The past Sunday, Feb 5th, marks the end of the celebration of the spring festival (or lunar festival) which are celebrated by Chinese, Koreans, Vietnamese, Mongolians, and other groups of people in East and Southeast Asia. Lunar new year is based on the agriculture calendar (or lunisolar calendar), and is arguably the most important festival in the Chinese culture which is celebrated for 16 days. The celebration often starts with preparing for the festival by giving a good clean of homes, and followed by family gatherings (Tuan Nian) before the first day of the festival.
Once the festival begins, Chinese people celebrate by visiting their friends and families and giving out red packets that resemble good luck. You may also see bright-colored (often red, golden, yellow and orange) decorations put up inside houses in the neighborhood! You and your family may already know that this year marks the Year of the Rabbit, and your child might have heard the “Great Race” of the 12 Chinese zodiac in their class. We encourage you to invite your child to share the story with you if they have learned about the story from school!
This year, the TDSB Chinese Heritage Committee selected a second theme: Honouring a Legacy of Conviction and Fortitude to mark the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Immigration Act of 1923 to highlight discriminatory impact of the Chinese Immigration Act of 1923, as well as the progress made afterward despite it. More information can be found here.
As always, we welcome and encourage our students, families and staff to share information, resources and their own stories related to days of significance, holidays, traditions and their own lived experience to include in the newsletter. We value the voices and lived experience of each of you and aim to continue to create a space for learning, sharing and working together to ensure belonging in our community.
If you have any ideas or submissions, please email Faith or Adeeba at AllenbyDEI@gmail.com