Winton Woods Middle School will be holding a Chinese Festival on Friday, February 26 from 6:30-8:00 p.m. in the school’s gymnasium, and community members are invited. “There will be arts and crafts, games, music, information about Chinese careers and educational opportunities, and food,” said Winton Woods Spanish teacher Lisa Giblin, who is helping to coordinate the festival. “This is a great opportunity to learn more about Chinese culture.”

The festival’s arts and crafts will include calligraphy, hand-made lanterns, Chinese knots, and paper-cutting. “There will also be lantern-puzzles, which are a traditional way to spend the Spring Festival in China,” said Winton Woods Middle School Chinese teacher Erin Gong. “The puzzles will be in English, and there will be prizes for guessing the puzzles.”

“We want this to be an interactive evening, although we will have some work on display,” said Giblin.  There will also be fliers from area universities explaining their Chinese programs, from American Councils explaining career opportunities, and from a school in China explaining teaching opportunities there. Cindy Marcou, exchange coordinator for the EF Foundation for Foreign Study, will be at the festival to talk about exchange opportunities.

Students from Winton Woods Middle and Intermediate Schools who are taking Chinese classes will be helping at the festival. Student Council members at Winton Woods Middle School and Chinese teacher Amanda Zou from Winton Woods Intermediate School are also helping to organize the event.