As the Spring Festival approaches, we take a moment to reflect on the year behind us — a journey shaped by learning, collaboration, innovation, and shared commitment. We are proud of the impact we achieved together in 2025 and deeply grateful for the trust and support that made it possible.
Empowering Under-Served Children with Essential 21st-Century Skills
In 2025, with the generous support of our partners, Stepping Stones continued to advance its mission of expanding access to quality education for under-served children across China. We recruited, trained, and supported approximately 1,000 volunteers, who reached 8,067 students nationwide. Through programs in English learning, digital literacy, and social-emotional learning, our volunteers and trainers delivered 9,357 interactive lessons, helping students build essential 21st-Century skills.
Children benefited from our programs across a broad range of provinces and municipalities — including Henan, Shanghai, Ningxia, Jiangsu, Yunnan, Guangxi, Anhui, Jiangxi, Fujian, Shaanxi, Gansu, Guangdong, Tianjin, Beijing, Hubei, Shandong, Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia — reflecting the truly national reach of our work.
A Major Milestone: Opening of the Stepping Stones Center
One of the most significant milestones of 2025 was the successful opening of the Stepping Stones Center in Huacao, Minhang District, Shanghai. Established in response to long-observed community needs, the Center now provides a safe, welcoming, and structured environment for children — many from migrant and low-income families.
Having a dedicated space allows us to deliver consistent, high-quality programs under one roof. More importantly, it offers children a sense of stability, belonging, and continuity — foundations essential to their well-being and long-term development.
We are deeply grateful to all partners and supporters who helped turn this shared vision into a lasting community resource. While the Center strengthens program delivery in Shanghai, it does not limit Stepping Stones’ broader commitment. Our programs continue to reach children across China through partnerships with schools and community organisations, ensuring equitable access to quality educational opportunities nationwide.
Enhancing Digital Literacy Skills
Building on the strong momentum of 2024, our Digital Literacy Program continued to thrive in 2025, reaching a total of 2,076 students. Through in-person and online delivery, our volunteers and teachers conducted 1,486 lessons across under-resourced communities in Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenzhen, Anhui, Guangdong, Gansu, Jiangsu, Henan, and Yunnan.
The curriculum integrates project-based learning with collaborative, hands-on activities, covering key digital competencies such as STEM education, coding, programming, computer fundamentals, and artificial intelligence. In 2025, we further refined existing courses and introduced new AI and online coding modules designed to meet the needs of both younger learners and more advanced students.
As the program matured, it also supported a small number of children in developing more advanced technical skills, some of whom achieved recognition in regional and international robotics competitions. While these achievements represent only a portion of participants, they highlight the program’s capacity to identify potential, nurture talent, and inspire higher educational aspirations — reinforcing its broader impact on students’ future readiness.
Helping Children Understand and Manage Emotions
In response to growing community needs, our Social-emotional Learning (SEL) Program reached 1,363 students in Shanghai, Gansu, Anhui, and Fujian in 2025. Our teachers and volunteers delivered 875 lessons designed to help children recognize, understand, regulate, and express their emotions.
Special attention was given to so-called “negative” emotions — often misunderstood or suppressed — by creating safe spaces where vulnerability was respected and emotional expression encouraged. Through storytelling, reflection, and group discussions, children developed greater self-awareness, empathy, and resilience. As one child reflected, “It helped me know myself better.”
Building on this successful program, we plan to expand SEL in the coming year by introducing courses with additional emotional regulation techniques, providing training and support for local teachers and staff, offering individualized support to children and families, and increasing engagement with parents and the broader community.
Elevating English Learning Experiences
In 2025, marking its 20th consecutive year, Stepping Stones continued to support disadvantaged children across China in improving their English proficiency. Over the year, we reached 6,657 students, delivering 5,845 engaging online and offline lessons.
Our learner-centered curriculum emphasizes interactive activities, stories, picture books, songs, and games, giving children ample opportunities to practice vocabulary, sentences, and dialogue in fun and confidence-building ways. Phonics-based instruction further strengthened pronunciation and oral communication skills, helping students express themselves more fluently and comfortably in English.
Holiday Camps
Another highlight of 2025 was our winter and summer holiday camps, organized for over 325 children in Huacao Township (Shanghai) in collaboration with the Youth League. Alongside core English, digital literacy, and SEL lessons, the camps offered a rich variety of activities, including reading and literature appreciation, handcrafts and creative arts, mathematical thinking, STEM projects, environmental education, painting, poetry, and physical education. These camps provided children with joyful and enriching learning experiences during school holidays while supporting their holistic development.
With Gratitude, Looking Ahead to 2026
We extend our heartfelt thanks to all our volunteers, donors, partners, and supporters. Your dedication and generosity continue to make our work possible. As we look ahead to 2026, your support is more important than ever in helping us sustain and expand our programs.
We wish you and your loved ones good health, happiness, and prosperity in the Year of the Horse. We look forward to continuing this meaningful journey together in the year ahead.