Children at DeMille Elementary School in Westminster honed their chopsticks skills on Tuesday, Feb. 7, by lifting slippery marbles out of a bowl, and tried calligraphy with ink brushes.
They also hoisted a traditional yoke, used to carry baskets, posing in front of a scenic backdrop of a Vietnamese village. And, they played a game of Kaplunk, hoping to win so that luck would follow them throughout the year.
The activities were part of the school’s annual Vietnamese Culture Day celebrating the Lunar New Year, and the multipurpose room was buzzing with energy. Students bounced from activity to activity, experiencing the traditions of a country 8,000 miles away – a country many of their parents and grandparents emigrated from.
Parent volunteer Thudao Dang, or “Miss Apple” to the children, using a nickname her husband gave her, was overseeing the Kaplunk booth. She was born in Vietnam, leaving by boat when she was just a year old.
Her 9-year-old daughter, Makayla, has been enrolled in the school’s Vietnamese Dual Language Immersion Program since kindergarten.
A display table taught the students about traditional foods, including banh chung, a dish of rice, pork and mung beans on banana leaves that Dang made at home with her daughter.
“It’s important for me to keep my culture,” Dang said, “so Makayla knows her background.”
As the fourth grader learns more about her culture at school, Dang said she does as well.
As the activities ended for each grade that took turns visiting the celebration, the students gathered together for a group photo.
“Chuc Mung Nam Moi,” they yelled. “Happy New Year.”
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