On Tuesday, February 5th, the Lunar New Year was
celebrated all over the world in places like China, Vietnam, Korea, and the
Holy Spirit elementary campus. Each year, the Montgomery Catholic Preparatory
School elementary campuses learn about and celebrate the culture, customs,
language, and food from a different country in the world. Earlier in the school
year, the St. Bede campus studied Spain. At Holy Spirit, the timing could not
have been more perfect for teacher Kidd Qu. Mr. Qu, who teaches Mandarin
Chinese at all Montgomery Catholic campuses through a partnership with the
Confucius Institute at AUM, helped to organize a celebration of the Lunar New
Year, an important holiday in China and countries and communities influenced by
Chinese diaspora.
While the students already learn about Chinese language and
culture as part of their regular enrichment, Cultural Day gave them an
opportunity to experience some additional traditions that only take place
during new year celebrations. Throughout the day, the students made crafts like
lanterns, masks, and fans inspired by the themes around the new year. At the
end of the day, all the students gathered in the gym and sang “新年好" (Xīnnián Hǎo Ya), a song to ring in the new year, and played games that tested their knowledge of
Chinese language, hanzi characters, geography, and culture. The older students
acted out a traditional Chinese wedding and presented a quick fashion show to
the school. Ms. Yunjia Yang, an instructor at the Confucius Institute at AUM,
demonstrated a traditional Chinese dance. To cap it all off, everyone got to
take home bags with unique Chinese snacks, like puffed rice cakes, spicy peas,
and different kinds of candies and sweets. 
