Care for the CommunityOne of the many
commendable personal qualities
that Maplewood students always
develop as they go through their
years of studies is their concern
and care for other people. We
have identified this attribute as
one of the Maplewood
Success FactorsTM which, from our
experience, are what admission
officers at the top US colleges
and universities would look for
in successful applicants.
Showing a concern
and care for others however
should not serve a purely
utilitarian goal such as getting
in a good college or university.
We believe this personal quality
brings in eye-opening
opportunities and life-enriching
experiences to the person. It
also takes a life-long approach
to build up this personal asset -
from childhood in the family, to
student at the school, to the
working adult in the community.
As an education
services organization, Maplewood
carries the mission to serve our
students and parents with the
best care and attention.
Maplewood also believes in
fostering a caring company
culture and in performing
services to the community at
large. We have organized or
participated in services mostly
related to learning and education
to the community. We call for
students and parents to join in
whenever such opportunities
arise.
Some of the
community activities and services
we have organized, participated
in, or sponsored:
Sichuan Earthquake Relief
June 2008
Volunteering
Summer 2008
Maplewood
encourage students interested in
volunteering and community
service to explore opportunities
in supporting the tremendous
disaster relief and
rehabilitation work in the
aftermath of the May 12 Sichuan
Earthquake.
China
disaster zone covers area as
large as half of England - Timesonline,
May 21, 2008 ... more »
We suggest
students to initiate efforts on
their own, contacting different
organizations in Hong Kong
engaged in relief and
rehabilitation work, and lending
a hand in work such as finance
and accounting of donation
proceeds, relief project planning
and execution (e.g. organizing
fundraising events), management
of supplies inventories and
logistics, chronicle of relief
work and publicity.
For those who can
travel to Sichuan, they may look
into offering assistance and
support in medical and health
care, engineering and building
safety assessment, student and
peer counseling, teaching,
children and elderly day care,
distribution of food and relief
supplies, writing travelogs and
stories of relief work and
progress to share with others.
Students can also
tie in their summer community
service with their potential
academic interests - by gaining
exposure to fields from health
science, medicine, engineering,
logistics, finance and
accounting, to non-government
organization management, social
work, education, psychology,
journalism, and more.
We believe the benefit to the
student will largely come from
making liaison with different
organizations and setting up the
student's own community service
program related to the disaster
relief. This will be far more
challenging but also rewarding
than just joining a standard
voluteering service program.
Maplewood Education Services is
happy to offer advice and counsel
to students on their liaison and
planning in setting up their
summer volunteer services related
to the Sichuan earthquake relief
work. Contact us at quake_relief@maplewood-edu.com.
Education-related
rehabilitation projects
Maplewood
Education Services is sponsoring
the following concert events to
help raise funds for
organizations that have been
building schools or engaged in
education projects in remote
areas of China. The tasks at hand
now are to leverage prior
experiences to quickly rebuild
safe schools and support
surviving school children in the
disaster areas.
Charity
Concert for the China Earthquak
Surviving Orphan Fund by joint
pianists, presented by the Hong
Kong Piano Music Association, to
benefit the CSDCU
Education Fund
June 7, 2008 at 7:30 pm
City Hall, Central, Hong Kong
Fundraising
Concert for Sichuan Earthquake
Relief by joint choirs
and singers in Hong Kong to
benefit Sowers
Action
June 21-22, 2008 at 4 pm
St John's Cathedral, Garden Road,
Hong Kong
Summer Peer-to-Peer English
Tutoring Program
Summers
2005-2007
Many Maplewood
students have been looking for
good community service projects
to participate in during the
summer holidays. Our students
believe that through meaningful
community services, they can gain
a deeper understanding of their
community, show their concern for
others, and develop better
awareness and maturity in
themselves.
Maplewood
Education Services, in
partnership with Hon Wah Middle
School, launched the Chinglin
English Peer Tutoring Program
for students in summer 2005.
Volunteer students were recruited
from international schools and
local English-medium schools in
Hong Kong, as well as secondary
schools in the UK to provide
conversational English and
reading/writing workshops to
fellow students at Hon Wah, a
local secondary school in Hong
Kong which uses Chinese as the
medium of instruction.
Student
tutors had the opportunity to
meet their peers who might have
come from different socioeconomic
backgrounds and help improve
their skills and confidence in
the use of English. For example,
many students came from recent
immigrant backgrounds and had
only started to learn English
formally at teenage.
Students
became proactive in community
service by taking ownership of
the tutoring program with minimal
guidance from Maplewood. There
were plenty of opportunities for
them to plan and work
cooperatively with each other, to
share their energy and talents,
to initiate learning activities
and outings, and to motivate and
learn from their own peers.
In
summer 2006 and 2007, Maplewood
Education Services coordinated
the Chinglin English Peer
Tutoring Program with Fukien Middle
School (North Point) in the
summer (mid-July to early
August). Maplewood plans to
organize the program annually
with local schools in Hong Kong.
Chinglin Peer
Tutoring Program 2007.
Chinglin Peer
Tutoring Program 2006.
Chinglin
Peer Tutoring Program 2005.
Peer
tutors find that help cuts
both ways in SCMP,
September 24, 2005.... >>
what
we say
SCMP
Young Post cover story
August 29, 2005 (pdf
file, 298 KB).
Educational and Learning Programs
for Students and the Community
October
2006 to May 2007
Maplewood
Education Services was a corporate sponsor to the Rotary RainLily
Project, with the goals
of raising awareness on sexual
violence issues among school
children in primary and secondary
schools, as well as among members
of the local communities.
Maplewood's
sponsorship in the project helped
support educational programs on
sexual violence issues in primary
and secondary schools in the New
Territories districts in Hong
Kong where sexual violence
incidents are more prevalent, and
community outreach programs
engaging parents and school
children in role-plays, games,
discussions, and dialogs on
sexual harassment, sexual
violence, gender equality topics.
By targeting students in
particular, the project hopes to
foster these very important
aspects of life in the youth of
Hong Kong early on in their
lives.
The
Rotary RainLily Project was
co-organized by Rotary Club of
City Northwest Hong Kong and Rotary Club of
Kingspark Hong Kong in
partnership with the Association
Concerning Sexual Violence
Against Women. Various programs took
place from October 2006 through
May 2007.
December
2006
Perry
Yu, Maplewood's Education
Consultant and Director, was in
the panel of judges for the
semi-final round of the Third Biliteracy
Trilingualism Composition and
Speech Competition
co-organized by the Rotary Club of
Hong Kong Island West and the Hong Kong
Federation of Education Workers. In this
competition, high school students
in Hong Kong demonstrated a high
level of competency in the use of
both Chinese and English
languages through writing,
interactive discussion, and
public speaking. In Chinese
public speaking, both the
Cantonese and the Putonghua
dialects were tested. The
students also had to show they
were well informed on current
affairs and were able to think on
the spot. Not a small feat to
accomplish for the winning
contestants at all. A strong
grasp of biculturalism through
language competency can prepare a
student well for further studies
and their future careers.
Perry
had also been invited to
adjudicate at the semi-final
round of the Second Biliteracy
and Trilingualism Composition and
Speech Competition also
coorganized by the Rotary Club of
Hong Kong Island West and the Hong Kong
Federration of Education Workers in
November 2005.
July 2005
Maplewood has been
actively involved in education
and learning programs in the
local community since our
founding. David Lai, Maplewood's
Education Consultant and
Director, was a referee in the K*bot
Hong Kong 2005
competition held on July 6, 2005,
at the Hong Kong Polytechnic
University.
More on K*bot Hong
Kong 2005.
Hong Kong Arts Festival Student
Ticket Scheme
 Arts appreciation
nurtures creativity and cultural
understanding. Exposure to the
arts also cultivates a more
well-rounded person. Students in
Hong Kong probably have one of
the best opportunities to
appreciate and enjoy the widest
spectrum of local and
international performing arts in
the world, given the volume of
world-class artists passing
through each year and many
diversified talents available
locally.
While many
students have learned to dance,
sing, act, or play a musical
instrument, not all have had the
chance to attend world-class
performances, not to mention
develop a habit of attending
professional performances
regularly. Extracurricular arts
activities have often been geared
towards interschool competitions
or certification exams.
 With our
sponsorship on student tickets at
the Hong Kong
Arts Festival, Maplewood hopes
that more programs are made
accessible and affordable to
students, and that more of them
will have an opportunity to
develop an appreciation and
understanding of the arts at a
younger age.
Maplewood has been
a Bronze Award Donor to the Hong Kong
Arts Festival Student Ticket
Scheme in consecutive years since
the 33rd Hong Kong Arts Festival
in 2005. The festival runs for
about a month in February and
March in Hong Kong.
US College Education Forums and
Workshops for Local Secondary
School Students
June 2009
Maplewood
Education Services had a busy
month meeting students, teachers,
and parents at local Hong Kong
schools. Maplewood was invited to
present on Further Studies in the
USA at St
Stephen's Girls' College on June
25, 2009, and at the Further
Education Seminar organized by
the St
Paul's Co-educational College
Parent-Teacher Association on June
20, 2009 to share with
participants on the latest
college admission trends,
application process and
time-line, cost and finance
considerations, and how to
prepare oneself for a winning
application.
June 2008
Maplewood
Education Services was invited to
present at the Further Education
Seminar organized by the St
Paul's Co-educational College
Parent-Teacher Association on
June 21, 2008 and to share with
students who aspire for higher
education in the USA the hot tips
and case stories of successful
application to one's desirable
colleges and universities.
June 2007
Maplewood
Education Services participated
in the Further Education Seminars
organized by the St
Paul's Co-educational College
Parent-Teacher Associationon June
21 and June 25, 2007 and shared
with students, teachers, and
parents their experiences and
insights on studying in the USA
and the latest trends and
watch-outs, including the critical
success factors to college
application success, the
record-low college admission
rates this year, and the
deluge to register for SAT in
Hong Kong.
June 2006
Maplewood
Education Services was invited to
participate in a series of
Further Education Seminars at St
Paul's Co-educational College
Parent-Teacher Associationon June
21 and June 23, 2006. The
seminars were well-attended by
students, parents and teachers.
Maplewood's presentations focused
on studying in the USA and how to
make the applications stand out.
The latest trends in US college
and university admissions and
local admissions statistics were
presented, with the latter
reported in Jiu
Jik, South China Morning
Post, July 21, 2006.
November
2005
Maplewood
participated in a Career Day
Workshop for upper form students
at St
Paul's Co-educational College on
November 19, 2005. Maplewood
consultant Perry Yu met a group
of students who aspire to study
science and engineering in
college and gave a presentation
on Your Major in Science and
Engineering and Your Career.
Surveying the brave new frontiers
of modern mathematics, brain and
cognitive sciences, communication
and photonics, nanotechnology and
novel materials, biological
engineering, society, technology
and policy, Perry introduced to
the students old and new
disciplines of studies they may
not be aware of, and discussed
the strategy of studying what one
enjoys most and developing
general transferable skills
including reading, writing,
problem solving and teamwork in
college as an adaptable approach
one can take in planning one's
future career in our rapidly
changing and ever uncertain
world. Also discussed are
possible careers which follow
from a science and engineering
education - from the traditional
careers in engineering, research
and teaching to the professions
in medicine, law, business,
banking, finance, consulting and
entrepreneurship.
October
2005
On
October 13, 2005, Maplewood
consultant Perry Yu was invited
to a happy hour gathering of the La Salle
College Old Boys' Association as guest
speaker. Perry met with La
Salle College alumni,
teachers and social workers, many
of whom were parents of
college-bound students, and gave
a brief presentation on the
higher education system in the
USA, its difference from the Hong
Kong/British system, and the key
to successfully apply to one's
desirable colleges and
universities.
Maplewood
was also invited to speak in US
college and university forums at Diosesan
Boys School (DBS) and Wah
Yan College Kowloon in
October 2005. Maplewood
consultant Perry Yu spoke on
University Day, October 15, 2005,
at DBS to an audience of over 60
students and parents and shared
information and advice on US
university education. The event
was jointly organized by Diosesan
School Old Boys' Association (DSOBA)
and DBS Careers Office.
On
October 22, 2005, Maplewood
consultants George Wong, David
Lai, Perry Yu were invited by Wah Yan
One Foundation to speak
at a forum Preparation
for University Education in the
US organized
in collaboration with Wah
Yan College, Hong Kong
and Wah Yan College Kowloon. The
forum was held at Wah Yan College
Kowloon, and was well attended by
over 200 students and parents who
came not only from Wah Yan, but
also from Marymount
Secondary School and St
Mary's Canossian College.
Maplewood consultants spoke on Building
a Winning Application, A
Parent's Perspective on American
Education (David is a Wah
Yan parent), and Who Needs
College Counseling and
Why, and offered advice on
costs, scholarships, financial
aid, and employment. Following a
panel discussion, Maplewood
consultants met with the
audience, students and parents
informally for further
discussions. We were able to
answer many fundamental questions
on the US education system and
explain its flexibility compared
to the Hong Kong and UK systems,
suggest how students should
choose their schools according to
their interests and future goals,
advise on the time line for US
college application and on how to
prepare for the standardized
tests. We were also able to
dispel some common
misunderstanding such as one has
to decide on a major when one
applies to a US university.
We were
glad to have introduced in an
informative way the US higher
education option to many
interested students attending
local secondary schools. We hope
this will also help open the
students' options in their
pursuit for the best possible
higher education for themselves.
November
2004
Maplewood
consultants participated in a US
College Admissions Workshop
organized jointly by the Cornell
Club of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong
SAR Education and Manpower Bureau
(EMB). The workshop was
targeted at students attending
local secondary schools who had
planned to study in the USA but
who might not have had access to
educational resources or
counselors knowledgeable about
the US college system.
The
workshop started with a seminar
on the college application
process followed by a
Q&A/panel discussion. After
lunch, the students broke out
into groups to meet volunteers
who had been students studying in
the US. We went through their
college application essays,
offered suggestions to improve,
and shared our experiences on
studying in the US.
Many
students had made the basic
mistakes in their essays -
writing an introductory letter of
themselves, recompiling their
activities and school transcript
information. This reflected a
general lack of exposure to what
US colleges and universities were
looking for in applicants. By
providing timely advice, the
workshop filled in essential gaps
of knowledge and gave the
students a fair chance in
achieving their academic goals to
study in the USA.
The
one-day workshop was held on
November 20, 2004, at the Aldrich
Bay Government Primary School in
Shau Kei Wan, Hong Kong.
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