“The success of the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics is a major event for the Party and country, and our solemn commitment to the international community.” The Shougang Institute of Technology and Shougang Technician College conscientiously implemented the work arrangements of the higher authorities, took the high standard of the Group’s “three meetings and two guarantees” as their solemn responsibility, gave full play to their own advantages and actively integrated various resources to serve the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Shougang Institute of Technology and Shougang Technician College sent 109 teachers and students to participate in volunteer services for the Games, including 43 general volunteers for Big Air Shougang events, one assistant to the ice hockey director, one technical officer of the men’s ice hockey project at the National Indoor Stadium, four observers and operators of the competition system and 60 city volunteers in Shougang Park.

Establishing the system and improving the plan to “refine” the work

In recent years, the Shougang Institute of Technology and Shougang Technician College have focused on serving the Winter Olympics, and identified the Party Secretary as first person responsible. Their Party committees and dean’s offices discussed the work plans for serving the Winter Olympics many times, took social sports majors (in snow & ice) and student development as the “center” of the work, and professional construction and volunteer services as the “radius” of the work, formed a talent training plan of “three members and four instructors”, and broadened volunteering for the Winter Olympics.

The Shougang Institute of Technology and Shougang Technician College successively undertook the training tasks of the national technical official (NTO) teams of ice hockey and cross-country skiing organized by the Winter Olympic Organizing Committee, and signed a strategic agreement with the Yanqing Human Resources and Social Security Bureau to carry out snowboard maintenance training; while the teachers of social sports majors (in ice & snow) served as the main course lecturers and advanced the talent construction urgently needed by the Winter Olympics and Paralympics.

Since the launch of volunteer recruitment for the Winter Olympics and Paralympics, the college has established a working group to serve the Games with the vice president in charge as the team leader, fully deploying and implementing the various tasks assigned by their superiors. After over two years of practice, the college has formed a working pattern of “unified leadership of the Party Committee, strong administrative support, close cooperation of relevant departments and implementation of the Communist Youth League”. In order to complete the volunteering tasks and minimize risks, the Shougang Institute of Technology successively researched, formulated and issued the SGIT Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games Volunteer Management Work Plan, SGIT Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games Volunteer General Training Implementation Plan and SGIT “Shougang Volunteers Head for the Winter Olympics” Themed Activity Plan. These plans cover volunteers’ COVID-19 prevention and control, accommodation during the winter vacation, dining, employment, group building, psychological counseling, training, etc., and strictly implement the work arrangements of the Beijing Municipal Education Commission, Education Commission and Shougang Group, and the management of volunteers for the Winter Olympics under COVID-19 prevention and control measures.

Actively publicizing and widely mobilizing to “ignite” enthusiasm

The Shougang Institute of Technology adopted various publicity forms and organized volunteers to sign up in an orderly manner. In November 2019, the launch ceremony of global volunteer recruitment for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games was held in Shougang Park. More than 200 teachers and students from the Shougang Institute of Technology and 13 universities including Peking University and the People’s Public Security University of China worked together to turn over the seats. After the launch ceremony, the college organized and planned a series of publicity activities for the recruitment of volunteers for the Games. Through the WeChat official account and campus network, publicity articles were continuously published, publicity banners were hung and campus paintings, speeches and Q&A’s on the theme of the Winter Olympics were carried out. On December 8th, 2021, the college organized the mobilization meeting of Winter Olympics volunteers themed “Youth Boosts the Winter Olympics, Dreams Gather at Shougang”. Through a series of effective tasks, the teachers and students transformed themselves from being unfamiliar with winter sports to understanding and loving them.

Electing capable people and fighting fiercely to build a “strong” team

The Shougang Institute of Technology steadily promoted its selection of volunteers, and chose the best of the best on the whole campus. Finally, 596 teachers and students passed the selection process and successfully completed their registration in the recruitment system of the Winter Olympic Organizing Committee. In September 2020, the Shougang Institute of Technology successfully applied to cooperate with the stadium, and jointly took charge of volunteer services for Big Air Shougang with the Beijing Institute of Technology, becoming one of 59 universities undertaking volunteer services for the Winter Olympics. According to the requirements of the Winter Olympics Office of the Beijing Youth League Committee, the college actively carried out the selection of general volunteers for the Games, summarized and released the main points of the recommended reserve of volunteers for the Games, and formulated a clear assessment scheme based on the principles of fairness, justice and openness. The selection and recommendation were carried out through written tests, interviews, integrated surveys, etc. After systematic recommendation, training and screening, two teams of general volunteers and city volunteers were finally formed. Under the unified organization and leadership of the Organizing Committee, the two teams, according to their different positionings, provided volunteer services in media operation and maintenance, catering services, audience organization, transportation services, consulting services and other business areas during the preparation and start of the Winter Olympics. 

During the preparation period, the volunteers were organized to complete training tasks such as English training, business training at Big Air Shougang, training for volunteers of the Organizing Committee, offline first aid training at Big Air venues, and venue and event services. Through all kinds of training, the volunteers fully mastered the basic knowledge and skills of volunteer services, built a volunteer team with good comprehensive quality, high service level and strong professional ability, and laid a foundation for providing high-level and distinctive volunteer services for the Winter Olympics.

Conducting moral education and diversified forging to “deploy” specialties

The Shougang Institute of Technology and Shougang Technician College adhere to the spirit of excellence, keep in mind the initial intentions of education, remember the mission of “educating people by virtue”, closely focus on the fundamental tasks of moral education and actively carry out various professional teaching, gradually forming a student training pattern of through-training between technician college and institute of technology, and practical “dual element” education in schools and enterprises. In this way, the internationalization of specialty construction, carriers of curriculum content, integration of curriculum objectives, informationization of teaching means and refinement of teaching management have obviously improved, and the work of cultivating people by virtue has achieved remarkable results. They have trained a large number of technical talents with high comprehensive quality, strong professional skills and good moral character for society, and achieved a good social response. In these volunteer services for the Winter Olympic Games, the Institute of Technology actively based itself on its own characteristics and gave full play to its professional advantages. According to the professional needs of the Organizing Committee, it recommended two sports teachers and six sports students to participate in the decision-making of the men’s ice hockey competition. Through the Organizing Committee audit, IIHF assessment and trial competition inspection, it was finally officially confirmed that five teachers and students became NTOs of ice hockey (professional event volunteers, including competition system observers and operators), responsible for the off-site technical refereeing of men’s ice hockey during the Winter Olympics and Paralympics, and one became assistant to the director of the ice hockey competition. Once again, Shougang people appeared in the professional stadiums of the Winter Olympics and Paralympics.

Nurturing the root and soul, and leading by principle to encourage “red” thoughts

Giving full play to the educational function of large-scale activities is the unique experience of the Shougang Institute of Technology and Shougang Technician College in student work, and also the activity principle to which they adhere. In order to implement the fundamental task of “educating people by virtue”, they also gave full play to the educational function of the Winter Olympics, transformed the Olympic Games into a vivid practice field for ideological and political education, and extended such education to the front lines of volunteer services, making it run through the whole daily management process of the volunteers. The Shougang Institute of Technology set up a temporary volunteer league branch consisting of three temporary league branches. Relying on the league organizations, it extensively carried out themed activities such as “Shougang Volunteers Head for the Winter Olympics”, “Youth Boosts the Winter Olympics”, snowfield pattern voting, volunteer symposiums, etc. It assembled a men’s ice hockey team which was the runner-up in the professional group in the First College Ice Hockey Championship in 2019, and won the championship in the selection group in the 2022 Beijing High School Inter-school Ice Hockey League. By strengthening ideological and professional guidance, and exercising students’ comprehensive ability through activities and competitions, the cohesion and centripetal force of the students were obviously enhanced. Meanwhile, it made full use of “red” resources and actively organized volunteers to participate in various “red” themed activities. Shougang students’ volunteer services can be seen everywhere, including the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall, Centennial City Volunteer Conference, CIFTIS, Shougang Park Winter Olympics Youth Expedition Conference and so on. Through participating in large-scale activities, students are guided to see, hear and understand with their own eyes, leading them to realize the initial mission of Chinese communists in practice.

At present, the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics is in full swing. The Shougang Institute of Technology will continue to organize volunteer activities, logistics support, etc., aim at the fundamental task of “educating people by virtue” and strive to provide services for the Winter Olympics and Paralympics. Igniting passion for the Winter Olympics and letting services shine, let us meet at the Winter Olympics, enjoy the fun of ice and snow, and set off into the future together.