by Maryann Lin

    TORONTO, Nov. 18 (Xinhua ) -- A Saturday morning, Sheila Song, Amy's mother, was busy arranging the books back in order in the lobby of Georges Vanier International Languages School, Toronto, Canada. The books were all donated, and belonged to the Chinese Library of the school.

    "A boy's unhappy," said Sheila. "He wanted to borrow the book on the Monkey King, but the only two we have are lent already."

    Amy is a grade eight student taking the Chinese course at Georges Vanier International Languages School. Every Saturday morning, she comes to the school with her parents. When she's in the classroom learning the Chinese language and culture, her parents are outside of the classroom with other parents, exchanging information and organizing activities. They belong to the parent association of the school.

    There's an active parent association at Georges Vanier International Languages School. The parents work with the school as a team through the parent association to promote student learning.

    "We come to the school every Saturday," said Sheila. "To help school and share information with parents."

    At the moment, at the administrative office of Georges Vanier Saturday School, Stela was also very busy. She's a student volunteer.

    "I started volunteering in Georges Vanier's Saturday International Languages Elementary Program ever since 2007," said Stela, a current grade 12 student. "After all these years of volunteering, I strongly feel that this is a fabulous program with a wonderful principal who is willing to help any time he can, and his problem-solving and interpersonal skills are simply phenomenal. The teachers are also very kind, and everyone gets along pretty well, truly as if we are just one big family."

    There are a large number of student volunteers at the school tohelp. They assist instructors and students in classrooms, help distribute supplies and newsletters, organize files, make photocopies, plan and prepare activities in school office, escort late young students to their classrooms and supervise in hallways.

    "During my years of work here," said Stela, "I have learned many skills including reception, time management, organization, interpersonal skills, leadership, cooperation, and many other skills that I believe will prove to be very useful as the years goby."

    "Not only did this volunteer opportunity improve my skills," said Stela, "but it also brought color and vibrancy into my life, allowing me to have greater contact and understanding of the outside world, while raising my confidence, and making great friends. In fact, I believe that other than myself, many other volunteers will all agree that this Saturday School is a place they truly love, not to mention countless students."

    Here comes the "wonderful principal," a man in his fifties with shining bright eyes and all smiles. His name is Warren Ko. Before becoming the principal of the school, he worked as a volunteer for more than ten years at Toronto District School Board (TDSB). In his words, the secret of becoming a "wonderful principal" is "happiness."

    "In the end, children are children," said Ko. "They're only fond of games. In North America, we don't have an environment of Chinese language, so learning Chinese is not a life necessity for the children. To promote their love for Chinese, we turn the Chinese courses into Chinese games, and the children are happy."

    "Every year," said Ko, "we organize many extra-curricular activities to stimulate student interest, promote language learning, increase students' knowledge about China and their understanding of Chinese culture."

Special report: Global News Day for Children