Scarsdale Students Welcome the Year of the Dragon!

Chinese New Year Day was Monday, 1/23/12, kicking off the Year of the Dragon, which some consider to be the luckiest year of the lunar calendar.

Last week, Chinese New Year decorations went up at Greenacres Elementary School. Two main entrances and the lunchroom were decorated with bright, colorful ornaments: long vertical banners proclaiming Chinese proverbs and auspicious New Year sayings; red lanterns, accordion-fold dragons and firecracker garlands; bold, glittery signs with Chinese characters for happiness, spring, prosperity and longevity. In contrast to Western dragons, which often symbolize evil or danger, Chinese dragons are considered lucky, powerful and prosperous. As an old Chinese proverb puts it: “Hope your child becomes like a dragon”.

The festivities began with a Lion Parade on Friday, 1/20. This was Greenacres' 6th Annual Lion Parade. Ms. Farella’s second grade class led the parade throughout the school. The noise and ruckus of a Chinese New Year parade is meant to scare away any evil spirits and to welcome a new year of peace and abundance. Instead of traditional firecrackers, the children used loud, clanging noisemakers and Chinese gongs.

During the week of Chinese New Year, numerous Greenacres parents made presentations in 11 classes. Topics included Chinese New Year customs, food, symbols, taboos, animals in the zodiac, lion versus dragon parades and the lantern festival. In addition to these New Year-related topics, some parents presented Chinese calligraphy, traditional costumes, Chinese mythology and Korean lunar new year customs.

Gung Hay Fat Choy, Scarsdale!

Story and photos about Greenacres from Karen Lee

Mandarin Students Celebrate the Lunar New Year at SHS:

At Scarsdale High School, High students in Wenhui (Phoebe) Gu's Mandarin class took part in several activities to mark the beginning of the Lunar New Year. They studied the 12-year animal cycle, noting that this is the year of the dragon; They wrote their own endings for a dragon-slaying story and acted them out, in which they had to use certain props, including a piece of red paper, a red scarf, and a cane; they learned some standard Mandarin phrases by which people wish each other good luck in the new year; and they chose their favorite good luck phrase and wrote it in calligraphy (practicing first on scrap paper, and then making a final copy on red paper).