Dressed in red, Unquowa students, parents and faculty celebrated Chinese New Year with a special assembly and traditional lunch. PreK-4 – fifth grade students wowed us with their performances and crafts!

Speaking in both Mandarin and English, fifth graders led the assembly as emcees. Our youngest students wished us a happy new year while wearing crowns decorated with monkeys and older students showed off more traditional crafts like spring scrolls for luck, red banners with hand drawn chinese characters and lanterns that symbolize the warmth of family and the promise of a new year. We all know this year is the year of the monkey but, thanks to our fourth graders, we now know the story of the competition that determined which twelve animals that make up the Chinese Zodiac. Acting out the entire play in Mandarin, these students showed that their years of study are truly paying off!

The festivities continued with a full traditional Chinese lunch, including Jiaozi dumplings, eaten as the first meal of the new year to bring luck, made by our fifth grade students and Chefs David and Jessica.