As bright red and gold decorations adorned the foyer of Monte Vista Elementary, students in the school’s Chinese dual immersion program were preparing for the Lunar New Year, welcoming the culture with creativity and a sense of community.

In classrooms, students crafted traditional art, learned songs and dances and stories behind the holiday. They also were preparing for an evening performance.

Sixth-grader Novi Poole was making a bamboo hanging with a Chinese poem.

“The poem’s meaning is there is a girl and she looks at the shiny mirror and when the moon goes up, she can hear the words,” she said. “I like learning about the culture and the food. I like the pot stickers, which are basically dough with chicken and vegetables in it. I’ve made it a bunch of times.”

For Novi, learning Mandarin is a family tradition.

“All five siblings, including me, are doing Chinese,” she said. “I feel when you know two languages, you’re learning more about things and understanding what is being said in Chinese and knowing what it means.”

Classmate Wembley Cottle was preparing a traditional red envelope.

“I’m painting a horse on it for the Year of the Horse,” she said. “Grandparents typically give the envelopes to grandchildren with money in it, but we’ll use it for decorations.”

Wembley has used her Mandarin interacting with native speakers and others who know the language.

“It’s cool to learn this language because I’ve met new people and when I go into Chinese restaurants, I can talk to them,” she said. “Also, when you are in ninth grade, you can take the AP test and get college credit with a good score.”

Sixth-grader Maddie Karren said the cultural connection is what she appreciates learning.

“I’ve learned a lot about the Chinese culture,” she said. “We do activities they do in China, we celebrate holidays like the new year and learn its importance. We understand more because we get to experience these things they have shared with us.”

Sixth-graders recently painted traditional opera-style masks, which they were considering wearing for their performance that night.

“We painted these masks, which are very cool, because they use them in plays in Chinese culture. They tell stories with music and masks, and the masks can represent the characters or feelings. Like red can represent the main character or feeling brave and loyal. White or gray can represent the antagonist or feeling evil and purple represents smart or wisdom,” Maddie said.

The evening’s Lunar New Year program was to showcase hours of preparation.

“We’re going to do the fan dance. Fans represent smooth water. I love the sound they make,” she said. “I like that we do something different every year in the performance. I’ve always looked forward to doing the sixth-grade dance because the fans are so loud and cool. I’m also leading the dragon in the dragon dance so that’s super-duper cool.”

Fourth-grader Jack Sorensen and his classmates had just finished sampling some traditional foods in the classroom ahead of the evening’s performance.  

“We’re dancing to more of a workout song called, ‘Small Apple,’” he said. “I’m also saying an opening for our part of the program.”

Jack enjoys the challenge of Mandarin.

“In Chinese, you have to say the exact tones right or you could say something completely different than what you meant to say,” he said. “But I tell my parents school is better than being at home because people talk to me in Chinese and that’s fun.”

Students also learn traditional legends, including the story of the monster Nian and the Chinese zodiac.

“It’s good we are learning all this so if we go to China, we’ll understand what happens there and what they do. It’s cool to learn about them,” he said.

Fourth-grader Lauren Schaefermeyer said fourth-graders also were set to sing a song.

“It’s a song about their journey going ‘Up Spring Mountain’ and what happens there for Chinese New Year,” she said. “Every year we learn something new to perform and study for the new year so we’re understanding more of the culture and it’s fun.”

Lauren said it’s not just a tradition, but studying Mandarin with the same classmates for several years, it’s become a community.

“I feel like we’re one big family now; we’ve been together for years,” she said. “My favorite part of Chinese New Year is the food, music and stories and celebrating it together.”