Jan 2011 (Updated 1/15/2011)

Dear Parents, teachers, students, greetings!

First and foremost, I would like to wish each of you a happy new year! I hope that in this new year, you will find success and happiness within your family, work, and/or education.

Thanks to everyone's teamwork and dedication, we had a wonderful 2010 Autumn semester. We started the 2011 Spring semester on January 8th, and in addition to our existing classes, we added an adult’s beginner level Chinese class due to increasing interest and demand from our community.

This year, beyond our regular language and cultural classes, you can look forward to many special events to celebrate our various holidays and festivals.  It will be a very active and culturally enriched semester, and I welcome your suggestions and assistance in planning these.

To celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year, the Chinese American Association of Central Florida (CAACF) will be organizing a lunar New Year cultural and food festival on February 5th.  Aside from a great assortment of delicacies, there are also two hours of cultural performances.  Interested participants may purchase tickets in our Chinese school cafeteria.  Representing our school, we have Mrs. Lan writing Chinese names in calligraphy, a performance by students in Mrs. Feng’s folk dance class, and a chorus performance by teachers of our school.  We welcome interested parents to join us in the chorus performance, using our voices to wish everybody luck in the Year of the Hare.

On February 19th our school will host our second annual lantern festival, with activities such as rice ball making, lantern riddle solving, special performances, etc.  We are excited about teaching newcomers to our culture the history of this holiday, and look forward to another successful celebration during this festival.

April 16th is our Earth Day special event, and we hope to encourage everyone to cherish resources and take good care of the Earth.  Due to our constant consumption and squandering, we have increasing problems with global warming and natural disasters in many parts of the world.  If we, as a human race, do not change our wasteful ways and habits, we will certainly pay the ultimate price in the near future.  Hopefully our Earth Day event will encourage everyone to reduce energy consumption, decrease our carbon footprint, and save our planet.

Mother’s Day is on May 14th.  We will have a parent appreciation party for our students to understand the challenges in raising and educating children, the privileges of receiving such a gift, and the duties children have in being filial towards our parents.

Hopefully all of us found peace and joy in 2010; I am excited about all of what 2011 will bring, and I wish you all health, happiness, peace, and good fortune in this new year!

Shiow-Chih Hwang, Principal of the Chinese School of CAACF

親愛的家長、老師、同學們，大家好!

新年快樂！ 首先在此向各位拜年！敬祝大家在新的一年，不論在家庭、事業，或學業等都能順利如意，歡喜自在！

 2010 秋季班在大家的同心協力下，順利圓滿結束，感謝大家的努力和用心的付出。2011年的春季班也在一月八日正式註冊開學，除了舊有班級以外，並增開一成人初級班，以滿足學習中文熱的需求。
 
本學期除了固定有的語文課和文化課外，並配合節慶預定舉辦多個特別活動，將會是一個十分忙碌又充滿文化饗宴的學期，末學將在此文裡一一為大家介紹，也敬請大家期待、協助和指教。
 
為了慶祝農曆新年，中美協會將在二月五日舉辦新春美食節，除了有各式各樣精美小吃外，並有二個小時的精彩表演，欲參加者可在本校餐廳購買門票。為共襄盛舉，本校將有藍碧月老師在現場用毛筆為外國朋友書寫中文名字，另外，有馮燕鋒老師民族舞蹈班的學生表演，和計劃由學校老師組成合唱團獻唱，若對合唱有興趣的家長也歡迎加入，期望以甜美動人的歌聲，祝福大家兔年行大運。

二月十九日本校將舉辦第二屆元宵節特別活動，將有搓湯圓、猜燈謎和特別表演等，希望為大家帶來充滿喜樂的鬧元宵，也讓大家透過此活動，對中國人的過年，留下一個美好、深刻的體驗。
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四月十六日是地球日特別活動，希望藉此一活動，呼籲大家珍惜資源，愛護地球。由於人類對大自然的母親予取予求，過度開發揮霍，造成地球暖化，各地災害不斷，人類若再不覺悟，一改奢侈、浪費習慣，在不久的將來、將會自食其惡果。寄望在此活動後，能喚起大家的省思，並一起來節能減碳救地球。

五月十四日母親節，為讓孩子們明白父母生育、養育、教育昊天罔極的恩德，並教育孩子们孝順父母是天經地義的事，將舉辦孝親感恩會，期望透過此活動，帶給大家行孝要及時的省悟，並進而努力做一個孝順父母的好孩子。