This year, Skyline High School’s Chinese students continue its celebratory traditions with it’s online Gala, student art showcase, and in class celebrations. 

Prior to the interferences caused by covid, the gala included many different forms of entertainment and was a live event that students would prepare for. In recent years, the Lunar New Year gala has been reoriented into an online format. This year’s gala included a variety of entertaining performances, ranging from singing, to square dancing, to kung fu, and much more. 

When asked about her opinion on which format for the gala worked best, Guijun Zhang, the Chinese teacher at skyline, had this to say; “Both. Every coin has two sides, right? The virtual one I can keep, and watch at any time. The students and parents can use the link and watch it.” The virtual gala gives students the opportunity to revisit their memories, as well as gives parents a chance to experience the work of their students – something that many parents could not do before. As for the in person gala, Ms. Zhang stated “But, the live one will be more lively. Like my singers, they prefer the live one. This year, the singers just stayed here in my classroom and they sang without a microphone and without the cheering from their friends.” Although the online gala has it’s benefits, the event misses out on some of the energy and vibrancy that the in person gala provides.

Through the gala, many students were able to deepen their connection to the Lunar New Year by interacting with Chinese culture. By contributing to the gala, many students were able to incorporate their talents and interests, thus building a bridge between themselves and the holiday. Nick Zhang, a junior in Chinese 4 this year, was one of the main video editors for the virtual gala. A couple of Nick’s contributions included editing the videos together and a beautiful clarinet performance of “Butterfly Lovers” with his friend Conrad Flake on piano. Nick stated “A few of my hobbies are music and video editing. Doing them in conjunction with Chinese New Year events kind of brought something familiar and something not so familiar together.” Nick is just one example of many talented students at Skyline that showed their growing connection with Chinese culture through their hobbies and interests.

Beyond the gala were smaller scale celebrations through the student art showcase and in class celebrations. Students were able to submit art for a contest to be displayed outside of the chinese room. On the day of Chinese New Year, Chinese classes had parties for their period, taking time to relax, enjoy traditional music, and have snacks.

Skyline’s students showed amazing performances and engagement with Chinese culture through its events in a very special way. The gala proved itself to be memorable and fun for students and viewers alike.