How a Utah immersion school fared during the lock-down — no more dumpling tastings

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

At Draper Elementary, a long-standing tradition has been gathering in the multipurpose room celebrating Chinese language and culture for Chinese New Year.

This year, the school’s Chinese New Year celebration will look different. Each dual immersion classroom will still perform, but it will be recorded. Then, all the recordings will be edited together and shared on Feb. 16 in the classrooms. It also will be made available to online students and parents, said Cyndi Lin, fourth-grade teacher who is coordinating the production.

“Because of COVID, we needed to change the platform,” she said. “And with social distancing, we will keep it simple and have students sing a song or perform in their own seats.”

As of press deadline, the program was still being finalized, but Lin anticipated first-graders singing “Jasmine Flower,” third-graders stacking cups, fourth-graders performing the lion dance and fifth-graders reciting Chinese poetry. She said second-grade, which usually performs with fans, is brainstorming what will work since they need to social distance.

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