Weekly Message from HOS 2026/03/02-2026/03/06

Dear Keystonians, 

Happy Friday! Another week of late-season snow—and the first week of our 8th grade ELP trips to Sishui. 

This ELP is unique: over nine weeks, students travel in small groups to experience life in rural China. The program is based at Keystone’s Rural Education Center in Sishui County, Shandong Province. This is the third year that all Keystone 8th graders have participated, and it grows stronger each year as our connections in the region deepen. 

On Wednesday, I enjoyed the short high-speed train ride down to Sishui and joined our students and teachers at the end of a fun day. The students were happy, fully immersed in the phenomenon of rural life. 

Later, a group from Keystone met with local leaders to strengthen our shared purpose for the benefit of both our students and the people of Sishui. It was a powerful conversation about the strength of community and the creativity that nourishes it. Sishui has drawn many people back from city life to contribute to the development of their rural home. It is an important testament to the fact that big ideas can come from small places—a critical lesson for our students, who are quite cosmopolitan and mostly live in Beijing, one of the largest cities in the world. 

The goal of rural development is not to make these places more like cities, but to preserve their unique charm while making life safer, more convenient, and better connected for those who live and work there. China’s visible commitment to this vision is extraordinary. In this unique program, our students get a peek into why these places are worthy of our attention and care. 

China is built on the strength of its rural communities. These communities feed the nation, and while just under a third of the population—about 450 million people—currently live in rural areas, a far greater number still considers a rural place “home.” The program in Sishui gives Keystone students a feeling of that special, precious rural life so integral to the country’s identity and development. 

Thank you to the teachers and leaders at Keystone for their devotion to this wonderful program, and to the families for their support. And most of all, thank you to the students for their thoughtful and caring engagement with our friends in Sishui. I know you are all learning the peace, industriousness and beauty of rural life. 

Wish you all a peaceful weekend! I’m heading to the mountains for one last ski before the snow melts. What about you? 

Warmly, 

Emily