The traditional Hiba Nursery Winter Market welcomed more than 700 guests to open the festive season.
Winter wonders on two floors
On Saturday the 7th of December, the traditional Hiba Winter Market opened its doors for the fourth year and welcomed over 700 adults and children. This year we prepared ourselves to board the festive train that was taking us from Hiba to Happiness and that theme was evident in the sparkling eyes and shiny smiles on the faces of humans big and small alike.
Followed by a rhythmic and captivating drum perfor
mance by the Head of Early Years, Ms Vanessa Szücs-Hussain and Deputy Head Ms Yuki Gong, the Head of the Hiba Nursery together with Mr Eric Lu – Chair of the Friends of Hiba opened the Winter Market to the Hiba community. More than 40 vendors from various businesses With over 1600 applications to host a booth at this year’s event, the Friends of Hiba committee, (who were organising the market for the first time since they were formed at the end of the last academic year) had the spoils of choice and settled with about 40 vendors offering nothing but the best in their respective fields.Strolling through the main corridors on the first and second floor, parents and pupils discovered dozens of market stalls offering all manner of treats including toys, science and Lego kits, Taekwondo classes and a virtual golf driving range as well as snowboard and ski academy lessons. The outdoor learning area transformed into a horse-riding course and tennis court.
Friends of Hiba’s words of gratitude Much like the previous Winter Markets held, this year’s event was heavily supported by the efforts of Hiba parents and support staff, led by Mr Eric Lu – Chair of the Friends of Hiba – and Ms Crystal Zhang – Vice Chair Events for the Friends of Hiba.
Mr Eric Lu mentioned:“As this is the first time the FoH Nursery is responsible to host the market; we were looking for very motivated and high-quality vendors. We are especially proud of our new sponsor Nike, a brand we would like to further introduce to the Hiba community. For me Nike very much links to the culture and values of Hiba.The most amazing part this year, however, has been the team, which has been working with the utmost dedication to realise this project. We would like to thank all the parents of course and the nursery team, teachers, management and the FoH team. Without the support and help of everyone we would have not been able to make this market happen.”
Auction for a good cause Another element of event Mr Lu was extremely pleased about, was the little art auction that took place throughout the day on the main stage. During their season themed art week in October, pupils of every class and year group had prepared 14 individual canvases based on their respective season. Works of art in bright spring colours, beach inspired summer as well as work in orange, red and brown to match autumn and snowy winter illustrations were displayed on stage. After a silent auction was held in the weeks leading up to the Winter Market, Hiba Nursery is now happy to announce that with the collective effort of our parent body we were able to raise over 40,000 RMB. This money will go to support charitable causes here in China. Vanessa Szücs-Hussain, Head of Early Years, added her message of appreciation: “As we celebrated the first official Friends of Hiba Winter Market at the nursery, I was both humbled and astonished at the collective efforts of a few for the benefit of many. Crystal and Eric, along with the executive committee team worked tirelessly to bring this event to life. With the added support of a team of wonderful parent volunteers, the PMC, security and support staff from the nursery, the event brought the Hiba Academy Shanghai community together for a day of magical and festive fun. The event was specifically designed for the children to enjoy with their families and it most certainly delivered enjoyment in abundance. I find it heart-warming to see the Hiba family come together – it provides fuel for the soul.” We hope that you had a great time exploring this year’s Winter Market and everyone at Hiba Academy Shanghai would like to wish you a very happy holiday season.
