A big red dragon danced throughout the courtyard, tables displaying calligraphy lined the grass, and popular Chinese music played.

These were all parts of Archer’s Chinese New Year celebration on Friday, Feb 23, to celebrate the year of the earth dog. Students in each Chinese language class helped to organize the festivities.

“Each grade had a different part to prepare,” Jenna Gestetner ’21 said.

Chinese 1A, 1B and 2 classes worked with Cory Bluemling and Mike Carter in the IDEA Lab to build and design a dragon for the traditional dragon dance they they performed.

Click the video below to watch part of the dance.

To perform the dance, dancers wove through the courtyard holding the dragon up with poles. Other students were allowed to join in and performed the dance as well. Chinese 1A students also performed a hip-hop dance to a Chinese songs.

The celebration also had booths displaying Chinese themed activities. One offered shuttlecock, a game where multiple people try to keep the shuttlecock from hitting the ground by kicking it, while another offered paper lantern making.

Students could also decorate red envelopes and practice calligraphy. Additionally, there was free boba milk tea for the community to enjoy made by the Chinese 3 class.

“[The celebration] was a way of recognizing and appreciating Chinese culture at school,” Saskia Wong-Smith ‘18, a member of the Chinese 4 class, said. “It was a lot of fun.”