In celebration of Lunar New Year, the Asian Pacific Islander Student Alliance (APSA) student coordinators celebrated by providing food and hosting performances for all Sacramento Country Day students on Feb. 13.
Common traditions during Lunar New Year include elders handing out red envelopes filled with money to younger family members, which symbolizes good luck. To celebrate this tradition, APSA members handed out red envelopes filled with chocolate coins to all of the students.
For students to engage more in this celebration, APSA members also hosted a booth with a variety of Asian dishes including fried rice, egg rolls and barbecue pork. To top it off, students also had the opportunity to try lucky candy, a classic Lunar New Year treat representing luck and prosperity.
Co-president senior Lauren Lu expresses her emotions regarding the celebration.
“Since this was the first year, we didn’t have any pre-existing expectations,” Lu said. “I was worried that not enough people would come and finish all the food but it overall seemed like most people enjoyed it.”
APSA also held a Lion Dance and Kung Fu demonstration in the Benvenuti Gymnasium, featuring senior Chloé Hirahara and sophomore Kai Hirahara, along with members of their Kung Fu team — Arnold Wu, Ethan Truong and Lomani-Li Volau. High school, middle school, lower school and faculty were all invited to watch.
The Lion Dance is a traditional Chinese dance where the dancers mimic a lion’s movements in a lion costume which symbolizes good fortune.
“Last year, my sister suggested the idea of performing for the school to Ms. Myers and Mr. Wells, and after that, we just continued,” Kai said. “I usually don’t perform the Lion Dance with my sister unless it’s at the school, so that’s new for me.”
Kai emphasized varieties of techniques that the different members of his team specialized in to keep their audiences attention.
“Arnold specializes mostly in southern forms, while Ethan just loves to do flips,” he said. “I don’t have one myself, I just know many forms and improvised during the performance.”
With good luck in their hands, filled stomachs and the opportunity to watch the Lion Dance, students were able to celebrate Lunar New Year alongside their peers.
“We hope to make this celebration into something that can come back in the future years,” Lu said.
— By Anisha Mondal
