Youngsters Learn Joy of Chinese New Year 2/18/2004 By LINDSEY BERGERON Staff writer Springfield Republican lbergeron@repub.com LONGMEADOW - Heritage Academy students learned traditional customs to celebrate the Chinese New Year. OLD NEWS "They get to experience what kids in China are doing," said teacher Mei-Ju Hwang. "It's wonderful. They are very interested." Students in the kindergarten and first grade classes were split up into groups, designated by animals of the chinese zodiac. Each group rotated between learning chinese caligraphy, eating with chopsticks, playing maj jong, a Chinese tile game, and making dee-dee, chinese noisemakers used to ward of evil spirits. "Chinese New Year is the biggest hoiday in China," Hwang said. "They need at least two weeks to prepare. There are so many things to take care of." Hwang taught the students about the lucky poems pasted around doorways to scare away monsters and traditional New Years meals. "It's very important to eat fish. It brings abundance."

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