Five years ago, a seed of hope took root in the land of Qingdao, and five years later, three classes of graduates of Pegasus California School are heading for prestigious schools around the world with their dreams and the eager expectation of their alma mater.

 

On May 30, 2021, all the students, teachers, and staff of Pegasus California School gathered in the school auditorium together with the guests and parents to witness the 5th- anniversary ceremony, which was attended by leaders from Jimo District, Qingdao. The whole ceremony was broadcast live by PhoenixNet, and nearly 200,000 people watched the ceremony through the internet.

 

The ceremony was led by Pegasus California students from planning, organizing, implementing live stage design, scene decoration, and program performance. Students from different grades of the school, including Zhou Siyu, Liu Xiaofan, Zhang Yixin, and He Si Rui, served as the hosts of the ceremony.

 

 

Speech by Mr. Steven Ma, Founder

"Proud of everyone"

 

The ceremony started with a speech by Mr. Steven Ma, the founder of Pegasus California School, who delivered a speech on the 5th anniversary of Pegasus California School through the internet. He said that the success of Pegasus California School today is due to the joint efforts of the staff, students, and parents. No matter what kind of difficulties we will face in the future, we will always bring quality and pure international education to our students - not only to help students learn English, inspire their minds, and develop values and perspectives on life but also to broaden their international perspective so that every student who comes out of Pegasus can become a contributing member of the world.

 

 

 

Speech by Mr. Tom Torlakson, General Principal

 

The ceremony was followed by a speech delivered via the Internet by Tom Torlakson, the Head of School at Pegasus and former California State Chancellor of Education. He expressed his pride in seeing the Pegasus Class of 2021 go on to success. It has not been an easy journey, with school closures during the global epidemic and students being challenged by online learning at home to prevent the epidemic. Thanks to the students for enduring and thriving against all the uncertain odds, maintaining success and excellence, and setting a new record for the school's prestigious advancement rate!
 

 

Blessings from alumni around the world

 

In the past 5 years since the establishment of the school, three classes of outstanding graduates have come out from Pegasus and received more than 600 offers from top schools around the world, including the University of California, New York University, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Toronto, King's University College, Nanyang Polytechnic in Singapore, and more and more Pegasus people are appearing in the world's top schools, who were once the masters under the blue sky of Pegasus, and are now scattered like stars in the halls of top schools around the world. On the occasion of their alma mater's birthday, they also sent their best wishes.

 

 

 

Welcome speech by Ms. Wang Hongwei, Chinese Principal, and Mr. Robert Taylor, Academic Principal

 

After the ceremony, Ms. Wang Hongwei, the Chinese Principal, and Mr. Robert Taylor, the Academic Principal, gave their welcome speeches, first of all, they thanked the guests and parents for attending the event, and said, "In the past 5 years, Pegasus has grown from scratch, from small to large, from one place to students all over the country, from California to China and then to the world, Pegasus has told a story of disruptive innovation in the field of international education"; "In the 5 years since the school was founded, three outstanding graduates have come out of Pegasus, and more than 600 offers from prestigious schools all over the world, which is a miracle created by Pegasus! This is a model of international education in China." And at the end, we would like to offer our best wishes for the 5th anniversary of Pegasus.

 

 

 

Parent Representative's speech: My child has gained a lot at Pegasus 

 

Mr. Zhang Daizheng, who graduated from Pegasus and went to UC Davis, is the first graduate of Pegasus, and today his mother came as the representative of the first Pegasus Family Council to bring her sharing. She expressed her gratitude to the founder for introducing authentic international education to Qingdao, and to the foreign teachers who came from across the ocean to work hard at Pegasus. Pegasus has experienced 5 years of growth, and has stood the test of time, and has cultivated excellent Pegasus students one after another. Her own children have gained very much from Pegasus, and have done a very good job of bridging with American universities. Students who have gone out from Pegasus have been able to adapt well to life in foreign universities, which is the most beneficial for the children and the most reassuring for the parents. In addition, she also called on the home school to create a 'Home School Association' to build a bridge between graduating students and the school and parents to help each other."

 

 

 

PTA and parents of students present gifts for the 5th anniversary

 

The 4th PTA carefully prepared gifts for Pegasus’s 5th birthday, with Wang Guangyi's dad, Zhang Yuhan, and Zhang Yulu's dad as the representatives who presented the gifts, and Ms. Wang Hongwei and Mr. Robert Taylor, Academic Principal of Pegasus School, accepted the gifts on stage.
 

 

Tian Dongyi's mother, Huang Xiaoke's mother, Ren Zheyi's mother, Lin Shengxi's mother, Luo Yifan's mother, Li Junxian's mother, Jin Kuili's mother, Yang Zimu's mother, Zhang Ran's mother, and Bian Xiaotong's father customized a five-tier birthday cake with the first, second, and third class of graduates' group photos, the school's logo, and the campus photo, signifying the students' advancement and the school's improvement.  

 

 

 

A show with a lot of excitement

 

In the early summer of 2016, Pegasus was just established and caused quite a stir. During the five years Pegasus has been growing, and the original intention of that year is still there, continuing to move forward. Maggie Yuxin Zhao sang "Back to Summer" with her piano accompaniment, "The taste of early summer is your smile, I hold the moon to see the brighter light in a more distant place", which also made the audience's thoughts drift to the good old days.

 

 

 

"Be inspired" is the school motto of Pegasus , which has been in the blood of every student since the moment they entered the school, and "Be creative" is the value advocated by Pegasus , encouraging every student to keep their curiosity, explore and create new things. Leo Lee, grade 11, gave a TED talk on "Why is curiosity important?

 

 

In Cantalou Island, everyone loves to have a carefree and relaxing time. A relaxing jazz song "Cantaloupe Island" was presented by violinist Xinwei Du, piano player Leyan Xiao, bassist Yixin Zhang, saxophonist Siyu Zhou and drummer Handi Cui, the music teacher from the school band. Hoping we all can take care of ourselves and take time to relax.

 

 

 The comedy "Study in Qingdao" presented by Wang Guangyi and Liu Haochen interpreted the meaning of studying abroad as international students and returnees. They explained the meaning of studying in Qingdao and their "proud achievements" and "ambitions".

 

 

From the tropical island to the grassland, where there are yurts and beautiful grassland girls, Xiaofan Liu used sand painting to present a moving view of Mongolia in summer, leading us to enjoy the beauty of the grassland together.

 

 

 The dance club is always present in every event and performance of the school. Once again, the dance club came out to bring us a variety of dance sketches for the school ceremony. No matter who they were, they were able to smile with their enthusiastic performance.

 

 

The next classical songs "Expecting Love" and "Sunny Day" were brought by Xinhao Fang and Motong Qian, who passed the joy of music to everyone present.

 

 

At Pegasus , teachers are not only in the role of teaching and educating, but they are also good friends of the students. After class, the Pegasus campus is still lively and teachers and students often get together. The group dance "Uptown ddu du du" brought by the teachers and students of Pegasus was a great hit!

 

 

These wonderful shows were met with a tidal wave of applause. But few people know how many sleepless nights Pegasus teachers and students have spent to get this recognition. To ensure that each program was presented in the best possible way, Pegasus people were actively preparing. The video, lighting, music, and program went through color trial and error to achieve the best state.

 

"Five years, it is a winding road. How much sweat, how many miracles, left in our memory. Five years, is a shocking picture. How much pride, how much glory, inspire us to continue to move forward. The familiar melody is the passion of the times, the never-changing heart that reverberates in our bosom, and the never-changing love that unites our hearts. Farewell to today, we stand at a new starting point; looking forward to the future, we are full of ambition to meet tomorrow, to meet for eternity, a better tomorrow for Pegasus !"

 

The 5th anniversary ceremony of Pegasus came to an end and all the teachers and students of the school tasted the birthday cake together with the visiting guests.

 

 

 We collect memories and look back fondly, we are full of longing for a new voyage, let us spread our wings to soar to a higher goal in the days to come!