A happy Chinese New Year at the Lynbrook Kindergarten Center

Students paraded through the hallways at the Lynbrook Kindergarten Center on Feb. 16, gleefully shouting, “Gong hay fat choy! “ repeatedly.

Translated into English, their message was to wish a happy Chinese New Year to all who could hear them. Teachers Kim Fitzsimmons and Madelyn Torres said they have made it a mission to teach diversity to the 21 students in their classroom. Celebrating holidays, such as the Chinese New Year, is part of that message and also helps to include students in the class who are from other cultures.

“We just aim to show them diversity and that we’re all unique and special, and just to show them they’re part of this class as well,” Fitzsimmons said. “I want them to know that they have a part in this community. It’s not just those who celebrate Christmas or Hanukah, but we do celebrate everybody.”

Fitzsimmons oversees all students, while Torres is heavily involved with the 10 ENL, or English as a New Language, students in the class. Many are from other countries, including China, Nepal and Poland.

In preparation for the Chinese New Year celebration, the students read fiction and nonfiction books about the holiday. The children also learned which zodiac animal corresponds to their birthday.

Activities to ring in the New Year included sweeping away the bad luck in the classroom and welcoming in good fortune. The students were then divided into groups to work at three stations.

The first station had students dig through a bowl of “noodles” made of yarn to find fish that had letters on them, which they then had to sound out. The second station had students work together to build the Great Wall of China out of sticks. The third was a math station, where participants had to calculate how many firecrackers were on a piece of paper, and use equations to find out how many they had to add or subtract to get to 10.

Several students and faculty members also wore decorative T-shirts celebrating the 100th day of school.

Fitzsimmons said the teachers aim to celebrate holidays from all cultures, including Diwali, the Hindu celebration of the Festival of Lights, in the autumn. She said they also teach students about different foods so that they are not judgmental of their classmates who bring in things they have not seen before. “We like to show the children foods from other cultures,” she said. “So that they are more accepting.”