Minnetonka School District celebrates Chinese New Year

By Greg Hugh, Staff Writer

The Minnetonka School District, located in the western Twin Cities area, held its second annual open house for the community to celebrate Chinese New Year at Minnetonka High School where a portion of the school was decorated and transformed to reflect the festive nature of the event. As the group began to assemble about 5 p.m. on a Friday evening, it was apparent that they were anxious to celebrate the Year of the Ox as many of them came dressed in traditional Chinese attire.

By Greg Hugh, Staff Writer

The Minnetonka School District, located in the western Twin Cities area, held its second annual open house for the community to celebrate Chinese New Year at Minnetonka High School where a portion of the school was decorated and transformed to reflect the festive nature of the event. As the group began to assemble about 5 p.m. on a Friday evening, it was apparent that they were anxious to celebrate the Year of the Ox as many of them came dressed in traditional Chinese attire.

The celebration began with Chinese food served by two popular Chinese restaurants from the Minnetonka area. Throughout the evening there were numerous activities held throughout the halls and common area. These activities included fun Chinese games, guessing game, writing of Chinese characters, chopstick lessons and paper cutting. Two of the more popular activities were the face painting and free photo provided by Minnetonka Community Education.  Participation in all of the activities was strongly encouraged and participants could earn a prize by getting stamp for each activity on a provided card.

The entertainment portion of the celebration began about 6 p.m. with a lion dance performed in the cafeteria area.  The crowd then moved to the Commons Area where they were treated to performances by the Kindergarten, First Grade and Second grade classes from Minnetonka’s Chinese Immersion School. The Green Dragon Kung Fu Club and Scenic Heights Club gave a Kung Fu demonstration and musical performances by Zhang Yin and dance performances by the Twin Cities Chinese Dance Center.  The evening concluded with another Lion Dance.