Sangeeta Ghose

    sangeeta.ghose@gmail.com

    Children in Shekou, Nanshan District, are expected to have better facilities for their leisure activities with the reopening of the Shekou Youth Center.

    The opening ceremony on Saturday also featured a children’s art festival of Ymm Art Education, a cultural company, with fun activities and beautiful performances by local children as well as students from a local international school.

    Yan Chengda, vice manager of Shekou Industrial Zone Co., said the company has been spending several million yuan on the Shekou community’s development, including schools, hospitals, the arts, a sports center, and facilities for leisure activities. Shekou is home to Shenzhen’s largest expat community.

    “Our team’s mission is to provide a holistic learning environment for the future of the country — the growing children. We are always striving towards building relations with all educational institutions, and extending friendships towards the expat community, too,” Yan said.

    The center offers space for both fine arts and performing arts, such as taekwondo, ballet, dance and musical practice.

    The event also marked the opening of the new campus of Shenzhen American International School (SAIS), which stands next door to the youth center.

    Natos Kris, director of admissions, said the design of the campus provides fresh air and sunshine in the classrooms, along with the best color schemes and patterns to complement the students’ learning programs.

    With an auditorium on the lower floor that can hold up to 200 people, the school is also open to lending space to outside organizations durring off-school hours at evenings or weekends.

    The top floor has an open space that will be developed into a vegetable garden for students to do their projects concerning the environment, botany and organic farming.

    Debbie Summers, principal of SAIS, said the school is committed to providing an American-style learning environment where all students develop and apply their knowledge, skills and habits of mind necessary for academic, workplace and personal success anywhere in the world.

    The new campus will be put into use early next year.