A small country school by Taiwan's western sea 海風裡的小校，潮間帶上的教室
Yuhua Elementary stands in Yongxing Village, on the windswept western coast of Changhua County. In 1948, the small bridge that village children once crossed to reach school was washed away by floods. Three years later, in 1951, lessons began again — in the hallway of the village chief's own home.
In 1952, neighbors organized the Bowl-of-Rice Movement: every household contributed what little rice they could spare, and the funds raised built our first classrooms. By 1957, the village had its own school, and we have stood here ever since — small, salt-touched, and stubbornly ours.
育華國小座落於彰化縣西南沿海的芳苑鄉永興村。1948 年一場大水沖毀了通往芳苑國校的小橋，永興村的孩子無法上學。1951 年 9 月，謝三雄老師調來村內擔任分班主任——課堂就在洪村長家的走廊上開始。
1952 年，洪丁丑村長發起「斗米建校」運動，邀集地方人士組成委員會，由各家戶捐出一斗米募款。1953 年首批教室落成，同年 8 月「芳苑國校永興分校」正式成立；1957 年 8 月奉准獨立設校為「育華國民學校」，由瞿曜汾擔任首任校長。一座由地方一斗一斗米堆出來的學校，從此扎根海風裡。
Our school was built when no one had much — a bowl of rice from each home, given for children who weren't yet theirs. That generosity is still our compass. We are a small school, but we believe small schools can teach big things: that effort matters more than abundance, and that a community is what you build together.
育華國小是在大家都沒有什麼的年代，由地方一家一斗米捐出來的學校。那份「為了孩子湊一把」的厚情，至今仍是我們的指北針。我們是小校，但我們相信：努力比豐盛更重要，社區是大家一起建出來的。
The Wanggong wetlands lie just minutes from our gate, and rice paddies surround us on every side. Our students walk the tidal flats to read crab tracks, ride unicycles through the village to learn their own geography, and tend an organic garden where lunch begins with planting. Place is our second textbook.
王功濕地距校門口僅幾分鐘，校園四周是稻田。我們帶孩子到潮間帶讀螃蟹的腳印、騎獨輪車環鄉認識自己住的地方、在有機菜園裡學「午餐從種一棵苗開始」。這片土地，是我們的第二本課本。
In a school of fewer than fifty children, every student is known by every teacher — and every habit is shaped on purpose. Our students have earned County recognition in both Character Education and the Reading Cup, alongside cultural pilgrimages and field studies that take them well beyond the village line.
在我們這樣的小校，每位老師都認識每一位孩子，每一個學習習慣都是刻意陪伴出來的。育華孩子獲得縣級品德教育獎、閱讀盃，並透過文化踏查、博物館校外教學，把學習延伸到村界以外更遠的地方。
"A small school doesn't mean a small life. It means every child is seen, every day — and that is the foundation of everything we do here."
— Welcome message · 校長致詞 (2026)
Outside our classrooms stands a hand-painted world map mural — with English words like "to read" and "true" woven into the colors. From a village of one hundred families, our children learn early that they belong to a world bigger than the tide line.
校園外牆有一幅手繪的世界地圖壁畫，上面用英文寫著 to read、only true 等字眼。從這個百戶人家的小村出發，育華孩子很早就知道：自己所屬的世界，比海岸線更寬廣。
When you grow up by the sea, the rest of the world should never feel far. Our students travel to the National Museum of Natural Science, walk under dinosaur skeletons, and come home with a wider sense of what is possible — and what they might one day want to study.
在海邊長大的孩子，更不應覺得世界遙遠。育華學生會走訪國立自然科學博物館，從恐龍骨架下走過，把世界裝進心裡——也帶回一份「我以後也許會想研究這個」的可能。
Coastal Taiwan's history is written in its temples. Each year, our students walk to neighboring temples on the western shore, listen to elders speak about the Mazu pilgrimage, and learn that local culture is something you stand inside — not something you only read about.
沿海台灣的歷史，寫在一座座廟裡。每年我們會帶孩子走到鄉內的廟口，聽長輩說媽祖遶境的故事——讓他們知道，在地文化不是教科書上的一行字，而是自己正站在裡面的東西。
In a school where every classroom holds a single grade, no one disappears. Talent shows, festival performances, and end-of-term concerts include every student by design. Confidence is not a privilege here — it is built, child by child.
在這裡，每一個年級只有一個班，沒有人會被人海蓋過。才藝表演、節慶演出、學期末演奏會，每一場都是「每個孩子都上場」。在育華，自信不是少數人的特權，而是被一個一個孩子養出來的。
We welcome teachers, parents, and friends from anywhere in the world to visit our small coastal school and exchange ideas about elementary education in rural Taiwan.
歡迎國內外教育工作者、家長與友人蒞校交流，一起為台灣偏鄉與沿海小校的教育，激盪更多火花。