February 20-26, 2012
Headline News
Chang Jung Girls’ Senior High School celebrates 125th anniversary with memorable reunion
Reported by Sam Lee
Written by Lydia Ma
February 14 is not only Valentine’s day, but also the anniversary of Chang-Jung Girl s’ Senior High School (CJGSHS). On February 14, 2012, CJGSHS celebrated its 125th anniversary with a thanksgiving service. Several old alumni gave brief presentations of memorable times spent at this school and reflected on how the school played a pivotal role in education women. The school is a designated national landmark for its contributions to women’s culture.
CJGSHS President Lee Wei-hsin was the preacher during the service and he spoke on the legacy of the school’s founder, Eliza C. Cooke, who was a missionary to Taiwan in the 1860s. Lee said that when Cook and her husband came to Taiwan, they saw that women were oppressed and treated unequally through the practice of foot-binding.
Convinced that God made men and women equal and in God’s own image, Cook began to advocate for equal education opportunities for women and on February 14, 1877, Sinlau Girls’ School became the first school in Taiwan to admit women. The school’s only criterion for admission was that girls should not have their foot bound. It later became known as Chang Jung Girls’ Senior High School.
During this thanksgiving service, the school showed a special feature produced by Formosa TV on landmarks celebrating female culture in Taiwan that included CJGSHS. After viewing the feature, CJGSHS President Hsieh Shu-yang thanked the school’s alumni for attending the celebration service commemorating the school’s 125th anniversary.
About 30 alumni attended the service and many of them were above 80 years of age. Hsieh said during his speech that the school had endured various regime changes with Taiwan in the early 20th century. However, its founding vision has always been that it would work to empower women and set them free. In the end, the school produced highly educated women who went on to become leaders and influencers.
Though nowadays not many people would list CJGSHS as their top choice when applying to senior high schools in Tainan due to changes in the education system, the school continues to produce great students as evidenced in the latest college entrance examination scores.
In related news, students enrolled at PCT high schools such as Chang-Jung Senior High School, Chang-Jung Girls’ Senior High School, and Tamkang High School performed exceptionally well in the recent nationwide college entrance examinations. Not only were many students from these schools admitted to public universities, they were also applauded for their volunteer activities.
According to reports, about 40 students from Chang-Jung Senior High School received a perfect score in the English examination and 187 students received scores high enough to apply for a national university.
Many students at Chang-Jung Girls’ Senior High School performed exceptionally well in general education subjects as well as vocational classes. In Tamkang High School, some students scored 69/75 and 32 students scored above 50/75 on this year’s college entrance examinations.
