The teachers at Gao Po Elementary work very hard, often one teacher will teach 3 or more subjects. Many of these teachers commute out to Gao Po every day from the city, while others will live on campus in teacher's dormitories during the week and then head home to their families on the weekends. It takes real dedication to stay and work at Gao Po Elementary, especially given that their salaries are much lower than the teachers who work within the city. 

高坡小学的当地老师非常敬业辛苦，通常一个老师要教授3门甚至更多的科目。许多老师每天往返于高坡和昆明市，其他老师则在学校有宿舍，他们只在周末回家和家人团聚。这些在高坡小学工作的教师们把青春奉献给了学校和学生。考虑到这里的工资水平和昆明市相比要低得多，这种奉献更加令人钦佩。

Gao Po Elementary is about 20 years old, built as an addition to Elementary School #4. The building is lacking in additional space for growth, and many of the classes are growing in size, with no possibility to divide up student numbers. There is no official library, many materials and supplies are all stored in the same space on the ground floor. Every day the students work hard to take care of their campus, rotating days for each class to sweep and clean shared areas. One plus size to the campus is that the students have a large area to play outside between classes and during breaks. 

高坡小学有20年的历史了，建校日那天起它就是经开区第四小学的一部分。这栋建筑无法再增加空间了，然而许多班级却在不断扩大规模，却发现根本没有额外的教室。这里没有正式的图书馆，许多材料被储放在地板上，堆在一起。学生每天都努力照看他们的校园，每个班级都被划分相应的卫生区并负责打扫。幸运的是，学校里有一大片空地供学生上体育课，或是课间休息玩耍。

Gao Po is a very small town, with only one main street about a mile long running through it. The side streets are lined with people's homes. On any give day the street will be lined with people selling fruits and vegetables, ladies playing mahjong, or a a family member taking a stroll with their toddler. Many of the people here were once farmers, but then the government purchased their land and they moved into Gao Po and other surrounding areas. 

高坡是个小城镇，只有一条主街道，这条长约一英里的街道贯穿整个城镇。当地的居民就住在街道两旁。每一天都是这样：街道两边都被贩卖水果和蔬菜的商贩占据，妇人们在打着麻将，大人们领着孩子散步。许多居民曾经是农民，但是现在他们的徒弟被政府征收进行开发建设，所以他们搬到了高坡以及类似于高坡的社区。

Gao Po Elementary's students are diverse, their families coming from several backgrounds. A notable percentage are of the Yi Minority, the largest minority in the province of Yunnan. Many of these students grow up speaking their local dialect at home, and don't begin learning Mandarin until they attend school. Another challenge faced by these students are parents who travel long distances for work and are only able to return home on the weekend. During these times they'll be cared for by a grandparent, who likely cannot read or write, and is unable to help them with their school work. And finally, many are immersed in a community culture of gambling and lifestyles which see little value in obtaining higher education. 

高坡小学的学生来源不同，家庭背景迥异。云南省最大的少数民族——彝族的学生占到较大的比例。许多学生受到成长环境的影响，在上学前根本不学习普通话。另一个学生面临着的巨大挑战是家长长期务工在外，只有周末家人才能团聚。多数时间里，这些学生由爷爷奶奶照顾。而他们的爷爷奶奶大多数缺乏基本的读写能力，丝毫不能帮助到他们的学习。最后一点，许多学生沉浸在社区的不健康的生活方式中，诸如赌博。这些学生认为接受高等教育是没有意义的。