UTAH (ABC4) - Many Utahns rang in the New Year as the clock struck midnight on January 1, however, our local Chinese population has geared up for a big celebration on February 1, too. The first day of February marks the start of the Lunar New Year – more commonly known as the Chinese New Year.
Festivities in Salt Lake City began as early as January 29, with the Utah Chinese New Year Celebration Committee’s annual evening of song, dance, and cultural performances. Events will continue to be held throughout the month – and across the community – to celebrate the coming of the year of the Tiger.
Among those celebrating this year, too, will be students at Utah’s Chinese immersion elementary schools. Throughout the first week of February, students at Syracuse Elementary, Muir Elementary, and Davis Elementary will be performing traditional dances such as the famous dragon dance and lion dances and learning Chinese crafts, like calligraphy. On Chinese New Year Eve, students also received the traditional red envelopes filled with - not cash like would be given traditionally, but chocolate coins instead.
Laura Campbell, who is a native of Taiwan and a fourth-grade Chinese immersion teacher at Syracuse Elementary, says that for her students, learning about Chinese culture is just as important as their daily language lessons.
“Language and culture are really connected to each other,” she says. “It’s not just learning Chinese, because we also need to know about the culture, so you’ll be able to know that’s why this word comes from that, or just different language foundations.”
Campbell, who organized this year’s Chinese New Year celebration at Syracuse Elementary, says the faculty and students have been preparing for the event since October.
And it’s not only a special time for the students, Campbell says it’s special for the teachers, too.
“This is a big celebration for immersion because we can share our culture,” she says. “Chinese New Year is our biggest festival, just like for people here it is Christmas. Because Chinese culture was founded thousands of years ago, it is just very important for us to have those conditions to celebrate.”
And in addition to observing the holiday with the more well-known aspects of Chinese New Year – like the dances and the red envelopes – Campbell also takes time to tell her students about the familial aspect of the celebration. Before Chinese New Year officially begins, Campbell says that many celebrate Chinese New Year Eve, when children receive envelopes and families gather in reunion.
But, because Utah’s Chinese immersion teachers are here teaching our students, this means that often, they can’t gather in this way with their own families.
This element of the celebration is not lost on Scott Richardson, Muir Elementary's principal, who works to make the celebration as much about the teachers as it is about educating the students.
“We just try to make it a really special day for our Chinese teachers," he says. "We try and do some things just to make it special for them, especially where they’re away from home and doing such great things for our kiddos. Really, without them, we wouldn’t be able to have an immersion program. I know it’s a sacrifice for them to be here, but also we want them to know that it’s an important holiday for us as well because we want to celebrate with them.”
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