The Montclair community including Montclair Public Schools' families, staff, Board of Education members and administrators gathered on the lawn of the Montclair Art Museum on Saturday, Jan. 28 to celebrate AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) Montclair's second annual Lunar New Year event. The focus on Lunar New Year in Montclair Public Schools began when Vicky Chang, the district's Supervisor of World Languages, was a Mandarin teacher at Nishuane and would incorporate the holiday into classrooms. AAPI formed as a grassroots effort to bring attention to the rise of anti-Asian hate.
At the celebration of the Year of Rabbit more than 200 students from Nishuane, Hillside, Bradford, Watchung, Glenfield and Montclair High School, along with their Mandarin teachers, participated and volunteered in various activities. along with Montclair Board of Education members and MPS staff (pictured above).
The event featured crafts by the MHS Mandarin program, a Dragon Parade, Mandarin performances which included singing, drumming, kung fu moves and more, and Drums of Thunder.
In our schools, students learned how to sing a Lunar New Year song with cultural gestures, say New Year greetings in Mandarin; danced with ribbons and fans; played traditional Chinese games such as shuttlecock, Chinese yoyo and seven piece tangrams; also practiced using chopsticks; learned Chinese folk art, paper cutting and Chinese calligraphy. Students’ artwork was displayed inside and outside.