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法拉第少年─逆流而上(天下雜誌 511期)

圖片來源:劉國泰


法拉第少年 逆流而上


原本是「流氓學校」的光武國中,如今以「自然探索課程」,讓四分之一的畢業生,都進入第一志願。


台大生物產業機電工程學系二年級的陳俊強,到現在仍無法忘懷十二歲的那個秋天。


在稀薄的空氣中,撐著登山杖,一步又一步,爬上合歡山。藍天襯著一抹白雲的北峰,至今仍刻印在他的腦海。


縈繞在他心中的,還有十三歲的春天,到新竹泰崗溪溯溪的驚險刺激,冬天環繞綠島的海洋美景。以及十四歲的夏天,從認識螺絲釘開始,自行組裝一輛單車,到完成單車環島的壯舉。


精彩又冒險犯難的少年時光,讓他一次又一次回到母校——新竹光武國中。這也是多數光武畢業生難忘的共同記憶。


「溯溪時,溪水很冷,一個人容易被沖走,需要結成繩隊,靠大家的力量,才有辦法渡河,」陳俊強回憶著。而在奔流溪水中伸出手的,往往是原本在他眼中的「壞孩子」——不會念書的中輟生。


「上大學回頭看,國、英、數全忘光,留下的只有那幾趟探索課,」陳俊強現在是台大登山社的一員。


走入新竹科學園區旁的光武國中,週五下午的校園並不安靜。


偌大的禮堂內,黃色運動服上寫著「法拉第少年」的學生,有人在排椅子,有人忙著測試音響。一切都為了驗收第三屆單車環島成果,而舉辦的「米粉餐會」。


「稱為『法拉第少年』,是希望每個人都具有法拉第精神,」探索課程背後的靈魂人物,總務主任林茂成,轉頭跟來客解釋。


2012-11-28天下雜誌 511

http://www.cw.com.tw/article/article.action?id=5045069&page=1

 

天下英文版

http://english.cw.com.tw/front.do?action=index


Cover Story


Guangwu Junior
High School


Fighting
Upstream


Once known as a "gangster
school," Hsinchu's Guangwu Junior High School has turned to "nature
exploration" outings to bury its bad reputation and…


Chen
Chun-chiang, a sophomore in National Taiwan University's Department of
Bio-Industrial Mechatronics Engineering, still cannot forget the autumn of his
12th year, hiking up Mount Hehuan, a walking stick in hand, breathing in the
rarefied air. The mountain's northern peak, set off by the blue sky and fluffy
white clouds, remains etched in his memory.

Also hovering
in his mind is the spring when he was 13, enjoying the thrill of a river
tracing expedition in Hsinchu's Taigang River. That was followed by a tour of
Green Island and its majestic ocean views during the winter. The next summer he
built his own bicycle at the age of 14 and biked around Taiwan.

These many
amazing adventures still fresh in Chen's mind have led him back more than once
to his junior high school – Guangwu Junior High in Hsinchu. They are the
collective memories shared by many of the school's graduates.


"When we
went river tracing, the water was very cold, and one person alone could have
easily been washed away. We had to form a team holding ourselves tightly
together. Only by relying on everybody's strength was it possible to buck the
river," Chen remembers. Those same youths battling the water and
stretching out their arms to help their teammates had once been considered
"bad kids" – dropouts who had no taste for school.


"Now
that I'm a university student, looking back, I've completely forgotten
everything from my Chinese, English and math classes. The only thing that's
stayed with me is those exploration classes," says Chen, who is now a
member of the National Taiwan University mountaineering club.


Entering
Guangwu Junior High on a Friday afternoon when the school week should be
winding down, one finds anything but calm.


In the
school's huge auditorium, students donning yellow uniforms that read
"Faraday Kids" are busy setting up chairs and checking the sound
system. It is all for a "pot luck dinner" held to honor the
achievements of students on the school's third biennial bicycling tour of
Taiwan.


"We
called them 'Faraday Kids' in the hope that every person has the Faraday
spirit," says the driving force behind the school's innovative exploration
curriculum, administrative director Lin Mao-cheng.


The program's
namesake, Michael Faraday, the 19th century self-educated scientist known as
the father of electromagnetism, was renowned for his popularization of
scientific knowledge and his indefatigable thirst for knowledge through
experimentation. Even at his height as a famous scientist, he would give free
public science lectures and captivated audiences with his well-planned
demonstrations.


Zero Dropout
Rate


Guangwu
Junior High School's transformation may seem hard to believe. Ten years ago,
the school was branded a "gangster school" and widely shunned. Today,
one of every four of its graduates gets high enough scores on their high school
entrance exams to get into their first choice of high schools.


"Six
years ago when I first got here, there were always 'black shirts' waiting at
the gate," says an elderly security guard in the cold as he pulls his thin
jacket closer to his body. (The "black shirts" generally refer to
young hooligans who are part of crime gangs.)