Lunar New Year Celebration at Polytechnic
Poly’s Mandrin program ran an immersive celebratory experience for students in Poly’s lower, middle, and high school last Thursday.
For the last ten years, with a brief pause over the pandemic, Ms. Chung (锺老师) has single-handedly oversaw this entire event. Being the founder of Poly’s Mandarin program and still being the only Mandarin teacher in the highschool, this event simply would not have been possible without her endless hours she dedicated to this project. It's clear to anyone who attended the event that it was no small feat.
Each class in the Mandarin department, including Mandarin II, III, IV, and AP Chinese Language and Culture, selected, designed, choreographed, introduced, and performed their favorite aspect of the Lunar New Year. This year, my class (AP Chinese), performed a Lion Dance (舞狮). Other classes danced with fans, acted a traditional love story, told jokes, and created a Tai Chi (太极拳) inspired dance. In years past, students have also done a dragon dance, a skit, and drum circles.
The second part of the event consisted of every single Mandarin student running an activity booth (摊位活动) that celebrates and educates other students about an aspect of Lunar New Year culture and traditions. Aria and I ran a booth that taught others how to fold dumplings (包饺子）out of Clay!
My favorite part of this day was what it meant for some Chinese students at Poly. This event is one of the only times when students, faculty, and staff can learn, understand, take part in, and enjoy Chinese culture at Poly. For the Chinese students who have gone their whole lives feeling isolated from their peers because their families don’t eat the same dishes or enjoy the same traditions, this day can bridge the gap between them and other students.
There are just as many Poly students who have lost their connections to their Chinese culture. Due to the nature of not only Poly but also the entirety of America, it is easy for families to distance from their culture as generations past. But this event was a chance for these students to reconnect to Chinese Lunar New Year traditions and customs.
Last Thursday, I walked across my school and saw my classmates wearing traditional Chinese dress and learning about the what the New Year means in traditional Chinese customs.
As a student who has studied Mandarin at Poly for the last 6 years, I can confidently say this event is the most exciting and educational project I have taken part in, and I am certainly coming out of it with a newfound appreciation for Chinese culture.
Again, I want to emphasize that none of this would have been possible without Ms. Chung (锺老师) and all of her hard work!
All photos in were taken by Ms. Minto on the day of the event.
