Students from the EC through the Blue Cluster marked the start of the Year of the Tiger by learning about Lunar New Year traditions and customs on February 1.
Lunar New Year is celebrated in China and much of Asia, including Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, as well as by Asians worldwide. This year is the Year of the Tiger, an animal in the Chinese zodiac traditionally imbued with the characteristics of strength, bravery, and courage. Lunar New Year traditions include displaying paper lanterns, exchanging lucky red envelopes, parades featuring dragons and firecrackers, and special meals and foods shared with family and friends.
In the Early Childhood Program, students created lanterns and hand-crafted dragons. They then held a parade attended by students in the Orange Cluster as well as Gaynor faculty and staff members. Many students wore red to mark the occasion. In many East Asian cultures, the color red is auspicious, and associated with good luck. Everyone was amazed at the beauty of the dragons and lanterns.
The Orange Cluster in particular focuses on Lunar New Year as part of their study of China. In Head Teacher Rian Axelrod and Assistant Teacher Kaylee Huntley’s class, the students practiced their paragraph writing skills and wrote a paragraph about the Lunar New Year. They then created lanterns and put each sentence of the paragraph on the side of the lantern. The students have also been practicing writing Chinese characters.
In the morning of February 1, students in Head Teachers’ Jackie Kolbert and Jackie Dobish’s Orange Cluster class arrived to a surprise. Their classroom was decorated for the New Year, and each student received a red envelope with a coin inside, a traditional gift for Lunar New Year to bring good fortune in the coming year. The red envelope itself is considered lucky, not just what is found inside the envelope.
Orange Cluster Head Teacher Samantha Cartolano and Assistant Teacher Hannah Chiappisi were also inspired by the tradition of the red envelope, but instead of a coin, the students wrote compliments to one another to add to their envelopes. The students learned what a compliment is, and then plotted how receiving and giving compliments make them feel on the Mood Meter. In this instance, the contents of the envelopes were very important!
Head Teacher Joyce Macedo and Assistant Teacher Jessica Jonas’ Red Cluster class learned about many Lunar New Year traditions, and held their own parade through the halls. Some of the students dressed in celebratory traditional clothing for the occasion!
The Blue Cluster Student Council organized a lantern making activity for the Blue Cluster. The Student Council created a presentation for Blue advisories to learn about Lunar New Year; each advisory watched the presentation and then made paper lanterns. The students hung their lanterns throughout the Middle School for everyone to enjoy.
We wish everyone success and good fortune this year!
