The Asian Pacific American Club (APAC) hosted their annual Lunar New Year celebration, complete with a day full of games and performances, on Friday, Feb. 16.
Cécile Van de Velde, Staff Writer
From A to E-block, students taking Chinese language classes and members of the APAC club volunteered to help run the games. Some of the games involved guessing what country food, instruments, flags and fashion were from, while others consisted of making masks, origami, ribbons and lanterns. There were also stations where students could get temporary tattoos, play jianzi—a traditional Chinese foot game—and more.
APAC faculty adviser and English teacher Kevin Wang has helped organize the celebration since last year. Kevin Wang said that in Asian and Pacific Islander (API) communities, the Lunar New Year is one of the biggest holidays of the year that brings families together to celebrate.
“It’s one of the few times throughout the year where usually you can see most of your immediate and extended family,” Kevin Wang said. “Bringing that to the school is just a nice way of representing that importance for the maybe 20 percent of the students who identify as API. It feels like their community is seen.”
Many events throughout the year that are based on racial and ethnic identities, such as the Day of Racial Reform and Solidarity and the Day of Jewish Identity and Anti-Semitism Awareness in 2022, are usually educational and include lessons. Kevin Wang said he hopes to achieve an event designed for students to have fun and enjoy learning about their culture through other mediums.
“Sometimes you just need to have an event because it’s fun. There’s no lesson attached to this day. It’s just show up, play some games, watch some performances, eat some candy, eat some food,” Kevin Wang said. “That’s the spirit of the holiday to begin with—it’s people coming together and spending time together. It’s just my small way of bringing fun into the school when I feel like we should have more fun.”
Volunteer and sophomore Nicholas Chen said, as an Asian student, he was happy to share his culture and meet new people.
“I think it’s important to touch my roots. There’s a part of me that is Asian. That’s this part and this event. This kind of holiday is important to me,” Chen said.
APAC co-presidents, senior Justina Wang and junior Marcus Peng were the celebration’s primary organizers. Justina Wang said she loves seeing people’s eagerness and interest when playing the games.
“It’s a great way for us to celebrate a really important holiday. We have a lot of Asian American students at the school who don’t get the chance to express their culture,” Justina Wang said. “But, doing activities and games and stuff lets not only us celebrate, but the rest of the school to also learn about important cultural aspects of Lunar New Year.”
Scarlett Rothstein, Staff Writer
After the games in the atrium, students went to the auditorium to watch the myriad of cultural Lunar New Year performances.
First, the Advanced Chamber Orchestra performed ‘Mo Li Hua,’ a Chinese folk song. Sophomore Jiayan Guo performed in the orchestra on the erhu, a traditional Chinese instrument. Guo said she started playing when she was eight years old.
“I started playing with a couple of my friends, so I wasn’t just doing it myself,” Guo said. “I learned from my mom, and I’ve been playing it ever since.”
After the orchestra performance, sophomore David Liang performed kung fu. Next, junior Ruimei Ni played the guzheng, a Chinese string instrument. Senior Justina Wang and freshman Jeremy Wang followed after and did Shotokan karate. It was not only high school students performing for their fellow classmates; music instructor Shirley Wong and her students played the Dulcimer, a Chinese string instrument. After, a Fan Dance group from the Edith C. Baker School performed. The eight dancers wore traditional clothing and each held two colorful fans.
Sophomore Aisha Aitimbetova played the komuz, the national instrument of Kyrgyzstan. Aitimbetova said she had practiced for 1.5 months to prepare for the event.
For the final act, K-pop dance group Popcorn danced to “Fact Check” by NCT 127.
Attendee and sophomore Lucas Nanda said he was impressed by the talents of the performers.
“I really liked the dancing performance at the end,” Nanda said. “It was really cool to see all the different types of art from all of the different Asian cultures.”
Attendee Yutian Li said that as a senior it was an emotional experience watching the performances for the last time.
“Often while I am at the school it is very hard to feel being seen, and being celebrated by not just myself, but everyone else,” Li said. “It’s been a truly healing and rewarding experience to see that the whole school appreciates and is loving our culture.”
