【推荐1】A woman teacher in Lijiang, Yunnan Province has changed the lives of many children in the mountains, especially the girls. She is the head teacher of Huaping High School for Girls. It is the first public high school for girls in China that does not charge tuition. And it is well-known for its high percentage of graduates who enter universities. Without her, nothing would have happened. She is Zhang Guimei.

In 2001, Zhang, then a teacher of local middle school, was chosen to be the part-time president of a center for homeless children in Huaping. She found that many girls in the area had little chance of getting education. Zhang decided to set up a school for girls, mainly those who are unable to continue their high school studies.

Between 2002 and 2007, Zhang spent her vacations on the streets asking people to give away money to her school. Many people didn’t understand what she was doing and gave her the cold shoulder. Luckily, Zhang and her dream have finally drawn attention from the public and the government. With the local government’s support, Huaping High School for Girls was opened in September 2008.

Difficulties soon followed. Six months after it opened, 9 out of its 17 teachers left because of the poor conditions and the students’ poor performance. But Zhang wouldn’t allow the school to be shut down. She led the remaining teachers to work harder.

“I want my students to go to good universities,” Zhang said. During the past 12 and a half years, over 1,600 girl students have graduated and been accepted into universities including Wuhan University and Sichuan University. It makes Zhang proud. This great teacher believes education for women can make a big difference in a nation.

【推荐2】One small act of kindness can help make a beautiful difference to people's lives.

Last October， I built a large tree made up of fallen branches（树枝）. I called it the Inspiration Tree With the help of volunteers and friends， the tree was built easily. And we hung some paper on the bran-ches. When people visited it， they were encouraged to create a piece of art or leave a positive（积极的）message on the paper.

It was very interesting to exchange positive messages. If you wanted to hang a message up， you had to take a message down for you to keep. The experience was really amazing. People of all ages were sharing and inspiration through the tree.

I made more Inspiration Trees. I took one to a school where I had studied. What I did encouraged students there to write， but most importantly they wanted to spread kindness by leaving positive messages for other students. The most wonderful thing was that the messages they left could have a huge influence.

I make seven trees totally. I am going to put other trees all over our community. One will go to an old people's home and one will be put right in the middle of our public square.

The positive idea can influence people's lives in great ways just by doing a simple act of kindness. The messages people receive can be kept with them forever， or they can pass them along to others. It can help spread kindness in the world.

【推荐3】Is there something in your community (社区) that could be changed? Is there a person in your neighborhood who needs help? If you’re hoping for someone to make a difference, that someone could be you!

Volunteering your time is a great way to make a difference in your community. And you’ll feel good about doing something that helps people or improves the places around you.

This past summer, my friends and I noticed how messy our neighborhood park was. We wanted it to be different. We worked without parents and teachers to clean up the park. We had a great time making the park even better than before, and now the whole neighborhood is able to share and enjoy it again.

Maybe cleaning up a park isn’t your choice, though. It doesn’t matter! You can turn anything that matters to you into a volunteer project. You can volunteer to do what you love to do. For example, you could help at an old people’s center, simply by talking or playing games with them to make their days better. If you’re great at math or English. You could volunteer to be a homework helper at your school.

You see, there is something for everyone. Whatever you do as a volunteer, your time will be enjoyed and that always feels good. Kids everywhere are making a difference by volunteering. You can make it, too!