Translated by H.B. Qin
Edited by Adriana Dibenedetto
On May 18, 2025, the auditorium of Cadence Park School in Irvine, California, was filled with applause and laughter as Tzu Chi Academy Irvine held its annual graduation ceremony. Four hundred ninety-four teachers, students, parents, and volunteers had gathered to witness the children’s learning, achievement, and growth over the past year.
During the ceremony, students recited poetry and performed the sign language piece, “Pure Land on Earth,” among several others, demonstrating their academic advancements in language and humanities. Principal Wanchen Hua presented certificates and trophies to the students in recognition of their outstanding performance in language, character, art, and technology, bringing the school year to a successful conclusion.
Performances Showcase Learning and Accomplishment
To ensure the ceremony’s smooth unfolding, Principal Hua led a team of volunteers to the site the day before to meticulously set up the venue and make necessary preparations. On the day of the ceremony, at 7:30 AM, the students gathered in the auditorium on time for the final rehearsal, with parents and guests arriving to take their seats at 9:00 AM. The ceremony officially kicked off with the earnest recitation of the Tzu Chi Anthem. Thereafter, students from all grades presented wonderful and varied performances to showcase all they’d learned, including poetry recitations and sign language. The audience applauded enthusiastically, their cheers mingling with joyful laughter in the warm, familial atmosphere.
Robotics Team on the International Stage
At the graduation ceremony, Principal Hua presented certificates and trophies to the students, recognizing their efforts and growth over the past year, and encouraged all to continue upholding kindness, embracing academic study, and continually improving.
This year’s awards spanned both language and character development categories, including character recognition, recitation contests, Jing Si Aphorism illustration competitions, penmanship contests, typing contests, calligraphy, academic excellence awards, perfect attendance awards, and achievements in external competitions — highlighting the students’ well-rounded progress across myriad fields.
One of the most celebrated highlights of the ceremony was the appearance of Tzu Chi Academy Irvine’s robotics teams, led by teachers Weiwu Chen and Hunglin Chen. The teams took the stage to enthusiastic applause from the audience.
In the highly competitive 2024–2025 VEX IQ Robotics World Championship featuring 16,718 teams from over 80 countries, two teams from Tzu Chi Academy Irvine earned spots in the world finals, which concluded on May 14 in Dallas, Texas. The middle school’s “Lotus Seed” team took 31st place in their division among 419 other middle school teams from around the world, and placed 56th globally for overall technical performance. The elementary school’s “Lotus Root” team placed 28th in their division among 421 teams and achieved an impressive 16th place worldwide in overall technical ranking.
With perseverance and excellence, these students made their mark on the international stage, not only bringing this great honor to their school and their teachers, but also penning a shining chapter in their own journeys of growth and discovery.
Chinese Courses Accepted as High School Credits
Tzu Chi USA Deputy CEO Mike Tang and Director of Education Ching Shih also attended the ceremony, and delivered speeches that shared the philosophy and achievements of Tzu Chi’s humanistic education. Tang expressed his gratitude to the parents for their trust in Tzu Chi, and praised Principal Hua for her dedication to the school, as well as the selfless dedication and companionship of many volunteers, who together created this loving garden of humanistic education.
At Tzu Chi Academy, children not only learn Chinese language and culture, but more importantly, the seeds of compassion and love are planted in their hearts from an early age. In the future, these seeds will sprout and grow in their hearts, becoming big trees full of love and kindness.
Director Shih shared exciting news as well: Tzu Chi Academy Irvine had officially obtained the Irvine Unified School District’s high school world language credit certification. This means that students’ Chinese courses at Tzu Chi Academy will count toward their high school credits.
Eleven Years of Hard Work with Gratitude
Among the graduating students was Sophia Cheng, who began in the Pre-K class and has now completed an impressive journey. Representing the graduating class, Sophia delivered a heartfelt speech, expressing deep gratitude to every teacher and volunteer who had guided her throughout her academic journey. Her words were filled with emotion, and moved the entire audience.
“From Pre-K to ninth grade, 11 years have passed quickly. I never thought that I would stand here and give a speech on behalf of the graduates. This is a great honor for me,” said Cheng. Sophia Cheng recalled that in the second grade, she tried hard to answer questions for a piece of candy. She also remembered the difficulty and fun of learning to read in the third grade. In the fourth grade, she switched to remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Although I could stay in bed, it was really a bit lonely because I couldn’t go to class with my friends,” she said with a smile. In the sixth grade, she began learning homophones and Chinese idioms. While the vastness of the Chinese language sometimes gave her a headache, the language also fascinated her. In the seventh grade, she participated in the character recognition competition for the last time and memorized the lyrics of a Chinese song, “Super Idol.” That year, a teacher said to her, “I hope you can speak on behalf of the graduates on stage in two years.” Now, she’d officially lived up to her expectations and realized this wish.
“In the eighth grade, since we had grown up, we could use games to trace word roots. The most exciting thing during the ninth grade was participating in the dragon dance at the Spring Festival celebration and winning the tug-of-war competition. I want to thank Ms. Jiang of the ninth and tenth grades. She is the hardest-working and most diligent person in our class. Thank you, Ms. Jiang, for giving us so many wonderful memories,” continued Cheng.
Cheng also expressed her gratitude to Tzu Chi for providing her with the opportunity to participate in various learning activities, such as recitation, typing, flower arrangement, and tea ceremonies. As she recounted the irreplaceable memories, she became emotional and bowed deeply, thanking her parents for taking her to school and
Thank you for supporting me, encouraging me, and accompanying me along the way. Without you, I would not be standing here today.
Parents Moved by Transformation
Nicole Yang, a parent at Tzu Chi Academy Irvine, shared that this was the first year her children had attended Tzu Chi Academy. Her two children were in different grades, but both had started in the Zhuyin class.
“My kids have only been attending for one year, but I have seen significant progress in their Chinese character recognition and writing skills. What has touched me most is that they have learned a lot about Tzu Chi’s humanistic spirit and rich Asian culture,” expressed Yang.
Yang said that she’d never imagined her children could learn Chinese so well in a Chinese school in the United States, but at Tzu Chi Academy, not only did they do so, but the children also learned happily and gained a lot more. “I chose Tzu Chi because my mother was a Tzu Chi volunteer in Taiwan, so I was not unfamiliar with Tzu Chi.”
I feel lucky that my children can grow up in such an environment full of love and care. This will be a very important learning experience in their lives.
Carlton Coleman, a parent from sixty miles away, shared that his son, Fionn Coleman, was currently in the second grade. Although they had many options for Fionn to learn Chinese nearby, they ultimately chose to commute to Irvine every week, primarily due to the uniqueness of the Tzu Chi Academy.
“We chose this one down here because we really like the people. Everyone seems to really care. The events are always fun. They seem to make the learning fun for him.” He said that although there was a lot of homework, his son was keen to complete it and performed well in the competitions, which made them very proud. After the weekend classes, the whole family spent the day in Irvine, which became a regular opportunity for parent-child bonding. He said in a relaxed, sincere tone that it was well worth the drive, and he had seen the positive changes that Tzu Chi education had brought to his child.
We’ll be back next year. He performed a song with the class. He didn’t really sing; he knows it, but he didn’t sing. Because of the way they talk to them and the way they treat them in class, I do see the reflection of how he reacts at home from the things he learns here. I do see a change.
Students Vow to Continue
Karina Chen, a third-grade student at Tzu Chi Academy Irvine, gave an excellent performance in the Recitation Competition and happily shared her joy, saying, “I recited “Father,” and “I’m Happy with You” today. I feel very happy because I can get a trophy and a certificate. Coming to Tzu Chi Academy lets me learn different Chinese characters and practice recitation. It’s really rewarding.”
Olivia Wang, an eighth-grade student, shared the joy of group performances, saying, “I am very happy to perform with my friends. We all have a good rapport, and I am happy to be on stage.” Wang also added that she started learning Zhuyin at a very young age and was deeply impressed by Tzu Chi’s learning process.
Kendia Ho-Shih, who was also in the eighth grade, said that although she started attending Tzu Chi Academy that year, she was deeply interested in the humanistic atmosphere. “Today, I saw a lot of great performances and many cute children,” she said cheerfully.
I really like Tzu Chi’s philosophy, and I look forward to joining the [Tzu Chi Collegiate Association] volunteers when I go to university and continue on this journey.
Encouraging Students to Cherish Learning Opportunities
Behind the accomplishments presented at the ceremony are the quiet contributions of volunteers and teachers. Eighth-grade teacher Hsiaorung Chu has been an educator at Tzu Chi Academy Irvine for more than 20 years, and has taught almost every grade. She shared that this year’s graduation ceremony was particularly lively; the performances, carefully prepared by the students, were rich and diverse, and the atmosphere was both joyful and touching.
According to Chu, in addition to regular Chinese language teaching and music and art classes, the Academy also designed numerous cultural activities, such as holiday celebration performances during Chinese New Year, to enable students to experience the beauty of Chinese culture in practice. At the same time, the teaching of Dharma Master Cheng Yen’s Jing Si Aphorisms is an integral part of Tzu Chi’s humanistic education. “We not only require students to understand the meaning of Jing Si Aphorisms but also hope that they can implement them in their lives. In class, I regularly ask the children to share what they have done this month that is consistent with the spirit of Jing Si Aphorisms.”
The teachers are very attentive in preparing lessons, hoping that the students can really engage with the class. Learning Chinese should not just be a task assigned by parents, but an interest and passion that children cultivate themselves.
Chu sincerely hoped that the children would cherish the opportunity to learn Chinese, use language as a bridge to understand the culture, cultivate character, and truly gain joy and growth from it.
The 2025 graduation ceremony for Tzu Chi Academy Irvine’s students successfully concluded with performances full of sunshine and confidence, reminding all that graduation was not only the conclusion of one chapter but the start of another vibrant journey.
Tzu Chi Academy Irvine has always adhered to the philosophy of teaching with Jing Si Aphorisms and Character Education to engage and inspire the spirit. And, Tzu Chi’s humanistic spirit has certainly taken root in the hearts of these youths. May it accompany them in the future as they continue to sow the seeds of kindness and love on the path ahead.
