Year of the Dragon, Service Projects, Spirit Week and More!

Year of the Dragon: Chinese New Year Celebrations
In January, Ross School celebrated the Lunar Chinese New Year with special assemblies, decorations and an inspired lunch and dinner. Also known as the Spring Festival, the New Year is based on the lunar calendar and is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is celebrated in China, Japan, and Korea, and 2012 is the year of the Dragon.

World language teachers Jessica Gong and Anna Zhao organized festive activities to ring in the New Year, including dumpling-making workshops for Middle and High School students taking Chinese. They made pork, chicken and vegetarian dumplings in the Conference Room adjacent to the Ross Café. It is believed that dumplings resemble golden nuggets, and that the more dumplings eaten, the more good fortune a person will have in the New Year.

Anna and Jessica’s students also learned about calligraphy, and made paper lanterns as well as the Chinese character for spring using the detailed Chinese paper cutting technique. They received Chinese snacks for good luck, including, Nian Gao, or New Year cake.

Other school-wide activities included a dragon dance by the Middle School students in Jon Mulhern’s art class. After fashioning a colorful dragon out of paper, a team of students made the dragon dance by carrying its long, serpent shaped body on poles around the Court Theater. Dragons are believed to bring good luck to people; this is reflected in their great power, dignity, fertility, wisdom, and auspiciousness. The dragon dance was followed by a ribbon dance in the Movement Room.

In addition, the International Club hosted a special Dress Down Day, wherein students and faculty were encouraged to wear something red, the beloved color in China. Unlike most Dress Down Days where a donation is made, this one was simply a unique way of celebrating the New Year. Also, teacher Mami Takeda hosted a dumpling and Chinese dessert making activity over the weekend for boarding students. About 25 students attended and cooked almost 300 dumplings. For dessert, they made Bing Tang Hulu (fruit on a stick), a very popular street snack in China. 

Finally, Ross chefs cooked a special Chinese-inspired lunch and dinner one day. While Jessica played the Guzheng, an ancient Chinese musical instrument, in the Café, the Ross community dined on tea eggs, velvet corn soup, chicken wings with mai ploi, Asian glazed BBQ pork, stir fry rice noodles, kung pao tofu, bok choy, and white rice. Fortune cookies were served for dessert. That evening, the international students enjoyed a dinner of Sesame Hong Kong noodles, vegetarian spring rolls, pork buns, mu shu vegetarian rolls, hoisin glazed duck, whole roasted fish with black bean sauce, steamed tofu with brown sauce and shitake, and white rice.

At the Lower School, a special assembly was held for the New Year in the Multi-Purpose Room. Students in kindergarten through fourth grade sang songs in Chinese, and the fourth graders practiced Tai Chi. Everyone was treated to a presentation by the international students from the Upper School who shared the New Year’s customs performed in different Asian countries, from the foods they eat to the songs they sing, as well as how to say Happy New Year in each language. Kei Mayama and Riko Kawahara represented Japan; Chris Lee and Sohee Kim represented Korea; Michael Wu and Amber Kuo represented Taiwan and siblings Zach and Chloe Wan represented China. The Middle School dragon also made an appearance at the Lower School last week. 

Honoring a Legacy: Middle School Service Projects
Inspired by the humanitarian work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Ross Middle School students have embarked on a variety of service learning projects recently. Each grade adopted a different project that allowed them to connect to the community and also continue Dr. King’s selfless work, as well as embody the Ross School motto, “Know Thyself in Order to Serve.”

The fifth grade placed bins in the Center for Well-Being and Middle School Main Office to collect new or lightly used coats for the local food banks. “The food pantries have a need for warm winter coats,” said teacher Barbara Strong, who helped the students organize the effort. The coats were delivered on February 3. The sixth grade assembled Birthday Boxes for the Retreat, an organization that helps women and children who are victims of domestic violence. The students have been collecting items needed to celebrate birthdays, including cake mixes, frosting, candles, streamers, plates, utensils, and napkins.

Meanwhile, the seventh grade held a bake sale and penny drive for the Make a Wish Foundation, which grants wishes to children who have life-threatening medical conditions. The students brought in wonderful treats including red velvet whoopie pies, homemade bread with filling, and "ice cream cone" cupcakes. Overall, the effort raised $600 for the organization.

Finally, the eighth grade has been working on a few service projects including one that involves collecting buttons that will ultimately be made into a national memorial for the victims of 9/11 and the casualties in the conflicts that have followed in Iraq and Afghanistan, both military and civilian. They have collected more than 26,800 buttons, and will continue the drive until the spring.

In addition, every year teacher Mark Tompkins arranges for the eighth graders to help set up the Maureen's Haven shelter at the East Hampton Methodist Church on the first Fridays of the month during the winter and early spring. The grade also raises money for Maureen’s Haven by participating as group in the Peconic Plunge in Mattituck. This year, the plunge will be held on Sunday, February 12. 

Spreading School Cheer: Spirit Week at Ross
Ross School students and faculty rallied together to spread School cheer in the School’s annual Spirit Week celebrations. From January 30 to February 3, students on the Upper and Lower School campuses proudly wore their class colors, dressed up in silly outfits and cheered for their fellow athletes.

At the Upper School, the week began with Class Color Day on Monday, followed by Team Jersey Day, ’80s Day, Pajama Day, and finally, Cosmos Day. A pep rally featuring the varsity cheerleading team was held in the Great Hall, honoring the student athletes that make up the Cosmo spirit. Two homecoming games followed—the varsity girls and boys basketball teams played longtime rival Shelter Island. The girls lost to the Indians 41-22, while the boys, enjoying a winning streak, defeated Shelter Island, 65-45.

Meanwhile, at the Lower School, students began their Spirit Week on Tuesday with Crazy Hat and/or Hair Day, followed by Pajamas & Buddies Day, Mixed & Matched Clothes Day, and lastly, School Colors Day, which also featured an energizing Pep Rally that was held in the Lower School Fieldhouse.

Sitcom Study: Jenn Lloyd Speaks at Conference
Jenn Lloyd, Chairperson of the English Department at Ross School, presented a workshop at the National Council of Social Studies Teachers in Washington, D.C. in December. Thousands of middle and high school teachers from around the world attend this annual conference. Jenn’s workshop, “From Father Knows Best to Father Knows Least: American Sitcom Family,” focused on how to use sitcoms to teach students about race, class and gender.

“I had taught a sitcom class prior to coming to Ross, and as I was investigating them, I started to look at them and the messages they projected differently. I could see how those messages changed, from radio to current day,” she said. In her workshop, Jenn discussed the history of sitcoms and showed clips of shows from different eras.

Through her research Jenn realized “that the crazier, more out there sitcoms actually have the strongest messages, and that’s the way they hid the messages.” “Bewitched,” for example, about a witch who marries a mortal and tries to lead the life of a typical suburban housewife, explored the issue of mixed couples, Jenn noted. “They brought up issues that hadn’t been brought up before.”

Music to Our Ears: Middle School Winter Concert
The annual Middle School Winter Concert was held on February 2 in the Great Hall in the Center for Well-Being. Family, friends, faculty and staff listened to a variety of music, from the classical “Amadeus,” to the classic “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” The evening featured the talents of the String Orchestra, Treble Chorus, Concert Band, Mixed Chorus and Stage Band, which featured soloists Sami Habib, Elijah Jackson, and Nickolas Swanson.