Montclair's Mandarin teachers collaborated on a unique project to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Teachers from Nishuane, Hillside, Glenfield and Montclair High School, along with students, created the "Year of the Monkey" podcast, which made its debut at Nishuane's Chinese New Year assembly on Fri. Feb. 5.
The idea behind the podcast is to teach Chinese New Year celebratory phrases, to share Chinese New Year holiday culture, to showcase the teamwork spirit of the Montclair community and to thank the Montclair community for its support of the Mandarin program since its inception in 2008.
In order to prepare, Nishuane Mandarin teachers made up a sample podcast, which included Principal Jill McLaughlin, Interim Principal John Porcelli who was filling in for McLaughlin while she was on maternity leave, and Vice Principal Evan Kozak.
Mandarin teachers taught and practiced the traditional Chinese New Year song "Gong Xi, Gong Xi" with their students and their building administrators and filmed a short clip. Each school contributed their own video clips for the final product which was edited by Nishuane Mandarin teacher Sally Lin. Even Central Office administrators had a chance to participate. Interim Superintendent Ronald E. Bolandi and Business Administrator Brian Fleischer are featured in the podcast. A special guest also makes an appearance at the end.
The two-minute podcast was one of many highlights during Nishuane's Chinese New Year celebration. The assembly included a monkey dance, ribbon dance and kung fu dance culminating in the grand finale dragon parade.