Term 1 Bulletin – So We Rise

Dear Parents, Alumni Members and Eunoians,

The year 2016 will be remembered as a year of disruption: by powerful multi-national companies that live in your smartphone, by swelling discontent with the status quo, and not least by a sportsman who set his own odds and showed the nation how to beat them. 2016 was for many of us a year of adjustment to changes big and small, as we started to rethink assumptions, rework plans and restructure resources. History has taught us that those who embrace chaos are those who thrive. To be resilient, one must have the courage to step away from the tried and tested. To succeed, one must see opportunity where others see problems, and have the resourcefulness to make something good out of any situation.

We want to remember 2017 as a year of transformation. It is the year Eunoia Junior College is formally established. It is the year our students finally write Eunoia’s first chapter and make the breakthroughs we have long known they are capable of. It can be a year of new hope, as new colleagues and new friends rally together to achieve great things.

We Unite

October gave us the opportunity to welcome the first cohort of students from the Joint Integrated Programme (JIP) to our Mount Sinai campus. Throughout the two years, we have had the fortune of meeting and engaging them in the creation of the college ethos, and Eunite was a natural step towards their transformation into Eunoians. 

Our students from Catholic High School, CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School and Singapore Chinese Girls’ School are no strangers to each other, having already gotten acquainted at multiple World Readiness Programme symposia, the inaugural Bishan Park carnival and various vibrant activities organised by our JIP partner schools. For us, the moment we saw the three schools gather as one in the hall was a symbolic first. After a few rounds of school cheers and breaking the ice, our students united as Eunoians, knowing each other a little better as friends and as leaders with a common cause to build Eunoia.

They found their way around the Buona Vista, Holland Village, Holland Drive and Ghim Moh estates, tucking into the wide variety of food choices and persuading strangers to take part in group wefies and games. Community is an important aspect of our DNA. We want our students, each armed with their own unique strengths and talents, to share their gifts with the people around them. To do so, Eunoians must connect with them, relate with them and understand what they face.

This segment is a first step towards a relationship of trust and service, that while small, will pave the way for future generations of Eunoians. In the same vein, the tour of the Mount Sinai campus was not so much to survey the facilities as it was an exploration of their future home — one which they will bring life to. When others see rough edges, Eunoians choose to see potential for improvement. While others focus on what might be lacking, we choose to see new possibilities.

We Ignite

It is in this spirit that eighty four students, a fifth of the incoming JIP cohort, joined us for the Student Leaders Training camp in the middle of November. Not often are students given the responsibility of planning Orientation for their own cohort, much less that of planning the inaugural Orientation. What we saw from them matched and sometimes exceeded our aspirations for them. In a short span of time, they choreographed the moves to the Orientation dance, created the identities of our five Houses, wrote their House and college cheers, and planned a full range of activities for their college mates.

Just this week, the House mascots came alive through our student-leaders, whom you might have seen on the 2 Jan issue of Lianhe Zaobao. We were just as heartened to see our performing arts groups forming up for rehearsals, even though they did not need to do so during the holidays. The easier path is to look back and repeat what has been done without creation or knowing why. Instead, our students are leading the way forward with purpose, heart and courage, doing and achieving for the first time. We are all eager to see the fruit of their labour in the first week of school and would be glad to share it with all our stakeholders soon.

Since moving into the Mount Sinai campus in October 2016, the Eunoia staff have been busily preparing for the opening of the school term. From the Orientation in the first week to the January Ignite programme, we have put together a series of exciting experiences including identity-building activities, subject application workshops and learning journeys to places such as the National Design Centre, the Land Transport Gallery and Pulau Semakau. Like our students, our teachers have been led by their own curiosity to craft programmes outside their teaching discipline; we hope to be inspired by - and with - this first class of Eunoians on the journey ahead. We would like to thank all parents and alumni of our partner schools who have contributed to these learning opportunities or helped to vivify the college experience. With your support, we are confident that our Eunoians will gather much wisdom from internships and externships, visits to local and overseas universities, and other enrichment opportunities on the road ahead.

We Take Flight

Our most immediate road is Mount Sinai, which will house our collective ambition, our individual dreams and our enduring passions. The many months of campus rejuvenation works have come to an end, and we are proud of the learning spaces that will help develop our students. In our newly-built academic block, the Seminar Room is purpose-built to immerse them in university-style seminars and discussions, where multiple screens, integrated whiteboards and mobile furniture lend themselves easily to interactive pedagogies. The Seminar Room will be complemented by seven unique spaces with different furniture layouts for different learning modes, including a Roman Colosseum for 360-degree presentations. If you speak to our Eunoia teachers, you will find that they are all looking forward to employ innovative teaching and learning strategies within these new spaces, and to critically engage our students.

So We Rise

On 13 Jan 2017, we will be welcoming prospective students and parents at our inaugural Open House, and we would like to extend an invitation to all parents and alumni of the JIP schools to join us on this important date, from 9am to 4pm. We hope you will be able to see the exciting changes we have made to the facilities and most of all, feel the energy of our first class of Eunoians reverberate throughout the campus.

Rarely does a story begin at its utmost peak, or progress without the difficulties that allow one to grow… We will rise to the challenge and give rise to a beautiful future.

In establishing Eunoia Junior College, we have met every obstacle along the way as an opportunity for improving our students’ educational experience and making the school stronger. Rarely does a story begin at its utmost peak, or progress without the difficulties that allow one to grow. We would like to thank our colleagues at our JIP partner schools for their commitment to our common aims, parents and alumni for their contributions, our College Advisory Committee for their faithful support, and our students for completing the picture with their hearts and minds. Together, we express the true meaning of our name — beautiful thinking, goodwill to all. We will rise to the challenge and give rise to a beautiful future. As Eunoia, we rise. As Eunoia, we will soar.

Mrs Wong-Cheang Mei Heng
Principal