Collegiate Students Host Chinese New Year Celebration

1/23/2020

Collegiate School’s Seventh Annual Chinese New Year Celebration opened in dramatic fashion this evening with a shadow puppet show performed by all 2nd Grade Chinese language students on the Oates Theater stage.

It was a mesmerizing beginning to a program filled with most of the School’s 300 JK-12 Chinese language students, who entertained a packed house of parents, siblings, family friends, faculty members and staff.

Collegiate Head of School Penny Evins expressed gratitude to former Head of School Keith Evans for having the foresight to launch a Chinese language program in the Lower School 13 years ago and to the five Collegiate faculty members who now teach students at varying levels of expertise in each division of the School. They are Xin-yi Fergusson, Yu Xiao, Daisy Hu, Zhangyi Shi and Dongmei Yuan.

“I can’t wait to see how this continues to grow for us,” Mrs. Evins said.

In addition to the show-opening puppet performance based on the bestselling book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, participating students gave nods throughout the evening to this being the Year of the Rat, including 12th Grade emcees Charlotte Palmore and Davis Messer, who noted that in Chinese culture the rat symbolizes adaptability and positivity.

Other performances throughout the evening included popular Chinese songs such as Blue and White Porcelain and Manual of Youth, choreographed dances, instrumental interludes on the violin and guitar, martial arts demonstrations and other representations of Chinese culture..

Collegiate parent Elisabet Goodwyn was excited to see her 1st Grade son and 4th Grade daughter participate.

“This is my favorite event of the year,” said Mrs. Goodwyn, whose Collegiate 6th Grader studies another language. “It is beautiful, and so well done. Not only are my children learning the language, they get so much cultural exposure, too.”

Ms. Shi, who teaches Chinese in the Upper School, agreed.

“Cultural learning is an integral part of language learning, and the Chinese New Year is (an) important cultural event with multiple meanings,” she said. “At Collegiate, we promote inclusion and diversity, since it is crucial to success in a global world.”

After the program, students, faculty, staff and guests gathered in Sharp Academic Commons for a reception, where they enjoyed Chinese food, games and crafts.

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