JAN 2022
Staff Retreat On 7th January, a one-day retreat was held for Program Mentors, TUF staff, and the operations team to relax and reflect. Through Pastel Nagomi Art creation, we expressed ourselves and resonated with each other. We also experienced Mölkky, a newly emerged sport, which was a good opportunity for us to cooperate with team members. Our Board of Directors joined us to facilitate a dialogue of understanding where we shared our respective stories and our hopes for personal and organizational change. Focusing on talent development, a leadership conversation also took place where Program Mentors were encouraged to speak their minds and share their true feelings. The retreat was a precious time to gather and exchange ideas. The retreat was not only mindful and reflective, but also exciting and eye-opening. The mutual understanding that we gained and the team spirit that we built will give us a strong support as we continue our journey in mentoring. By Tiffany Wong, Year 2 Program Mentor
New Staff Profile Hello, this is Tiffany! I graduated from the University of Hong Kong, majoring in both Food & Nutritional Science and Psychology. I am now a Program Mentor of TUF, at HKTA The Yuen Yuen Institute No.3 Secondary School. Looking back, secondary school life was a challenging but exciting journey, when I formed long-lasting friendships and sweet memories. Working as a Program Mentor is a unique opportunity for me to “grow up” once again with my students. We learn from each other, make small changes each day, and drive personal growth. I hope to plant smiles, grow laughter, and enjoy the adventures ahead together! By Tiffany Cheung, Year 1 Program Mentor
New Staff Profile Hi! This is Maggie Chang, a year 1 program mentor. I majored in English at City University and have always aspired to work at an NGO to help the underserved, so being a program mentor is exactly what I have been longing for. Ever since I have been a program mentor of TUF, at HKTA The Yuen Yuen Institute No.3 Secondary School, I have had the opportunity to help raise our students’ self-esteem, improve their learning attitudes and motivate them to reach for the stars. The passion I have for education equity, combined with my knowledge in the English language, makes my everyday duties carrying out the mentoring mission especially meaningful. On top of that, interacting with the young pupils at school always makes my day and puts a huge smile on my face. By Maggie Chang, Year 1 Program Mentor
Student’s story
Student’s story “I can’t do it.” “I don’t know.” “I’m not good at it.” These are a few sentences that I had heard many many times from my mentee, when we first met. After we spent more time together though, I realised that she has good potential to improve, the only barrier being her low self-confidence. To help her build up confidence, I first asked her to make small behavioral changes. When she said discouraging wordings and relied heavily on my help, I asked her to try rephrasing her responses in a more positive way. After persistent effort and repeated encouragement, she started to say, “I will try.” Now, she is willing to take chances and try, without me having to convince her to do so. She improved herself from struggling to learn 1 or 2 new vocabulary words each week, to writing 1 or 2 sentences in our weekly exchange letters. She is making small improvements each day, which will mean a lot of aggregated improvements in the future. I will continue walking hand in hand with her, and I am looking forward to watching her one day reap what she is now sowing. By Tiffany Cheung, Year 1 Program Mentor
My mentee is a secondary 1 student. He used to be a shy loner. When I first met him, he was always by himself at school. However, since our very first conversation together, I could tell that he actually enjoys chatting with others, as long as someone approaches him first. That was why I invited him to be my mentee, so that we could learn to adapt to this new school environment together. He shared his family issues with me, which are very common in the schools that we serve. Without much attention at home, he usually spends most of his spare time playing computer games, even though he is aware of the need to revise, practise and study more. That’s why I always talk to him about building productive habits and taking action instead of procrastinating. Aside from that, I also introduced him to the S1 After-school English game group, where he has since met new friends and consistently engages in practicing his English skills. With his newfound confidence, he has become much more out-going now. Sometimes when I chat with other tiers’ supporting pupils, he would join our conversations actively. The changes he has shown are what we as Program Mentors love to see. It gives us the strength and motivation to continue serving as many pupils as possible. Not only are the program mentors guiding the pupils, but the students also give us the support and inspiration to keep going. The support we give one another throughout the journey of mentoring makes our lives that much more fulfilling. By Maggie Chang, Year 1 Program Mentor
Christmas party On 17th December, we had the most wonderful Christmas party in The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Board members, Program Mentors, and members of the office team attended our celebration. However, the biggest surprise was that our alumni showed up to our Christmas party as well! Each cohort of alumni showed up and watched on as our current Program Mentors greeted current mentees, which brought back those good old memories of mentoring students. There was a feeling of passing the torch to our latest cohort. Lucky draw and table games are a must at any TUF party. Our Board members, Program Mentors and office team thoroughly enjoyed this occasion and had a chance to loosen up from their daily work. It was also a gratifying opportunity to gather with everyone and keep up the good work in 2022! By Kimberly Chu, Program Executive
UBS x TUF Cross-generational Mentorship Programme Kick-Off Ceremony Where others believe a generational gap exists, we see many previous learning opportunities. We had four tiers of participants join us in the UBS x TUF Cross-generational Mentorship Programme, from UBS senior management to our Hong Kong secondary school students, all of whom are very dedicated to self-improvement and accepting new perspectives. This year, we were delighted that the Kick-Off Ceremony on Nov 30 was held at UBS Hong Kong. With the help of our facilitator, there were many great ideas exchanged in the panel discussion with Ms Athena Wong, Mr Jason Tudor (Group Internal Audit, from the UK) and Ms Victoria Law from UBS. Students gained valuable insights from the discussion. After that, there was a group discussion to allow our mentors and mentees to get to know each other with card games. Again, the room was filled with joy. We look forward with great anticipation to the next session ahead. By Tiffany Lai, Assistant Program Executive
Partner School Community Meeting The 13th Partner School Community Meeting was held on 15 December 2021 and was attended by 15 school principals and vice principals, as well as our new Honorary Advisor Mr. Tai Pak Shing (former Principal of TWGHs Yau Tze Tin Memorial College). We welcomed our new Partner Schools this year (China Holiness Church Living Spirit College and HKTA The Yuen Yuen Institute No.3 Secondary School) and the new School Principals: Ms. Wing-Yan Luk (Principal of The HKSYC&IA Chan Nam Chong Memorial College) and Mr. Wharlee Yip (Principal of TWGHs Yau Tze Tin Memorial College). TUF shared updates on key initiatives of our programs and sought advice and support from the members. Meanwhile, our new Convenor Principal Ho Sai Cheong (Principal of TWGHs Kwok Yat Wai College) led a discussion on school policies and good practices to support students with special education needs and non-Chinese speaking backgrounds. Great ideas were generated and there was also more sharing about enhancing students’ social and emotional well-being. All in all, it was a great spirit of collaboration. Thank you Principal Ho for his generosity in hosting us at TWGHs Kwok Yat Wai College. He prepared heart-warming desserts and showed us a photovoltaic system on the school’s roof. It was also a wonderful chance before the meeting for members to mingle with each other at their fashionable learning lab! By Cherry Wong, Program Manager
Telstra X TUF Dream Achiever Pilot Program "Dream Achiever'' is a pilot enrichment program under TUF’s flagship program, Dream Pursuing Project (DPP), which aims to unleash students' potential under their mentors' guidance. After two years of our Program Mentors’ intervention, our Partner Schools will enter the program sustainability stage. There is a growing demand for school-based mentorship. With the sponsorship of Telstra Foundation, we mobilize community resources to offer our Partner School students swift support from reliable and wise mentors and to give them learning opportunities to help them achieve their dreams. This pilot program serves as a platform to strengthen the mentoring support towards our post year-2 schools and promote mentorship to a wider community. Students nominated by the participating partner schools will receive a maximum of HK$1,000 in subsidies, have the chance to visit tech industries, and be paired with ONE volunteer mentor to support them in taking a step closer to their DREAMS! By Cherry Wong, Program Manager
Learning and Teaching Expo After a year of waiting, the Learning and Teaching Expo was finally held successfully. As booth helpers for 3 days, we had a lot of chances to present our mission and vision to members of the education sector. Lots of school teachers and principals stopped by and listened to our presentation, and in exchange shared their innovative ideas as well as their own first-hand experiences. Newsletters, annual reports and flyers were well prepared for public distribution. Some lucky ones were even able to receive our souvenirs if they followed our social media page! Presenting TUF in just a few words is not an easy job, because we have done and achieved a lot in the last 10 years through building deep relationships with different partner schools. We are so glad that some old friends visited our booth and shared their latest news with us. With this exposure, more schools and the general public may recognize us, and perhaps more like-minded friends may come together and co-create a better learning environment for our students. As such, we can offer more with our mentoring program in the future. By Helen Ho, Marketing Executive
Operation Desk As a non-profit educational organization, we are grateful to be part of Learning and Teaching Expo 2021. The 3-day exhibition in December 2021 was filled with splendid programs and diverse exhibits. We had fruitful dialogue with school principals, teachers, students and the general public, particularly with people who want to learn more about our school-based mentoring program and leadership development program. Beginning with HKTA The Yuen Yuen Institute No. 3 Secondary School, we have started to perform the mid-year review with our Partner School. The purpose of this review is to comprehensively review the best practices of the school-based mentoring programs. We are pleased to have Michael, Anson, Sonia, Heidi, and Yoanna in the TUF Alumni Community this year to strengthen the ties between alumni and other stakeholders of the organization, and continue to contribute to TUF’s development. In 2021, TUF turned every challenge into an opportunity. Perhaps the impossible may become possible for you next year. May you find success, happiness and everything your heart desires. Wishing you and your loved ones a very happy new year in 2022! By Clement Ng, Executive Director
Special Thanks Jockey Club Teach Unlimited “Walk with Youth” Mentorship Programme is funded by
Sponsors (in alphabetical order)
Leung Hon Hung Scholarship Fund
Allan & Gill Gray Philanthropy The PCD Charitable Trust
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Teach Unlimited Foundation is a ...