Greenacres Rings in the Year of the Horse

The first day of the Lunar New Year was Friday, 1/31/14. Celebrated for 15 days, New Year is the most important holiday for many people in Asia. According to the Chinese zodiac, this is the Year of the Horse . In Chinese culture, the Horse is a symbol of nobility, energy, speed and intelligence. There is an old Chinese phrase used to describe someone who is dynamic: he or she has the spirit of a horse.

At Greenacres School, the lion parade is the highlight of its Lunar New Year Celebration, which includes Korea and other Asian countries that follow the lunar calendar. On Friday, 1/31, Ms. Leitner's third grade class led the lion parade throughout the school—armed with Chinese drums, gongs and cymbals. The school's new lion made its debut. It is a Southern Chinese lion, resembling the lions in the New York Chinatown lion parades, with white fur, a single horn on top of its head, and bold, vibrant colors. The Southern Chinese lion is from Guangdong, China, where early immigrants to Chinatown originated. In addition to the lion, the Greenacres Multicultural Committee also purchased two double-sided Chinese drums, a bulls eye gong and a wind gong for the annual lion parade.

Each year, many Greenacres parents collaborate to purchase New Year decorations; decorate the lunchroom, entrances and bulletin boards; make cultural presentations in their children's classrooms; organize a Chinese New Year lion parade as well as give out red envelopes, clementines and other goodies that symbolize prosperity for the coming year. This fun, festive holiday falls on a different day in January or February of each year. And it is always something that the students look forward to celebrating during the cold, bleak winter!