School News

Harbor School celebrates Chinese culture

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Seaford Harbor Elementary School third-graders marked the Chinese New Year and enhanced their learning of the nation’s culture at an assembly program presented by the Chinese Center of Long Island. 

According to the Seaford School District, the event featured traditional folk dances. Two of the performers were Seaford residents, they noted. 

Alanna Chan, a 2009 Seaford High School graduate, performed the Jasmine Flower Dance. Officials said that she incorporated a fabric fan into the dance to represent beauty and grace. 

Alanna’s younger sister — Cailin Chan, a senior at the high school — and Catherine Dart performed the Handkerchief Dance for the Harbor students. Ted Chan, Alanna and Cailin’s father, introduced all of the performers and greeted students by saying “Happy New Year” in Chinese.  

“The Chinese New Year represents new beginnings and celebrations,” Ted told the children.. “Red and gold colors are good luck in Chinese culture. One of the most famous dances performed on the Chinese New Year is the Lion Dance, which is done to cast away evil spirits known to prevent one from having a prosperous new year.” 

Ted also talked about the dancers’ training. Officials said that the students asked him questions about Chinese customs. 

After the assembly, the third-graders — dressed in red and holding dragon masks and traditional noisemakers, which they made in their classrooms — participated in a Chinese New Year parade. The parade was designed to “wake up the dragon that brings spring,” officials said.

 According to third-grade teacher Nanci Prefer, students will continue to study different countries and traditions throughout the academic year. 

“Students have been immersed in cross-curricular activities using fiction and non-fiction resources,” she said. “The overreaching objective is looking at cultures and asking, ‘How are we different and how are we the same?’”