Naselle students win in Washington state Chinese language competition

NASELLE — Seven students from the Mandarin Immersion Program at the Naselle-Grays River School District participated in the Fifth Annual Washington State Chinese Language and Talent Competition, with all seven receiving awards.

The competition, held on Sunday, March 22, at the Chief Sealth International High School in Seattle, was divided into various individual and group performances among different levels of Chinese-as-a-second-language students. Students in grades K-2 had the opportunity to compete in: Team Poetry Recitation, Individual Poetry Recitation, Individual or Team Talent Show, Individual or Team Chinese Singing, Individual or Team Chinese Language Arts, Drawing, and Chinese Chess.

When the competition ended and awards were posted, the names of Naselle students Anderson, Lanz, Lebovitz, Lindstrom, Popkin, Tichenor and Weston stood out in stark contrast to those of Qiang, Huang, Han, Zhu and others of more decidedly Chinese ancestry. The team consisting of William Anderson, Kinsley Lanz, Alia Lebovitz, Jacob Lindstrom, Hannelie Popkin, Dash Tichenor and Aaliyah Weston won the second place award in group singing.

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