Written by Katherine Wang and Shine Yuan (Class of 2024)
Photography by Amy Liu (Class of 2023), Naomi Seng, Thuy Nguyen, and Rachel Blythe (Class of 2022)
Video by Naomi Seng (Class of 2022)

The leaves of the trees revealed bright flashes of red as the lanterns that decorated CTTB swung merrily from lamp posts. DVGS was ready for the Lunar New Year festivities: red paper and ornaments adorned the school and students were dressed in festive colors of red and yellow.

This year, the Lunar New Year falls on the first day of February and is called the year of the tiger. On this special day, the sophomore class hosted the long-awaited Lunar New Year Celebration from 10:30 AM to 1:40 PM, with many activities including booths and games for both the elementary and high school.

First, the students ate lunch prepared by the dining hall, which included delicious noodles, dumplings, and radish cake. There were also mouthwatering snacks such as traditional candy, oranges, and pineapple cakes. After everyone had finished their lunch, it was time for the performances.

First, the 2nd-6th graders performed an educational and exciting rendition of the story of the twelve zodiac animals, which taught the audience about the traditional legends and beliefs regarding these zodiac signs. Then, the elementary school performed Lunar New Year songs, which were met with enthusiastic applause.

Lastly, there were a few announcements, including an explanation by Dr. Yu about the Chinese couplets competition. Soon, it was time for the booths to start. The sophomore class had prepared five different booths for all to enjoy: tea-tasting, kite-flying, storytelling, games, and crafts.

Mr. Li and Shine Yuan (Class of 2024) were in charge of the tea booth, which focused on tea sampling and short explanations on the history of each type of tea. This booth was greatly appreciated by all the students due to the tasty snacks and drinks as well as the entertaining stories about their origins.

Cherry Ngo (Class of 2024) was in charge of the storytelling booth, where a few high-schoolers reenacted the story of how the tiger became a Chinese zodiac animal. The audience also had the chance to perform their own plays, which brought about much laughter and enjoyment.

Helen Ha (Class of 2024) was in charge of the crafts booth, located on the lawn. Amidst huge stacks of red paper and neatly arranged scissors, the students had a lot of fun cutting out “春” (spring) characters and making lanterns.

Kite-flying is another traditional Lunar New Year activity, so Abigail Gong (Class of 2023) and Yoyo Ji (Class of 2022) organized a kite-flying booth for the students on the soccer field. This event proved to be delightful and provided exercise to the students, who had a good time flying the kites back and forth on the field.

Last but not least, Tessa Jahnke and Katherine Wang (Class of 2024) were in charge of the K-1 crafts booth, which involved creating paper firecrackers. After detailed preparation, the children wrote Chinese characters and decorated their firecrackers. The end result was a beautiful string of firecrackers that both showcased their creativity and personal talents. The 2022 Lunar New Year event was well organized, enjoyable, and unforgettable!

We would like to thank everyone for their participation and effort, especially all the lovely teachers for helping out with the booths and the high-schoolers for assisting in managing the booths. Special thanks to our principal, Jin Jr Shi, and Mr. Li. We hope everyone had a great time during this celebration! Happy Lunar New Year!