This is the story of the 113th real person we tell
Dictation | The child king in the depths of the mountains
Edit | Small bones
My name is Chen Wenshui @ Child Wang in the depths of the mountains, and I am the principal of Linghou Primary School in Hebei Province.
At the age of 19, I followed in the footsteps of my father as a substitute teacher in the village. I stayed in the village for more than 20 years, and now I am the principal of the school, but I have become a layman.
I opened my mouth and closed my mouth to money, not at all as elegant as the other principals, but like a beggar. For money, I shoot videos and do live broadcasts every day, and I was supposed to let go of my children's dreams, but I let go of myself, became an Internet celebrity principal, and was also rated as a "good person in Hebei".
I now have a lot of titles, but my favorite is the "child king" in the depths of the mountains.
(After eating at noon, the live broadcast began, and the children liked to pestering me)
Our village is hidden in a basin in the Taihang Mountains, where many people have lived for generations and have hardly seen the outside world.
Decades ago, the older generation of the village dug a 340-meter tunnel, which has since become the only outlet for the village to connect with the outside world.
However, if the children in the village want to jump out of the farm gate and go out of the mountains, this exit alone is far from enough. We can open up this tangible mountain, but it is difficult to open up the invisible mountain of mountain education.
Starting with my grandfather, three generations have produced 11 teachers and have devoted themselves to education for more than 70 years. In 2014, our family was awarded the title of Hebei Provincial Education Family.
I grew up in such an educational family and saw that through their efforts, many children came out of the mountains and changed their destiny.
One of the most memorable things about me was that one year, the students my father taught were admitted to four college students at a time, and they all became news in the local area. Some of these college students are now teaching in universities, and some of them have left their own businesses in big cities and are living very well.
(Participated in a TV show with his father, and the first batch of college students in the village was taught by his father)
They set a good example for the later students, and also gave these children in the village a goal to strive for.
In 1992, I graduated from junior high school because there was a shortage of teachers. The father went to the principal and said, "If I don't think my son has a low education, you can let him substitute for the class." The principal thought that my minimum junior high school education was much better than that of the left-behind women, so he happily agreed. In this way, I became a substitute teacher at the village elementary school.
At that time, I had just stepped into the position of teacher, and I felt very new and excited. I can't wait to feel what my fathers have done all their lives, what drove them to sleep and forget to eat, and to do a lifetime of work regardless of personal gains and losses?
However, within a few days I was punched in the face by reality. At that time, the teaching environment was very poor, most of the students were left-behind children, there were often students who dropped out of school, and the desks and chairs in the classrooms were left over from years of use and could only be used reluctantly.
Teachers and students are poor in resources and the teaching conditions are difficult. After seeing this, I really felt the greatness of my grandfather and father. Their two generations have been rooted in rural education all their lives, and this spirit has become my source of motivation and supports me to continue to work here.
(The spirit of my fathers has always inspired me to take my children out of the mountains)
In 1998, I got a chance to study and went to the county seat to study an agricultural teacher's training class. In 2002, I became a regular teacher after graduation.
Since then, I feel that the responsibility and burden on my shoulders have become heavier. So I worked harder, the leaders all looked at me, and in 2006 I was appointed the principal of the primary school in the village. In 2009, due to my outstanding work, I was transferred to the main school as a vice president.
When I was the vice president of the main school, I lived in the unit at night and played games after work. To be honest, there is very little pressure at work.
In September 2014, I went back to the primary school in the village because of my work needs. This time, I was back for emergency.
At that time, there were 5 special teachers who graduated from colleges who resigned en masse, preferring to give up their status as teachers rather than stay. In desperation, the school had to select 8 substitute teachers from among the left-behind women in the village, who had not even attended high school.
On that day, the principal of the main school said to me in a serious tone, "You have been the principal of the primary school in the village, and you know the situation there better." Whatever you think, leave the teachers at the school behind. ”
(Now the children's desks have all been replaced with new ones)
When I first arrived at school, I will never forget it. Except for the new building, everything else in the school was in tatters, even more dilapidated than when I left.
Construction waste was piled up all over the playground, the classroom was full of half-cut chalk heads, and a towel in the office was torn into strands.
The teacher did not prepare textbooks, signature pens, chalk, there were no brooms or dustpans in the classroom, the children's desks were broken, and the stools needed to be moved out to repair one by one. In addition, the school also owes nearly 200,000 yuan in foreign debt.
These visible ruins stung my heart deeply. I immediately took out 2,000 yuan and borrowed 3,000 yuan from the old teacher to go to the county to purchase supplies. School had already started, but the children had to study on their own, and I had to get the school back to order first.
I kept calling the county board of education leaders to reflect on the school's difficult situation. Because I know that it is difficult for me to change the status quo of elementary school by my personal ability alone.
(Caring people have helped us through many difficulties over the years)
I remember that the windows of the school classrooms were plastic, the gaps were large, and the cold wind blew in the winter, and the children froze and shivered.
I started a call for help in PYQ, hoping to raise some money to fix the doors and windows. At this time, I found that my network was limited, and in the face of great difficulties, the funds raised were really a drop in the bucket.
I began to change my mind and actively went online to find caring people and groups, hoping to get help from them to improve the educational conditions in the school.
However, this road is too difficult to walk. Most of the time, I would be treated as a liar by others, who dragged me into a private group and humiliated me with all kinds of unpleasant words. Thinking about it now, it's really chilling.
It doesn't work on the Internet, so I'll run on the ground. Over the years, I can't remember how many caring organizations I ran and how many people I've met. Finally, someone was willing to believe me, willing to come to school to see the actual situation, and I was so excited that night that I couldn't sleep. After learning the truth, they believed me, and we began to get some loving help.
(Caring people donate fruits to students)
I am very grateful to Wu Jianmin, the president of the Charity Association at that time, who gave us great help and support after seeing the practical difficulties of the primary school in the village. A steady stream of supplies began to be delivered to our school, sometimes old clothes, sometimes some milk and cooking oil, and many other stationery and the like.
Looking at these things, I have also been moved.
When I take these caring people to visit those special families, send rice, noodles, clothes, and money, my heart will also be unbalanced. I will even think about it, when will these caring people bring me a love material!
Because as mountain teachers, we have no other income. If you rely on the salary alone, you may not even be able to pay the tuition fee for your children's education. At that time, my two sons were studying, the family expenses were very high, and sometimes I had to rely on my father to help me.
Although it was very unproductive, it was indeed my real psychological activity at that time.
When I realized the idea of this, I felt very scared, afraid that one day I would not be able to control myself, and put my hand on these loving materials. So in order to make myself more cautious about these materials, I used a special notebook to write them down one by one.
(When I receive the love materials, I will report to the caring people as soon as possible)
Later, I set up 4 public welfare groups and made regular material announcements every day to ensure that all these things were used for children. I have been like this for seven or eight years, without any problems, and I have really helped many difficult families through my efforts.
Through my efforts, the eighty or ninety children in the village did not have a special family and dropped out of school because of the difficulties of life. However, I also left a lot of regrets before this.
One of them had children who made me feel guilty for a long time.
It was September 2016, and before the father of a little girl died, he had to entrust the child to me.
When the child was less than one year old, the mother ran away from home and returned to the south. His father was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer in 2015. The child was less than five years old, and there was an elderly grandmother in the family.
In 2016, before the child's father died, he wanted to give her to me to raise. But considering that my salary was not enough for my children's tuition, I had to borrow money every month, and I hesitated to agree.
(I already think of these children as my own family.)
Not long after, the child's father left this world with regret. When I heard the news of the death of the child's father, I felt very guilty. For so many years, I have been taking care of this child with a atonement mentality.
Now, in my heart, she has long since become my relative.
There is also a child, the earliest and most followed student.
The boy was fortunate enough to meet a sponsor who was willing to treat him as his own child, promising to take him out of the mountains and settle in a big city after graduation.
But unfortunately he never got another chance.
In the summer of 2016, the old electric fan in the home had a fault that was too small to be small, and he tried to solve it himself, but he accidentally electrocuted and died.
Hearing this news, I was overwhelmed with grief and wrote "Eternal Pain!" May we do our best and the tragedy will not be repeated! 2016.8”。 Pasted on the wall of the office, it always spurred me to do my best to solve difficulties for my children, and it also became the driving force for me to always be willing to dedicate everything to my children.
Most of the children in the village are left-behind children, their parents are not around, and many things in the family are done by children, and sometimes accidents are inevitable.
(Named Good Man Creator of the Year by The Self-Media Platform)
In the past two years, the situation in the village has improved somewhat, and with the support of the government, some handicraft workshops have been built in the village. Many mothers of children can do some manual work in the village and do not have to go out to work.
But the difficulties of education in mountain areas are far more than that, and the biggest difficulty is to retain teachers in mountain areas for children. Whenever a school produces a good teacher, it is poached by the schools in the city.
I remember that at that time, a very good teacher followed me for two years, during which she went on no less than 20 blind dates, but I couldn't even find a girlfriend. As a result, less than two months after moving to the city, he had a girlfriend and was married in less than a year.
There was another teacher, who was particularly good, just because he was a mountain teacher, and his girlfriend broke up with him...
Without a good teaching environment, it is difficult to retain teachers. In the face of this situation, I understand and do not blame them, after all, everyone has to live.
Some people say that it is very customary to talk about money with teachers, but in fact, it is the best to talk to teachers about money. Those who only talk to teachers about devotion are false nobility.
(Teachers need to go over mountains and mountains to return to school, and falling is the most common thing)
Teachers are also human beings, who does not yearn for a good life? So all I can do is keep these teachers for the kids. To this end, I have done my best to improve the conditions of the school and let the teachers make this place their home.
I have always believed that in order for rural children to enjoy high-quality educational resources, they must have formal teachers to teach.
In order to keep the teachers, my wife and I often paid for their own vegetables, bought meat, made dumplings for cooking, and made the school feel like home.
In 2017, 2 female teachers from Shanxi were assigned to our school because they were too far from home to go back. Therefore, every weekend, I take my family to cook dumplings for the teacher.
I believe that school is a place to teach and educate people, not only to learn knowledge, but also to learn to do things. Let the teachers be willing to leave their youth and enthusiasm in school and use it in mountain education. The school must have a temperature for the teacher, let the teacher have a sense of belonging, and the teacher can make the school home.
After so many years I finally recognized a reality. If you want to keep teachers, no matter what method you use, you can't do without money. Only when you have money can you change the teaching environment and housing conditions of teachers. Only when you have money can you give bonuses to teachers. Only when you have money can you solve the difficulties of teachers...
(Teachers' Day awards for teachers)
However, even if I take out all my salary, it will not be enough to calculate carefully. Even with donations from caring people, that is not a long-term solution.
In 2018, when I was at a loss, my son suggested that I do self-media and shoot short videos.
I don't want to shoot something that sells miserably because there's no positive energy. At the beginning, I just filmed some scenes of children's daily life, study or class activities at school, and I didn't expect to slowly have fans. In December of the same year, the number of fans reached 10,000, and it was time to start a live broadcast.
Thinking of many students' parents working outside, they are very concerned about their children, concerned about their children's learning and life, and concerned about the opening of school meals. So I decided to broadcast the school meal live so that parents can see their children's learning and eating at school.
The state gives each child a subsidy of four yuan a day, requiring all this money to be eaten into the mouths of children, and I think good policies should be well implemented. I was supervised by my parents through the livestream to see that every meal the children ate was up to standard.
(Prawns from caring people)
Usually, children can only eat some vegetables, and occasionally eat a meal of chicken legs, even if it is good. Some netizens asked me: When children grow up now, why don't they give children shrimp? I said that because the cost was limited, it was really not enough.
Therefore, enthusiastic netizens began to donate, and at that time, they donated a thousand yuan, saying that they would eat shrimp for the children.
The next day, I went to the county town to buy more than 30 pounds of prawns, and live-streamed all these prawns for the children to eat. In the evening, I paid how much of a pound of prawns, how many pounds I bought, how much I spent, and reported to the caring people through live broadcasting.
After live streaming children's lunches, more and more people are willing to help this school. Many people did not want to leave their names, and the most important amount was 20,000 yuan. The other party turned and said, "Principal, these 20,000 yuan should give the children more meat." "Meat prices rose high last year, but because of these donations, the children's standard of eating has not decreased, but has increased."
Over the years, I will remember every donation I have received. In the end, where this money was used, how much was used, I will also remember clearly and clearly, and publish it in time.
(For every sum of money, there are witnesses to sign and press their fingerprints)
Between actively accepting supervision and passively accepting questioning, I chose the former.
Now, I keep three things a day, ledger, transcript, selfie stick. Every expenditure is recorded in the ledger. Whoever gives the love materials must contact the phone number and press the handprint, and if any caring person has doubts, he can call directly.
I will make public these expenses. After the announcement, I will sort out the materials and put them in the safe for sealing. At present, I have sorted out four large bags of sealed materials, which are all the love of the whole society for the school.
Later, I also brought goods during the live broadcast. This has actually been questioned by many people, but I am not ashamed. I admit that live streaming has brought material improvements not only to me personally but also to the school. However, without live broadcasting, many things cannot be carried out.
I have always insisted on a very simple judgment that every penny of a caring person should be spent on the child, and it should be spent as much as I donated, and could not be used for other purposes.
The fare for pulling supplies, the cost of entertaining visiting caring people, the lunch money purchased by the teacher to help go to the county seat, and the cash withdrawal fee cannot be derived from the love donation. At first, I paid for it myself, but then I couldn't afford it, because I had to live.
(Go to the event in a formal outfit)
At the beginning, the live broadcast tip can only pay some of the teacher's meal fees, and other costs cannot be borne at all. No way, I opened a live stream with goods.
I have brought honeydew potatoes from the mountains, sold oranges, and recommended down jackets from caring people... I do this just to get more money, so that I can do more practical things for the school.
From 2019 to the present, I personally paid more than 200,000 yuan for the lunch meals of all teachers, the breakfast and dinner of the residential teachers, and the cost of pulling love materials for the children. That's why I kept these out-of-town teachers for the children in the mountains.
In recent years, more and more caring people have paid attention to our primary school, and they have brought milk, cotton clothes, fruits to the children... The children were overjoyed.
Today, the school environment has also been greatly improved. In the past two years, we have successively replaced 42 sets of doors and windows of the school, all of which have been replaced by aluminum alloy, and we are no longer afraid of cold in winter. The campus was repainted, a plastic basketball court was built, and an artificial lawn was laid for the kindergarten.
(Plastic basketball court for children)
When building a plastic basketball court, my son asked me: "Why do you have to build a plastic basketball court?" "I think back to a previous sports day where I took my kids to a county school to compete. That was the first time the children had seen the plastic basketball court, and they jumped and jumped happily on it, and some even touched it with their hands.
At that time, I thought in my heart: In the future, I will build a plastic basketball court for children, and if children in the city have it, we can also have it!
Later, through many efforts and with the help of caring people, the plastic basketball court of the primary school was built, and the children were not to mention how happy they were!
The teachers replaced their desks and chairs with new ones and equipped them with computers. The school has drilled a well and built a sunshine room where children can wash their hands with hot water all year round. We have also built a labor practice base for children to participate in labor and know how to be grateful.
I didn't give all of the donations from caring people directly to these families. Many times, I let my children work at the labor practice base and give them a reward. I feel like doing that gives them choice and it gives them self-esteem.
(Working with children in a labor practice base)
In addition, we have remodeled toilets, hoisted and bought new beds for residential teachers. A special bathroom for residential teachers has been built, and teachers no longer have to run to the county town for bathing.
Seeing that the school is getting better and better, more and more teachers are willing to stay.
This year is Zhang Han's 4th year in primary school, Yu Lihui's 4th year, Li Xue's 5th year, Qi Pengyun's 6th year, Chen Yajuan's 11th year... Chen Yajuan received an invitation from Shunping Middle School for two consecutive years, and even the middle school issued an order to the Education Bureau, but Chen Yajuan did not leave and stayed.
These changes are visible to the naked eye, and each of them is inseparable from money. Some people say that when talking about money customs, principals talk about money is more customary.
However, it is because of my tackiness that the primary school in the village has changed so much.
However, people are too demanding of the moral standards of the people who do things, and they demand that we be perfect and selflessly dedicated.
Many people asked me to broadcast public welfare live for free, such as some tips from friends and gifts, so that I could take them all out and use them on the children. If you bring the goods, and then use all the commission on the teachers and children, it is perfect.
(Over the years, I have also devoted myself to the cause of rural revitalization.)
Even if the destination of every love donation is made public, some people will say anything. Sometimes looking at their messages, my heart is very unhappy.
In fact, I am also an ordinary person, I also have the pursuit of a better life, but also have my own family and children. I hope that while not forgetting my original intention and doing things in a down-to-earth manner, I can also bring some changes to my family.
At the beginning, some teachers also objected to me doing self-media, thinking that I was not doing my job and wasting time. Some people also went directly to the Education Bureau to report me, saying that I was trying to gain eyeballs and damage the image of teachers. And even more ugly words...
In this case, I also thought about giving up. But if I give up, where will the children's bailouts come from? School expenditures and changes require money, and higher-level funding alone is not enough.
At present, our primary school has 14 regular teachers, 5 substitute teachers, and the school employs 2 security guards and 2 cooks. The superiors asked for meals for the children, but there was no special funding for the chef. We are also required to have security guards, but there is no special funding, so we have to find our own way.
The cost of the next 9 people is the salary that I contacted the caring people through live broadcasting.
(I must make sure that the child eats clean and hygienic food)
My family used to be a substitute teacher. When school started in April 2016, I needed to find someone I could trust to cook for the kids. I got her back again, and my monthly salary at that time was 800 yuan. The family member said: "Good thing you don't think about me, you think about me when you are tired!" ”
I told her, "I'm the principal now, the children's diet is not allowed to have safety accidents, and I believe in you the most." ”
I am for the safety of all teachers and students, and she is to support my work. She went to school to cook for her children without hesitation, and now she can get 1200 yuan a month.
At first, I didn't expect a school to cost so much money to run. Now, I can only do it hard. Because if you continue to do it, you will have money, and with money, the difficulties will be solved.
Sometimes, I'm also upset. I tried so hard to do it, not only did I not get approval, but I was also picked and chosen, which made me feel very disappointed. But the more I encountered, the more I got used to it. Sometimes, the more you do, the more faults you get picked.
Speaking of problems, I actually have diseases myself. I have a bad stomach, can't eat spicy, can't eat too full. I often tie a warm water bag to my stomach to relieve stomach pain.
(Don't forget to work during the holidays)
At the end of last year, I had a terrible stomachache. But there were too many things going on at school, so I infused liquids in the village for a few days and resisted hard. The doctor and his wife forced me to go to the county hospital to see, and the first investigation was a stomach ulcer, which was dragged to the point where I needed to be hospitalized.
Even so, the account has not been broken. The teachers took the lunch video, and I posted it online on time.
Now, the teaching conditions of the village primary school have been improved, teachers and children are more and more fond of this place, and even some teachers in the city want to come to us to teach. This was something that I didn't dare to think about before.
Previously, our school's grades were often at the bottom of the county. Today, this is history.
In 2018, our sixth grade upgrade examination ranked first in the township. In 2019, it ranked first in the township and ranked first in a total of four examination subjects. In 2021, it will be second in the township and 23rd in the county. I also won the honor of "Baoding Good Man, Hebei Good Man" and so on.
All this is inseparable from the efforts of the teachers and the efforts of the children.
I have always felt that only by reading can rural children truly change their destiny, can they really get out of the mountains, can they better integrate into society, can they contribute to national construction, and can they become qualified successors.
(Participated in a program to give an acceptance speech)
Now, I eat with my children every day, play together, and accompany them to grow up day by day. I also became the king of the children in their hearts, and became their great parent.
If you ask me, what is the motivation to work so hard to change the lives of children? What I want to say is that because I'm here, I see everything, and I can't resist the urge to give.
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