For the first time in history, Beachwood students had the day off Friday, Feb. 9 to celebrate Lunar New Year. In addition, the Chinese Family Affinity Group and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) student group hosted a celebration that evening at the high school including a performance of traditional dances and music, a potluck dinner and arts and crafts.
This recognition of an important Asian holiday was big news for the Asian-American community, including Asian American and Pacific Islander Affinity Club (AAPI) leader Vivian Myers.
“As a Chinese American, I feel like growing up, especially in school, there wasn’t a lot of recognition for Asian holidays and culture,” she said. “I feel like it’s especially important to recognize these holidays, especially in Beachwood where a good amount–possibly 20% of [the student population]–is Asian American.”
Sophomore Ida Chang, who is Korean American, also enjoyed the celebration.
“This event was important because it was a good chance to spread Asian cultures –including Korea, it’s a small country–and provided opportunities for many others to experience authentic traditions,” she said. “It was a wonderful event.”
“My friends and I genuinely enjoyed it,” she added. “I was very grateful that the school gave us the day off on Lunar New Year. It is a gesture of cultural appreciation and respect.”
The celebration featured six performances in the auditorium, starting with the Dragon Dance, in which eight high school students danced in matching gold costumes, each holding part of a huge green dragon, followed by younger kids dancing with ribbons.
The Cleveland Glory Waist Drum Team performed their Mongolian dance titled Joyful Naadam.
Two young pipa players performed a classical Chinese piece called High Mountains and Flowing Water.
Next, AAPI group members presented a traditional costume show including many Beachwood students who came out in groups of younger and older kids, showing off traditional wear from different Asian cultures.
Five high school students formed a string quintet and performed two traditional Chinese pieces.
The choir, composed of students from all the Beachwood schools, closed out the performances with three songs to celebrate the holiday.
Sophomore Ida Chang participated in the fashion show.
“I wore Hanbok (traditional Korean clothing) with [fellow sophomore] Charlotte Doughty and danced to K-pop,” she said.
The cultural potluck dinner was a highlight of the event. Vicky Sheng, one of the main organizers, explained how she and others worked to make it successful.
“Before Christmas, a donation letter was sent to members [of the Chinese family affinity group], and we encouraged our members to talk with possible business donors to get food and monetary donations,” she said.
“Mrs. Hui Sheng was in charge of the food part,” she added. “She designed the menu and shared it in a Google sheet for families to sign up.”
After the performances and potluck meal, the community room opened up as a game room for kids of all ages as the final event of the evening. Volunteers spent time setting up and decorating and then leading activities and helping with crafts.
“The game room was more of a student-led activity room,” Sheng said. “BHS AAPI club students worked closely with the Chinese Family Affinity Group.”
Sheng and other event organizers started early ordering props and costumes in order to have everything on time and ready to go.
“I started to place orders on party decorations, instruments, dragons and other items in November and December,” she said. “Many items are not available in the U.S. and have to be shipped from overseas, so planning ahead is really important. We bought the big green dragon and mini ribbon dragons in December, which means we already had a good number of people signed up for dragon dance by then.”
The Chinese family affinity group has been working for years with district administrators to advocate for the day off for Lunar New Year as well as the celebration.
“I have participated in a few round table discussions with other ethnic group parents, teachers and our affinity group members to talk about the importance of recognizing the Lunar New Year holiday and why we should have the day off,” Sheng said.
“I want to specially thank Kevin Hounchins and Julie Felder for making this wonderful event possible,” she added. “They were so supportive throughout the whole process, promptly addressing our needs, helping decorate the school during the big day and taking lots of pictures during the event.”
Sheng is proud of the growth of the Chinese affinity group in the past two years.
“We have a tremendous number of talented individuals working tirelessly towards the same goal, which is to increase our visibility in the community and nurture our next generations,” she said. “This is a truly inspiring organization.”
