From the Editor's Desk

It’s my pleasure to present the Spring 2022 issue of DragonTales! While we reminisce about the print publication previously mailed all over the world at Christmas and in the summer, we’re thrilled to now share stories throughout the year, reaching thousands of readers digitally.

After a long Covid-free period, Hong Kong was rudely hit with Omicron in January, and we had to resume online learning for the first time in over a year. This was a huge disappointment to our community who couldn’t imagine returning to the patterns of 2020. Nevertheless, we all survived and happily returned to campus on April 19, a little weary, but ready to rebuild our social connections, skills in contact sports, and dining table manners. While we’re “back to school”, many classrooms still have students learning remotely due to unexpected relocation or continued travel restrictions. Our social bonds have been tested, but students and teachers near and far have “exceeded expectations”!

In February, the DragonTales team introduced DragonBites. These bite-sized stories were much-needed reminders of small miracles happening daily in our community despite the challenges we are facing. Whether it’s how our community banded together to get hundreds of primary-aged students vaccinated or incredible student learning where statistics classes merged with art and social studies, we couldn’t wait to share these stories.

This Spring issue is a compilation of this semester’s DragonBites together with heartwarming stories of faculty retiring from HKIS after 20+ years of service. At the top of the list is Janet Taylor, our beloved mathematics teacher who taught generations of HKIS students for 39 years! This year, we say farewell and thank you to many people who have touched our lives in various ways: Linda Chan, Cristy and Peter Dratz, Tim Gavlik, Sharon Leung, and Nini Nam. It is our honor to tell their stories and forever weave them into the fabric of HKIS’s past, present, and future.

I hope you enjoy this new way of reading about our beloved school. Articles can be found by topic or read together as a collection from this issue. Embedded are episodes from our Dragonwaves podcast series and videos from our YouTube Channel.

Keep an eye out for our early June graduation stories about our graduates and farewells to HS educators including Counselor Madeleine McGarrity and Associate Principal Lauren Fine who are retiring. Also included will be our first digital Annual Report of Giving, and a message from our Chief Advancement Officer Ann Wardwell who will be returning to the U.S. this summer. It will be a special edition of celebration and thanks. Don’t miss it!

For those of you moving from Hong Kong, remember you are always a part of the HKIS community as alumni, past parents, and former faculty. I look forward to keeping you updated through our content channels (look for “HKIS Alumni” on social media) and invite you to stay in touch with us at alumni@hkis.edu.hk. For those returning in the fall, have a wonderful summer, and see you in August!