Batesville Schools to celebrate Chinese New Year

(BATESVILLE, Ind.) – Batesville Community Schools will celebrate the Chinese New Year this coming week. 

Batesville became the first school corporation in the state to launch the Chinese Dual Language Immersion Program in 2016.

There will be interactive celebrations including parades, performances, cultural stations and hands-on experiences from the primary school to the high school. 

Batesville Primary students have made crafts and decorations. There will be a parade along with other activities on February 20. 

Intermediate students will have a Chinese New Year Celebration Program in the cafeteria at 1 p.m. on Friday.

“Third-grade students will perform festive Chinese New Year songs, fourth graders will present a dramatic retelling of the Chinese Zodiac story “The Great Race,” and fifth graders will perform “The Story of Nian,” explaining the origins of Lunar New Year traditions,” the school stated.

Following the performance, students from both BIS and Batesville Middle School will participate in the annual Chinese New Year parade beginning at 1:30 p.m., traveling from BIS to BMS and back. 

RELATED: Watch the celebration last year by clicking this link.

Batesville High School Mandarin students will receive the traditional gift of red envelopes, which will include Chinese candies, chocolate coins, and small items to symbolically represent blessings for good luck, success, and happiness in the new year. 

They will also participate in making dumplings in Barb Hartman’s Family and Consumer Science foods class on February 25.

To conclude the festivities, BCSC is partnering with the Asianati Youth Program from Cincinnati to host a public Chinese New Year Celebration on Tuesday, March 3, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the BPS gym.  All BCSC families are invited. 

These upcoming celebrations have bene organized to highlight how Batesville’s Mandarin Dual Language Immersion program develops students’ language proficiency and creativity, enabling them to thrive in a globally interconnected world.

For more information about BCSC’s Mandarin program, contact Director of Student Learning Dr. Jackie Huber at jhuber@batesville.k12.in.us or 812-934-2194.