In addition to school building, Zhou also worked to solve the shortage of teachers in the county. She kept negotiating with local education authorities for introducing qualified teachers and facilitated the cooperation between education bureaus in the county and Yinzhou district of Ningbo in student cultivation and teacher exchanges.

In 2018, four teachers from Xupu county went to Yinzhou district for exchanges. 

The charity work of Zhou has gained support not only from individuals, but also from social charity organizations. 

The People's Education Fund of Yinzhou district launched a special fund for Zhou and allocated 2.5 million yuan as the initial capital. 

Philanthropies, a non-governmental organization in Ningbo also helped raised over 500,000 yuan last year for Zhou's school building cause.

"The award belongs to all those unknown donators who made their contributions silently, and I'm here on behalf of them," said Zhou at the award ceremony.

Initiated in 2005, the "Pride of Zhejiang" is a large annual activity co-hosted by the provincial publicity department and the Zhejiang Radio & TV Group. Seventeen people from Ningbo have been honored with the award to date.

Students from Xupu county, Huaihua city, Hunan province sing and dance at the award ceremony to thank Zhou. [Photo/zj.zjol.com]

Zhou with her students at a primary school in Xupu county [Photo/zj.zjol.com]