On Oct. 30, the Parkland High School Multicultural Awareness Committee hosted a presentation for the Parkland administrative team regarding the importance of Lunar New Year. The committee is pushing for the establishment of Lunar New Year as an official school holiday.

The presentation also involved students who are part of Parkland High School’s language and culture club. These students put together a slideshow about what Lunar New Year is, what it represents, how it is celebrated and what it means to them as Asian Americans.

In addition to giving this presentation, the Multicultural Awareness Committee set up numerous stands throughout the high school’s library representing elements of Lunar New Year celebrations and Asian culture. This included stands with traditional Asian sweets/candies, paper crafts, mandarin calligraphy, dumpling making and a stand serving homemade dumplings and sushi. Participants in this event were able to walk around the library and experience what each of these stands had to offer in order to learn more about the traditions and history of Lunar New Year.

Lunar New Year is celebrated in numerous countries, including the U.S., Canada, China, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, The Philippines and more.

The prevalence of this holiday as well as the prevalence of Asian American students in the Parkland School District makes this holiday especially relevant to Parkland students.

These students and committee urged the district to recognize the large presence of Asian culture in the district by recognizing Lunar New Year as an official holiday so they can celebrate the occasion with their families without missing school.

This presentation not only highlighted the presence of Asian culture in the district, but the many religious and cultural backgrounds of students at Parkland.

Parkland School District has always been notable for being a “Melting Pot” and the Lunar New Year event allowed for one of Parkland’s many cultural backgrounds to share their stories and what this holiday means to them.