Verona Mandarin Program Celebrates Chinese New Year

Mandarin students celebrated Chinese New Year at Verona High School on Friday, January 20th. Verona High school Mandarin teacher Mrs. Betty Hou and Middle school Mandarin teacher Mrs. Jenny Qin worked with their students to set up six booths that taught about Chinese culture. Elementary school Mandarin teacher Mrs. Angie Yang also invited her students to join in on the celebration. In total, nearly three hundred elementary, middle, and high school students gathered at Verona High School with their families for an opportunity to learn about Chinese culture.

Mrs. Hou invited the NNJCA Songbird Dragon Dance Team to participate in the festival. They performed a lively Chinese dragon dance, followed by a Chinese ribbon dance and a yoyo performance. Dr. Summit Bangia, the supervisor of Humanities, also enjoyed the event with her daughter, who participated in the stations wearing Chinese clothes for the celebration. Mr. Spardel, a parent and a former Verona Board member, joined the festivities and thanked the high school students, teachers, and the Songbird group for the lively celebration.

The event was set up so that the participants could visit various booths to learn about Chinese culture and tradition. The stations were very interactive, allowing the students to make handbags, create origami, and write Chinese calligraphy. Olivia Bisaccio, a third-grade student from Forest Avenue Elementary School, excitedly exclaimed to her teacher Mrs. Yang that she particularly enjoyed learning the Chinese yo-yo and trying the dragon dance. At another station, students also saw how Chinese dumplings were made, and were even able to taste some of the dumplings. A fourth-grade student from Laning Avenue Elementary School, Yianni Yanniotis, happily declared that these were “the best dumplings that he ever tasted”. At the end of the celebration, the participants left in happy spirits after enjoying the memorable event.