資優教育

As a member of the Academic Investigation Team in our school, we can either choose to participate in a social science or science research project every year. Through the projects, we learn how to read professional literature, think critically, conduct research, write up a report and present our work.

Cherry Chiu of 6C, Valarie Chan of 5D and I have taken part in the science project since we were in junior forms and luckily we were selected to receive training at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) for a month last summer, under Prof. Chiu S. W., retired professor from the School of Life Sciences and her research assistant Annie. We were involved in some parts of a research project which mainly investigated the relationship between some insects and some entomopathogenic (i.e. insect-killing) fungi in the Hong Kong Institute of Biotechnology. After learning some practical skills and problem-solving skills, we transferred the experiment to our school, so some of you could see us catching flies in the garden before the last summer holiday.

We have joined two competitions with our project. Throughout the journey, besides solving many scientific problems and dealing with the interruption caused by the pandemic, we conducted some interviews. The judges of those competitions, who were doctors and university professors, asked challenging yet inspirational questions. Furthermore, amazed by the captivating projects from other schools, we were enthusiastic to explore more knowledge in this field. What a rewarding experience!

Other than focusing on our academic performance, it is also essential to learn about different events in our world. Our school therefore invites inspirational figures to share their valuable life experiences with the students to broaden our horizons. One of the talks was held by Dr. Edward Choi, an immunologist from the University of Oxford and winner of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons Selection Award from Junior Chamber International Hong Kong in 2016 (香港十大傑出青年).

He shared his story of participating in the Ebola virus research in West Africa and the hard work in setting up a social enterprise called ‘e-NABLE Sierra Leone’. Dr. Choi was born in Hong Kong and then studied at the University of Oxford. Upon graduation, he volunteered in an international medical team to fight against Ebola virus in Sierra Leone. During the civil war in Sierra Leone, many citizens’ limbs were cut off and most of them lost their working abilities. To help these people, Dr. Choi set up an NGO called ‘e-NABLE Sierra Leone’ (https://www.facebook.com/enablesierraleone) and made prosthetic limbs for amputees using 3D printing and traditional techniques. People there could finally have ‘hands’ and ‘feet’ again. Dr. Choi wrote a book about his journey and is now working on setting up solar powers in some African villages to provide lights for the poor people. He wishes to help as much as he can.

His sharing amazed us as we do not know much about Ebola in West Africa. We can never imagine how much people suffer from the virus and war as we are living in this well-developed city. In the Q & A session, many students were curious and raised a lot of discussions. Not only has this talk helped us understand the Ebola outbreak in Africa, it has also aroused our interest in international events and inspired us to explore the possibility of future applications of computer technology in various domains.

The school’s Gifted Education Programme has provided numerous opportunities for students to learn outside the school curriculum. Aside from internal programs and talks, students can also be nominated to join the Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education, which provides a multitude of out-of-curriculum programmes in various domains.

This year, I’ve participated in an HKAGE biotechnology course in “Microbiology, Neuroscience, and Molecular Biology”, which covered disease transmission and food safety, brain structure and neural coordination in different animal species and the science of nucleic acids and proteins. While seemingly difficult, the course actually correlates highly to our daily lives.

Apart from the sciences, the HKAGE also provides courses in humanities and leadership. If you want to further stimulate your curiosity, don’t hesitate to nominate yourself through the school or HKAGE (https://www.hkage.org.hk/b5/) to reach your full potential!