Celebrating Lunar New Year

Primary students joined the rest of the school in Harlow Gym on Friday, February 23, for a lion dance performance by dancers and drummers from Calvin Chin’s Martial Arts Academy in Newton. This all-school event closed out a month of celebrations and events marking the Lunar New Year. 

Primary School students celebrated the Lunar New Year in a special Primary Morning Meeting, where students performed a lion dance that welcomes good fortune and a dragon dance to drive away evil spirits. First graders shared facts they had learned about the Lunar New Year in class with the rest of the Primary School students. Some students who celebrate also shared their family's traditions. Lunar New Year is the most important holiday of the year in China, and it is celebrated in many other Asian countries as well. Families celebrate the Lunar New Year by cleaning, removing bad memories from the house, and gathering to celebrate with family. Lunar New Year celebrations are also rich in symbolism. Dragons and fireworks scare away the bad luck and bring in good luck, as do the colors red and gold. In China, people give hongbao red envelopes filled with money or gold coins to celebrate. Under the direction of Music Teacher Phil Montgomery, second graders performed the song “Xīn nián kuài lè” (which means Happy New Year in Mandarin). Several second grade students accompanied them on xylophones. The lyrics echo many of the traditions students had discussed. “Welcome in the New Year, sweep out the old, lanterns, firecrackers, red and gold.” Two dances led by the second grade, a lion dance and a dragon dance, were highlights of the event. Each lion and dragon fit 5-6 students underneath, and Physical Education teacher Jack Wong choreographed their dance as they marched around the room, weaving through the rows of students to spread good luck. Each dragon was led by a student carrying the “pearl of wisdom,” a decorated sphere on a pole symbolizing the search for wisdom and truth.

Parents also shared the importance of the holiday with Kindergarten and second-grade classes. They explained many traditions associated with the holiday and how families celebrate, sharing books, like Tomorrow’s a New Day by Aram Kim, which focuses on the traditions of the Lunar New Year as celebrated in Korea. On the final day of the Lunar New Year, people celebrate The Lantern Festival by releasing lanterns into the sky to banish the darkness as they enter a new year. Kindergarten parents taught students how to make the lanterns. In second grade, parents taught students about the holiday, shared stories, and showed them how to create traditional banners with lucky words and symbols. Some students even wore traditional dress to class in bright red, symbolizing luck, strength, and prosperity.