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By Alfred P
In the American International School of Guangzhou (AISG), every student tries their best to present their academic side of themselves. However, every month, students get at least one opportunity to have fun, to enjoy, and to bond relationships without worrying or thinking about any academics during school hours.
Shared by former middle school principal Mr. Richard Burnell (2010-1025), the initial idea of Dynasty “grouped kids in mixed grade levels”, in which, “they spent the first few days of school each year doing a variety of team building and orientation activities.”
Nowadays however, “Dynasty is a chance for students in fun, competitive activities that shows their school spirit” says Dynasty coordinator Ms. Darcie Flansburg.
The inspiration of the idea “originated before my time and was the creation of my predecessor as MS Principal; Meghan Pavey” explained Mr. Burnell. “She was Principal from 2006-2010 and I was Principal from 2010-2015. Early in her tenure, probably 2007 or so, Ms. Pavey moved to create a ‘house system’(…) A house system allows a school to get kids from different grade levels to interact more by regrouping them in teams that include kids from all grades. In theory, this helps create unity among a whole division and breaks down the grade-level barriers to some degree.”
When asked about the meaning behind the name, Mr. Burnell explains that it was a blending and bonding between the western and Chinese culture by implementing Chinese history into the concept of a “house system”. “Ms. Pavey used the Chinese dynasty theme to make these groups and created an event known as Dynasty Days,” stated Mr. Burnell.
A Break from Academics
In the past, Mr. Burnell and his team “scheduled about 6 events throughout the year and tried to hype them up as much as possible, with one Dynasty accumulating the most points over the course of the year and being declared ‘the champion’.”
Whereas nowadays, Dynasty events appear at least one per month with it either being trivia, competitive sports or games, or community-bonding activities. The point system on the other hand only had small changes, including how points are given based on the ranking of each team’s result, as “the champion” is still the team (Dynasty) that accumulates the most point after a year.
“Dynasty is meant to give students an opportunity to show their school spirit and celebrate cultural events and holidays that are applicable to the school community,” explains Ms. Flansburg.
A ninth grader shares his opinion on Dynasty events as he says, “I like Dynasty events because they are a simple system to bring the whole school together for a willing purpose.”He also shares that “Dynasty events give me opportunities to relax after a stressful week and have fun with the whole school.”
A sophomore in the AISG community says that “it (Dynasty) allows opportunities for me to bond with my friends but also with other students I may not have met before.”
As the creator of the activities, Ms. Flansburg shares information in a different perspective. “I enjoy creating these events for students because it gives them an opportunity to do something that is not academic with their peers. It is also a chance for students to celebrate different cultural events like Christmas and Lunar New Year with some fun competition.”
Although many members in the community talk about the good and benefits of Dynasty, a 10th grade student has a contrasting opinion when it comes to Dynasty events as he sees multiple areas in which Dynasty lacks at. “I don’t enjoy Dynasty events personally, since I feel like the activities are generic and unchanging each year. It was fun in middle school, but it gets tiring having to make a show of appreciation for the same old shtick.”
The Future of Dynasty
When it comes to the best part of Dynasty, Ms. Flansburg responded with when students get excited about the event and participate with enthusiasm.”
Similarly, a ninth grader expresses that “is the amount of hype and excitedness everyone has for it, it really brings up the general morale in the whole community.” Meanwhile, a tenth grader said that “is the fact that they include the whole school.”
Though the events had been quite successful in terms of bonding relationships between the students and the community, as expressed by the opinion of the students, many areas of improvement to this concept still exist.
Ms. Flansburg thinks that the willingness of the majority of students is lacking explain that “there is little time for activities”. On top of that, she says “the more students engage, the better”.
From a student’s perspective however, a sophomore believes that major problem is the lack of organization “as many times the rules cannot be properly conveyed to the students which leads to confusion.”
Overall, “Dynasty events boost the morale of the community, increases school unification and spirit, and adds a relaxing part of school to look forward to on Fridays, ” as shared from a student from ninth grade, even though many improvements can be made in the future.
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