“我生来就是高山而非溪流 ，我欲于群峰之巅俯视平庸的沟壑。我生来就是人杰而非草芥，我站在伟人之肩藐视卑微的懦夫！”

——云南省丽江市华坪女子高中誓词

日前，中宣部授予云南省丽江市华坪女子高级中学党支部书记、校长张桂梅时代楷模称号。

Chinese high school principal Zhang Guimei has been honored with the title “Role Model of the Times” in recognition of her dedication to education for girls.

63岁的张桂梅，是全国第一所全免费女高校长。12年间，她帮1800多名女孩圆梦大学。

Under the auspices of the Party and the government, she helped establish the country’s first senior high school to offer free education for girls from poor families. Since it opened in 2008, it has seen more than 1,800 students progress to universities and colleges. under the auspices /ˈɔːspɪsɪz/ of 在……的支持下

张桂梅教会了大山里的女孩用知识改变命运。她用教育事业，为阻断贫困的代际传递付出一生。

Zhang has changed the fates of these girls by enabling them to pursue education and preventing poverty from being passed on to the next generation, according to a statement issued by the department.

我想建一所免费的女子高中

2002年，作为一名普通的山区教师，孑然一身的张桂梅，立下了这样的誓言：“我想建一所免费的女子高中，让这些山里的女孩们读书，让她们走出大山……”

让她产生这种想法的，是她在一次次家访中见到的悲剧。

有一次家访经历让她至今难忘：女孩的父母为了3万块钱的彩礼，硬是要将13岁的孩子给嫁出去，张桂梅做了大量的工作，也无济于事，无奈只好放弃。后来，张桂梅再也没有见到女孩，这也成了她一生的痛。

About 20 years ago, while on the way to visit a student’s house, Zhang Guimei, then a rural teacher in Huaping county, Lijiang, Yunnan province, noticed a girl sitting on the hillside. She was staring blankly into space. The girl, 13, told Zhang she was about to get married. It was arranged by her parents. “But I want to go to school,” the girl says. Zhang went to her house and tried to persuade her parents to let the girl return to school and promised to pay for her tuition herself. However, they didn’t agree.

张桂梅说，“我们经常说，要让每一个孩子拥有公平的起跑线，可这些女孩却连站上起跑线的机会都没有。”

“We always say, each child should stand on the same starting line, but these girls didn’t even have a chance to get on the track,” she tells Xinhua News Agency.

张桂梅意识到，是贫困山区教育的落后和不对等，导致了低素质女孩成为低素质母亲，从而培养出低素质下一代的恶性循环。要从根本上解决山区贫困问题，就必须从提高妇女素质入手。

这坚定了她建立一所免费女子高中的决心。

That fateful encounter persuaded Zhang to build a free high school for girls, aiming to help break the cycle that saw women drop out of education, marry early and spend their whole life in the remote mountain. The priority of less well-off families was to spend whatever scarce resources they had on educating their sons.

为了建起这所学校，张桂梅四处奔走，不顾他人的误解和白眼，“像乞丐一样”筹集经费。2008年，华坪女子高级中学终于建成。

After years trying to raise funds, in 2008, Huaping High School for Girls, a free public high school, was founded at the foot of the Shizi Mountain in Huaping, where Zhang is the principal.

为了让贫困家庭的女孩走进学校，她一次次翻山越岭挨家挨户做工作。

一切的辛苦有了回报，在这整整12年的时间里，1804个可能辍学的贫困女孩，因她走出了大山，走进了大学校门……

Over the decades, Zhang walked thousands of kilometers, visiting students’ families in the deep mountain, talking to villagers, persuading girls to go back to school. It has been worth it. More than 1,800 graduates have been admitted to college, which is regarded a “miracle” in the remote area, as most students didn’t perform well in academic study before the school was established. Zhang says she wants children from the mountain to attend the best universities.

我们的成绩是用命换来的

张桂梅原本和丈夫一起在云南教书。1996年，丈夫因胃癌去世，她无儿无女，没有房子、没有财产。

12年来，她就安家在华坪女高的女生宿舍，和女学生们吃住在一起……

每天清晨5点多，宿舍楼就会响起她的声音：起床咯，姑娘；每天忙到快深夜1点，她才拖着疲惫的身躯躺下入睡……

终日的劳苦奔波使张桂梅的身体每况愈下，肿瘤、肺纤维化、小脑萎缩等20余种疾病缠身，这些病经常以不同的方式折磨着她。

Though lacking full health, not least dealing with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis, Zhang, now 63, insists on a daily routine — get up at around 5 am to turn on the lights of the teaching building, call students to get up with a loudspeaker, accompany students to classes and sleep after senior students’ study ends at midnight. She swallows dozens of pills a day. She has collapsed several times from exhaustion on the campus. Zhang’s husband died in the 1990s. She doesn’t have children or a house, so she lives at the student dormitory.

张桂梅曾说：“我的学生可以考到厦大、川大、武汉大学！我们是用命换来的。”

除了中宣部授予的“时代楷模”称号，张桂梅12月初还获得了中共中央授予的“全国优秀共产党员”称号。

12年里，张桂梅先后被授予“全国先进工作者”“全国五一劳动奖章”“全国十佳最美乡村教师”等荣誉称号，她把全部奖金、捐款和大部分工资共计100多万元一同捐献给了教育事业。

In early December, she was named a national outstanding member of the Communist Party of China for her dedication to education in rural China. She was also given the honor of the country’s “role model for teachers”, “advanced worker” and “outstanding woman”. Her moving stories inspire thousands of people. Zhang Xiaofeng, director of the school’s office, says the principal donated all her wages and bonus to bolster rural education and poor people.

女孩子受教育，可以改变三代人

在《时代楷模发布厅》的舞台上，华坪女高的毕业生以自己的方式集体送给张桂梅一个“礼物”。周云丽，从云南师范大学毕业后，毅然决然回到人生的起点，成为华坪女高的一位老师！

陈法羽考上警校，现在是永胜县的一名人民警察。

苏敏，现在是一名医生。

周云翠，现在是一名小学教师。

看着这些因为她而改变了命运的女孩们，张桂梅泣不成声。

张桂梅所有的努力，就是为了让她们自立自强，实现自我价值，成为对社会有贡献的人。

她曾说，女孩子受教育，可以改变三代人。

Zhang Guimei told the media a girl can influence three generations. “An educated, responsible mother will not let her children drop out of school,” she says, adding the goal is to prevent poverty from passing down from generation to generation.

在被问到觉得“这辈子的价值在哪”时，张桂梅这样回答：

“不管怎么着，我救了一代人。不管是多是少，她们后面过得比我好，比我幸福，就足够了，这是对我最大的安慰。”

有如此魄力和眼界，也就不奇怪，为什么她所创办的女子高中，有着这样豪情万丈的誓词：

我生来就是高山而非溪流，我欲于群峰之巅俯视平庸的沟壑。我生来就是人杰而非草芥，我站在伟人之肩藐视卑微的懦夫！

声明：素材源自“中国日报双语新闻”“中国日报”“新华社”“央视网”，转载请注明出处。