Students at two Maple Ridge schools celebrated the Lunar New Year and the incoming year of the snake.
At Albion Elementary School a lion dance parade took place where three lions, two students in each, led a parade of kindergarten and Grade 1 students around the school, collecting red envelopes, hung from the top of door frames along the way.
"The idea is that the lion dancers will be eating these red envelopes which sort of symbolizes bringing good luck into the year," explained Kana Wiens, English language learner teacher at the school, and co-organizer of the celebration.
The event was organized over the past two weeks, and students practiced the lion dance and wrote up an explanation of the Lunar New Year which they read to their peers over the intercom to teach them about the event's meaning.
Five kindergarten/Grade 1 classes participated in the parade, holding crafts they made including fans, paper lanterns, and noisemakers, in addition to around 15 other students who took turns in the dragon dance costumes.
Two other students wheeled a drum in the parade that they banged on for the beat of the dance.
Grade 4 student Naomi Nguyen, was excited to celebrate the Lunar New Year at school and at home. The nine-year-old said her family celebrates by calling extended family members in Vietnam and Canada. They also visit families in her complex before having a big feast and then going to three temples to pray.
Kim Yeung, a Grade 5 student at the school also calls family, but in China, to wish them a happy Chinese New Year.
"And then they would give us lucky money, so we can also be lucky," Kim said. "We also clean our houses very tidy so we can remove all the bad luck and replace it with good luck in the house," added the nine-year-old.
In addition to gathering with family, receiving white packets is one of the best parts of the Lunar New Year, said Kirsten Lee, in Grade 7.
This year, being the year of the snake, means wisdom and transformation, said Naomi.
It is one of the 12 animals on the zodiac sign, Kim helped explain. The snake is the sixth, Kim continued, and whomever is born in that year takes on the animal's traits. For the snake that means a person will have wisdom, be funny, have a great imagination.
The celebration, Wiens noted, was also organized by Grade 4/5 teacher Terry Jung, who came up with the idea and brought in the lion heads for the parade.
Students whose families are Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and other cultures all participated in the celebration.
Those who did not participate directly in the parade lined the halls of the school to cheer the parade on.
"We really wanted everyone to be included for this," said Wiens, so that they know how diverse their school community is.
Meadowridge School also celebrated the Lunar New Year.
Junior kindergarten students learned how to use chopsticks and listened to stories about the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac.
Kindergarten students watched a video about a Chinese tradition called Chunlian, or spring festival couplets, and then made them in groups.
Grade 1 students learned about the origins of dumplings and then made them with the help of parent volunteers.
The Grade 2 students watched a video on the traditional Chinese plant, bamboo, and then they made handcrafted bamboo and panda.
In Grade 3 they learned about the four great inventions: papermaking, gunpowder, the compass, and printing.
Grade 4 students learned about Chinese calligraphy, and in Grade 5 they learned about the traditional Chinese tea and its history.
Students also had the opportunity to try food samples from 50 different regions in China. There were different kinds of dumplings and noodle dishes, peking duck, chicken and lamb skewers, tofu dishes, vegetarian dishes, bubble tea, and assorted Chinese pastries.
There were musical performances, a Grade 4 dragon dance, and magic show.
Grade 2 students also participated in a lion dance, which included a traditional ceremony to awaken the lions.
