By Felicity Zhang — CCHS Correspondent
Photos: Ken McGagh/The Concord Bridge
Paper lanterns and a crowd of hundreds heralded the arrival of the Lunar New Year at Concord-Carlisle High School.
Between the pingpong and mahjong tables marking either end of the cafeteria, students, teachers, and parents from across the district served traditional dishes, showcased crafts, and socialized. The February 8 event followed the official January 29 date of the Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival.
CCHS Chinese teacher Agnes Han and Carlisle Public Schools’ Chiao bin Huang helped establish the school’s first festival in 2024 and were pivotal in its return. Han said the event “holds multiple meanings: It’s a showcase for Chinese language students from CCHS, CMS, and Carlisle Public Schools, an opportunity to celebrate the diversity of the CC community, and a way to bring people together.”
Although Lunar New Year is primarily celebrated by Asian and Southeast Asian nations, the attendees represented a diverse array of cultures. CCHS co-principal Katie Stahl was “incredibly impressed by all of the food choices,” and CCHS senior Claire Jennings noted her surprise at the turnout, saying the event drew not only Asian community members but “everyone, everywhere.”
DIY dumplings
The togetherness was on display at the dumpling-making table of the Concord Carlisle Chinese Club (C4) parent organization. Chair Yvette Fang said members prepared 700 dumplings’ worth of ingredients to share the traditional symbol of good fortune. “It’s such a lively, vibrant atmosphere with everyone huddled around the table, making dumplings together, Fang said, gesturing at the multicolored wrappers.
Nearby, C4 member Shi Jun offered a “playful format” for younger children to experience dumpling-making with red dough. With work and school often leaving little time to celebrate the Lunar New Year, Jun said the festival at CCHS restored its significance: “When everyone comes together … it’s more impactful than just celebrating at home.”
Meanwhile, retired CCHS Chinese teacher Bo Feng shared his intricate wood burning skills, exhibiting an ornate piece symbolizing the Year of the Snake, which took him over two months to complete. Feng called the festival a chance to “push the popularity” of wood burning. “There are not a lot of artists [who do] wood burning,” he said, “so it has its own appeal, even though it’s only black and white.”
At a bubble tea station, CCHS sophomore Brady Quayle said, “In our society today, Asian culture is underrepresented,” so celebrating this “big holiday [is] a really good way to pull together that community and show different cultures” to a wide audience.
Array of activities
The afternoon also featured a Tai Ji mini-class led by CCHS math teacher John Yered, followed by nearly an hour of dazzling performances featuring song covers by students in CCHS’s Chinese 4 classes, a K-pop act, a fashion show, and Chinese yo-yos, dragon dancing, and wushu (martial arts). Students ranging from preschoolers to seniors received thunderous applause in the packed auditorium.
“See[ing] all the people” is a welcome sign that “all of our hard work has paid off,” said senior Amy Weingarten, one of four CCHS students on the event’s student committee.
Senior Veronica Moy, another committee member and co-leader of CCHS’s Far East Association, said this year’s festival featured far greater student involvement, from coordinating the various offerings to performing in the showcase.
Han, who teaches Chinese, said a “particularly inspiring initiative” was “[students’] outreach to Concord Elementary School students, who currently don’t have access to Chinese classes.”
The festival was an opportunity to celebrate “with one another,” Moy said. “I hope everyone takes away that feeling of togetherness.”
