. b) Provide a list of all the attachments. 3) The attachment file name format: Your name + list index number + organization name + hours (Example: Victor Li – 1- NCLS TA—39hr).
