Mandarin Immersion Parents Council

Rehearsal photos courtesy of Erin Spector and Yinghua Academy

While most schools might have ended their week celebrating Valentine’s Day or President’s Day, the students at Yinghua Academy were busy putting on a dazzling Chinese New Year’s performance for their families. The Chinese immersion charter public school welcomed the Year of the Tiger on Friday with dances, skits, and musical performances involving all 300-plus students.

Every seat of the gym-turned-auditorium was filled, and many parents were left crowded in the back against the wall. Big red paper banners hung from the ceiling and a large painting of a dragon served as a stage backdrop, while loud chants of “gōng xǐ fā cái!”, the traditional Chinese New Year greeting of congratulations and prosperity, rang out all through the show.

Yinghua Academy Executive Director Betsy Lueth said this was the school’s fourth annual Chinese New Year celebration and their biggest event of the year. She says the school focuses a lot of energy and resources on this celebration because the lunar new year is considered the most important holiday in Chinese culture.

Read more here.