5/21/2022
One hundred seventy enthusiastic students attended 2021-2022 After School Program Year End Ceremony upon Buddha’s Light Hsi Lai School’s (BLHLS) new campus, May 21, 2022. A BLHLS has nurtured approximately 8000 students over the past 33 years.—BLHLS relocated from Hsi Lai Temple into the nearby, newly-built Hsi Lai Center. Following eight years of careful planning and construction, the compilation of excellent teachers in a positive environment, and the harmonious mixture of both Chinese and Western culture-based curriculum, In celebration of Buddha’s birthday, a special area was created for the students and their parents to bathe the Buddha together!
More than 500 guests attended, including Junyi Wu, President of the Southern California Council of Chinese Schools, Yuxian Rong, Vice Principal of North Orange County Chinese School, Alex Wu, President of the BLIA Los Angeles Chapter, cadres of BLIA Los Angeles Chapter, Ven. Hui Dong, Principal of Buddha’s Light Hsi Lai School, and Ven. Man Zhao, Director of Buddha’s Light Hsi Lai School.
Eight students were honored for their positive community influence and awarded the President's Volunteer Service Award (PVSA) and medal, based upon their accumulation of over 100 volunteer hours. BLHLS received certification as one of the President’s Volunteer Service Award Organizations in September of 2021.
“You are [one of] the luckiest generations to attend this great school!” expressed Junyi Wu. “Buddha’s Light Hsi Lai School not only teaches Chinese courses but also enables students to have a deeper understanding through cultural and moral education, [helping] . . . students . . . [to] go further. I am, especially, impressed by the unique safety design of campus for the different grade levels to benefit students [by providing them] their own study areas and supporting facilities. Of course, the reason for the success of Hsi Lai School lies in the support of Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Monastery; as well as, the solid backup work of volunteers working together to create great achievements.”
Ven. Hui Dong congratulated the students on successfully completing their studies during the pandemic, and thanked the teachers and parents for all their hard work. He praised, “Today’s young generation is our nation’s future. Students not only study at Hsi Lai School but also participate in various meaningful activities elsewhere, such as, bathing the Buddha, copying the Heart Sutra, and New Year's Celebration. These learning experiences will be like seeds growing inside them and helping them be knowledgeable, have a caring heart, a beautiful mind, and become the pillars of society.”
Forty students received Excellent Achievement Awards. Teachers and volunteers were given recognition for their love, enthusiasm, and commitment. Attendance awards were, also, given to Saturday class parents. The perseverance of students and the dedication of parents has been outstanding.
Joyce Mak attended Hsi Lai School as a child—now she is a teacher at four schools! “Hsi Lai School is my favorite place to teach, and I have a very good relationship with my students,” Ms. Mak, a Christian since childhood, said. “...[I have] felt respect and tolerance like never before at Hsi Lai Temple and Hsi Lai School.”
Ven. Man Zhao, Director of Buddha’s Light Hsi Lai School, reminded teachers and students, “This has been a very difficult year for us, from online to in-person teaching, and relocating the school from Hsi Lai Temple to the new Hsi Lai Center campus. With the benevolent and compassionate wishes of our founder Ven. Master Hsing Yun, and the hard work of the engineering team led by Principal Ven. Hui Dong, the school construction has been completed. . . . now our children can proudly say, ‘We are the first batch to have our year-end ceremony here!’”
