Gung Hay Fat Choi To All From Locust School

Students in Rose Huntington's kindergarten class hold some of the projects they created to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Students paraded around Locust School on February 7 to usher in the Chinese Year of the Rat with dragon puppets, musical instruments, and a great big Gung Hay Fat Choi (Happy New Year) to all. The students also read about Chinese culture, listened to Chinese mu-sic, and completed many projects related to the holiday. They learned that each year in the Chinese calendar is named for an animal and that, traditionally, people born in specific years are said to share certain characteristics associated with that year's animal. People born in the Year of the Rat, for example, are thought to be industrious, hardworking, loving, and loyal.

Kindergartners with their teacher, Anne Groom, and some of the books, projects, and toys they used to learn about Chinese culture.