MSMHS Holds Chinese Lunar New Year Celebration
Student and staff learned about Chinese culture and heritage as part of a larger effort to promote inclusivity.
This January, students and staff participated the second annual MSMHS Chinese Lunar New Year celebration. Throughout the day, students experience about the holiday through activities and food, broadening their perspective on Chinese culture and Asian heritage more broadly.
Activity stations around the school allowed students to try their hand at Chinese calligraphy and writing, ribbon dancing, and making mochi, a food that is often a part of Lunar New Year celebrations.
Left to right: Students practice calligraphy, ribbon dancing, and making mochi. Photography by Kaiden Chandler.
The event, which was organized by junior Zoe Wu, is part of the larger effort by MSMHS to increase inclusivity in the school. After what the administration described as "two related physical altercations" last year, the school has doubled down on inclusivity efforts through partnerships with the Anti-Defamation League and heritage-focused events like Hispanic Heritage Month. Zoe described one of the major "to bring awareness to racism directed towards Asians" and help to spread cultural awareness and understanding among the student body.
The school has worked to encourage this awareness through a greater number of cultural events and collaborations with outside groups. The day's events featured a variety of performances by outside dancer and martial artist. Master Malee Khow and instructor Anthony Roberts, both martial artists, led skills demonstrations in the Great Hall with the assembled student body.
Members from Asian Performing Arts performed multiple traditional dances, including the Mountain Dance and the Chopstick Dance.
Left to right: Instructor Anthony Roberts with double broadswords, Master Malee Khow in a Tai Chi Kung Fu fan demonstration, and members from Asian Performing Arts. Photography by Kaiden Chandler.
Then, Asian Performing Arts members led student participants in a ribbon dance, which they learned and performed during the assembly.
