Teacher's Award Winner Transforms Lives Through Wood Ball at Tuku Vocational High School

Lin Wen-feng, the academic affairs director at Tuku Vocational High School in Yunlin, has been honored with this year's Teacher's Award for his exceptional contributions to education. Lin, a sports enthusiast, taught himself wood ball and founded the school's wood ball team two decades ago. He developed a comprehensive four-tiered cultivation system that has enabled more than 60 students from disadvantaged backgrounds to successfully pursue higher education at national universities.

Lin, 49, who is from Taixi, Yunlin, returned to Tuku Vocational High School after graduating with a sports degree 23 years ago. He noticed that many junior high students who excelled in wood ball lacked resources to continue their development in vocational high school. Motivated to bridge this gap, he learned the sport himself and officially established the wood ball team in 2006.

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If education can change a child's life, I am willing to use my whole life to change more children's futures.

Recognizing that many team members came from single-parent or new immigrant families, Lin actively sought external resources and applied for government funding to support their participation in competitions. He views wood ball not just as a sport but as a powerful tool for personal transformation and social connection. His efforts have led to collaborations with National Kaohsiung University and Nanhua University, creating pathways for students to advance their education through the sport.

Lin Wen-feng believes that education can fundamentally change a child's life. He dedicates himself to understanding and accompanying his students, often spending more time with them than with his own family, a commitment that has sometimes drawn complaints from his relatives. He sees the Teacher's Award as both an honor and a responsibility, aiming to further strengthen the wood ball talent cultivation system amidst declining student enrollment to help more students turn their lives around.

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They needed not just knowledge, but to be understood and accompanied.