by Maria Wang ’23

Wyoming Seminary celebrated Lunar New Year with an assembly at the Kirby Center for the Creative Arts (KCCA), where Asian students had the opportunity to showcase their culture and traditions to the entire school community. In addition, the school also provided kitchens to Asian students to cook food from their hometown to celebrate Lunar New Year.

Jennifer Brown, the organizer of the Lunar New Year assembly said, “As the international coordinator this year my role is to find ways to highlight and give the stage to our international students at different points. Lunar New Year is such a colorful and exciting festival, and it’s a great time to really display all those cultures.” When being asked how she organized the event she explained, “I might be the key person that’s driving the idea to this but it could never have happened without student leadership. They were absolutely essential!”

As impressed as many audiences are, Brown has other other unique opinions about the Lunar New Year assembly. “I am so impressed at how confident all the student presenters are,” she continued, “I have taught most of the presenters before.”

“When they first came to high school or first came to the states they tend to be a little more shy or quiet. Then, seeing some of those students get up on stage and just speak so eloquently, well, and proudly about their culture and heritage is just incredible.”

Allison Luo ’23 performed a wonderful piece of traditional Chinese dance, she explained, “I want to present to more students the traditional Chinese Culture.” When asked if she enjoyed the experience of performing, she answered, “Absolutely. As a Chinese, I am very proud of contributing to the celebration of Chinese New Year. Although choreographing and dancing this piece isn’t easy, when I heard the cheers from the audience, I knew it was worth it.”

Lio was not only a performer at the KCCA but also the main chef of Lunar New Year dinner. She said, “The experience of cooking and eating with other students reminds me of cooking with my family when I was home. I was so happy to see everyone put lots of effort into the dinner and it was excellent to see all the other students sitting together at one table, eating together, just like one big family!”

The Lunar New Year assembly demonstrates the diverse cultural environment and the involvement of students from different cultural backgrounds in the Wyoming Seminary School community. The efforts of all students and faculty put into this activity is incredible.