Beacon Press 5 | Page 2

Chinese New Year Aaryan Amar, Year 6 For centuries people have celebrated Chinese New Year and on January 30, 2014 Beacon Academy honoured the event. Elegant red decoration danced across the halls of Beacon Academy and made all the teachers and students feel the Chinese New Year spirit. “I really like the decoration because it represents the Chinese culture,” said Year 6 student, Angie. Photo Gallery The lights shone bright in Beacon Academy’s gym as Mr. Adit and Ms. Dipa got the students even more excited about the celebration. In the beginning of the event, some students of Years Seven and Eight presented the history and the rituals of Chinese New Year. “I learnt something new that I never knew before about the traditions of Chinese New Year,” said School Captain, Esperanza. The remarkable celebration was organised by the Chinese New Year team. Then, the music began to play. Students started to cheer and three lions appeared - one yellow, one orange, and one white, each one with unbelievable details on the costumes! Students kept on cheering during the lion dance, which is a traditional Chinese dance. But the event was not over yet, as the Mandarin students from different year levels performed. “All the dancers were so graceful, and shone bright in their colourful clothes and all the singers sang melodiously,” said Zubin Amar, Year 6 Student. Video Beacon Academy’s Chinese New Year celebration continued with students from the four houses playing two fun traditional Chinese games that brought out more cheers from everyone. After a splendid morning celebrating the muchanticipated event: Chinese New Year, the students exited with red envelops, which symbolise good luck. The 2014 Chinese New Year Celebration was a great celebration because students and teachers experienced the fantastic and interesting Chinese culture, which has made all of us here at Beacon Academy more internationally minded. 2