Nurturing reading culture among teenagers

In recent years, Gaomi has been prioritizing the creation of a book-focused campus to foster a lifelong reading habit among students in primary and secondary schools.

To achieve this goal, the county-level city has introduced 36 "educator's bookstores" in schools and kindergartens across the city. These bookstores feature over 30,000 volumes of books from domestic and foreign educational theorist like Vasyl Sukhomlinsky and Tao Xingzhi, obtained through independent procurement and social donations.

After the initiative, there was a notable increase in the number of books read per year by primary school student Wang Zi from Gaomi, who went from reading 12 books to 126 books annually.

Students in Gaomi, Shandong read books in their school's reading corner. [Photo by Li Haitao for chinadaily.com.cn]

In one notable case at Gaomi Economic Development Zone Primary School, the principal has allocated three plots of land for cultivating locally grown wheat varieties. This practical learning initiative aims to help students apply the agricultural knowledge they've learned from reading.

Students actively participate in the wheat cultivation process, from seed sprouting to fruiting, allowing them to experience firsthand the value of translating theoretical knowledge into practical applications. (Edited by He Yuge)