Happy Lunar New Year!

HANSEN ZHANG (V)

Upper and Middle School students gathered to watch the annual Lunar New Year assembly on January 23.

Organized by Ms. Wei Wei Yu, Ms. Chao Wang, and Ms. Yifan Xu, this year’s assembly showcased the talent of Pingry students through a variety of performances. Per tradition, the assembly began with the Middle School dragon dance accompanied by William ZhouZheng (II) on the taiko drums and Mr. Christopher Leone on the chappa symbols. After the entrance ceremony, Keira Chen (V) and Kelly Cao (V) performed RuCi, a Chinese pop song, followed by Middle School performances featuring a Tibetan Dance and cultural presentations. A video made by Upper School students helped conclude the presentations by demonstrating the cultural significance of making dumplings. The following sequence included a series of performances and talent shows: Ryan Hao (II) showed his kongzhu (Chinese yo-yo) skills, Middle School Chinese students played the kuaiban while reciting tongue twisters in Chinese, and Maddie Zhu (I) performed a solo dance routine. The K-Pop club once again made an appearance, performing “Wannabe” by ITZY and “Hype Boy” by New Jeans. After a second cultural presentation by the Middle School, Upper School students showed a video in which they interviewed faculty and students about their Lunar New Year experience. The last performances of the assembly included: Derek Chen (V) and Chloe Huang (III) quizzing students on Lunar New Year trivia, the Purple Swan Group performing a Sani minority dance, teachers announcing of the rabbit drawing contest winners, and Chinese students singing “SuperStar” by S.H.E. Finally, the audience sang a classic Chinese New Year song, “GongXi GongXi.” This year, the assembly focused more on the wide array of Asian countries that celebrate the New Year. Through various cultural presentations, students from Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines, mainland China, South Korea, and Taiwan presented distinct new year traditions native to their respective countries. Middle School representation in the Lunar New Year assembly has also increased from last year due to efforts to balance the number of Middle and Upper School performers. As one of several teachers in charge of the assembly, Ms. Wei Wei Yu has helped organize the Lunar New Year assembly for years. It is truly a labor of love. From recruiting performers to scheduling the timetables, making the assembly possible is no simple task. Still, the months of work are well-worth it to her.

As a Chinese teacher, the annual tradition holds a special place in her heart, and the assembly is a manifestation of her passion to educate and proudly share an integral part of many Asian communities. “There are so many families celebrating the Lunar New Year. I think it’s important that the whole community gets to know these families’ traditions and beliefs. More importantly, it is necessary for these students to be proud of who they are, and feel positively about their culture. I hope the assembly can bring people joy, and help all in our community to pause and take care of themselves, family, and friends.” The food, the decorations, the traditions, and most importantly, family, are all that make Lunar New Year special and worth sharing. Thank you to everyone who participated in the assembly this year, and happy new year!

AVERY

HOFFMAN (III)

The Art Faculty Exhibition, which took place from January 10 to February 3 in the Hostetter Art Gallery, presented original works across disciplines created by the faculty of the art department.

Many members of the faculty have had exhibitions of their work outside of school, but showcasing their work at Pingry gives students the opportunity to learn more about their teachers as artists. Mr. Boyd, who is a photography and portfolio development teacher, is the founder and curator of this exhibition. He explained that this exhibition is important because “students can see what it is like to be a practicing artist by continually experimenting on and evolving their pieces. By doing this, teachers are setting examples for their students, who are able to gain more knowledge about art and an artist’s process behind it.” The art faculty explained the inspiration behind their work, which has a large impact on the artwork and the artist themself.