Students at Paseo Pointe Elementary did not have a typical Monday. Instead, they celebrated the Lunar New year with a parade with classmates and family watching.
“I thought it was good and fun. Festive for today,” said Elisa Valenzuela, who was dressed in a pair of chopsticks costume.
In the parade, there were crafted dragons that students held up.
While other students dressed up in store-bought outfits for the fun occasion Monday, some crafted their own costumes. Students also wore paper hats with their Chinese Zodiac signs on them and many wore red — the lucky color for East Asian countries.
“I especially liked the part with the dragons. We were walking around. It was so colorful and it was fun,” said Giselle Barraza, a third-grader who took part in the parade and festivities.
Students are learning about the big holiday and different cultures with the help of Natalie Cheang, one of the district’s few Asian American teachers.
“Really, the Lunar New Year, the Chinese New Year is a big celebration. It should go on for days. To see it here, with my students who are kind of like my family, too, was amazing,” Cheang said.
She added that the festivities are not all about her either.
Cheang says she wants to make sure all students in their school learn more about different cultures, in addition to helping her own Asian American students feel seen.
“We have four Asian students in third grade. When we talk about Asian cultures, like Thai, or Vietnamese or Laotian or Chinese, you can see that light up in their eyes, like, 'oh, I’m being recognized,'” Cheang said.
One of the highlights of the day: students played the drums to their heart's desire, after a demonstration from Fuschicho Daiko.
From different costumes to quizzes about Lunar New Year and then learning about different instruments, students had smiles on their faces, clear that they were happy about learning new information about Lunar New Year.
