Richfield Senior High, Asian New Year
Richfield Senior High, Richfield, MN
Project: Asian New Year
Adviser: Marie Abele
The increase in the number of Asian students in Richfield area schools and the lack of community knowledge about the Asian culture provided a unique opportunity for the members of the Richfield Senior High chapter of NHS to educate the community and students at all levels in order to encourage the embracing of diversity. The project began as a leadership project for one member and became so enormous that the chapter members chose to use this as their chapter service project.
For five months, members planned for a successful implementation. They obtained a $500 grant to defray costs, contacted local Asian community members for involvement, involved the public library, contacted local organizations and businesses for support in providing refreshments, prizes, and publicity. Because of the astonishing support, the chapter was able to sponsor their event at no cost.
Activities included:
- Lion dancers
- Vietnamese and Japanese dancers
- Speakers from various Asian cultures
- Fashion show
- Martial arts
- Cultural demonstrations and displays
- Food samples
- Craft demonstrations
- Cooking demonstrations
- Raffle prizes
- Storytelling
- Tattoos
- Fortune telling
- Games (Zodiac Race, Card Making, Origami, Calligraphy, Duck Pond, Ball Toss)
To promote the event, chapter members took out ads in two local newspapers, The Asian American Press and Ngay Nay newspaper. They posted information on the Richfield city Web site, and posted flyers at local businesses and community gatherings. They undertook the task of mailing information to all Richfield residents (included as part of quarterly newsletter) and promoted the event at neighboring schools. Members were tasked with printing programs, recipes for the food demonstrations, and "trivia" cards with information about various Asian cultures. They also provided a comment box for attendees to give feedback.
On the day of the event, members began setting up at 2:45 p.m. At 5:30, members served as greeters at main door while others staffed the various display tables and games. At 6:00 p.m. performers took to the state in the school auditorium. Beyond the auditorium, activities were set up in the lunchroom and throughout the halls. Refreshments, crafts, games, a photo booth, and 20 display tables provided a variety of cultural offerings for patrons.
The members report that their event was hugely successful and they have been asked to provide this type of service project to focus on other cultures as well in the future. One parent sent a note of appreciation and stated that her two children in NHS had learned more about human behavior and hard work from this project than through anything else they had done in all their years of schooling. This was a truly a valuable learning experience.