Gung Hay Fat Choy!! Happy Lunar New Year!!

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Wishing you great happiness and prosperity!

Lunar New Year is Tomorrow, Friday, Feb 12th. Students should have received red envelopes to celebrate the day in their February distribution bags.

What is Lunar New Year?
Lunar New Year is the longest and most important festival in the Chinese Lunisolar Calendar and is celebrated in many countries in Asia.

February 12, 2021 is the start of the year 4719! 2021 is the year of the Ox. Lunar New Year festivities begin on the first day of the first lunar month on the Chinese calendar and continue until the 15th of the lunar month, when the moon is full.  

Chinese legend holds that Buddha asked all the animals to meet him on New Year's Day and named a year after each of the twelve animals that came. The animals in the Chinese calendar are the dog, pig/boar, rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep/goat, monkey, and rooster. Also, according to legend, people born in each animal's year have some of that animal's personality traits.

Lunar New Year Traditions
Each day of the fifteen-day celebration has its own traditions, such as visiting in-laws, or staying home to welcome good fortune. Families gather together for meals, especially for a feast on New Year's Eve. At Lunar New Year celebrations people wear red clothes, decorated with poems on red paper. Red symbolizes fire, which according to legend can drive away bad luck. Another tradition includes giving cash in a red envelope, called a "hongbao," to children and single adults. Lunar New Year ends with the lantern festival, celebrated at night with displays and parades of painted lanterns.  

Learn More
Wing Luke 2021 New Years All Year Round Festivities:
https://www.wingluke.org/events/lunar-new-year-2021/ 

Lunar New Year books for kids (more for younger elementary grades):
Bringing in the New Year by Grace Lin   
This Next New Year by Janet Wong
A New Year’s Reunion by Li-Qiong Yu

Black Lives Matter at School / Year of Purpose

Continuing with our commitment to the Black Lives Matter at School movement and the Year of Purpose, we turn our attention this month to the principle of Queer Affirming as we lift up an instrumental figure and unsung hero of the Civil Rights movement who often worked behind the scenes: Bayard Rustin.

“If I do not fight bigotry wherever it is, bigotry is therefore strengthened. And to the degree it is strengthened, it will thereby have the power to turn on me.” - Bayard Rustin

Bayard Rustin was an important civil rights leader and activist who organized some of the most famous and impactful demonstrations in the mid 20th century. An advisor to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he helped to start many Civil Rights organizations and was an influential writer. He often remained in the background in large part because he was a gay man as well as having an early affiliation with the communist political party. With a Quaker background, Rustin was heavily influenced by Quaker principles of social justice and was inspired by the ideas of non-violence taught by Ghandi. He fought for gay rights later in his life.

• 13 years before Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white rider, Rustin was arrested for sitting in the front section of a bus. He was later involved in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, sparked by Rosa Parks’ actions.

• Rustin was a co-organizer of the Journey of Reconciliation in 1947, the original Freedom Ride to protest racism in interstate travel.

• Rustin organized the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963 to protest racial and economic discrimination. Dr. King gave his “I have a dream” speech at this event.

• Rustin organized the New York City school boycott, protesting segregation in the district and urging integration, attended by 400,000 New Yorkers in 1964.

• He died in 1987 at the age of 75.

 
Learn more:
 
For Students

• Online article: https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/Bayard-Rustin/632847

• Short video: https://blacknet.co.uk/community_videos/black-history-for-students-bayard-rustin-mini-biography-educational-cartoon/

• Book: Leaders Like Us: Bayard Rustin by J.P. Miller

 
For Parents, Teachers & Staff

• https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/rustin-bayard-1910-1987/

• https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/rustin-bayard

• https://legacyprojectchicago.org/person/bayard-rustin

• https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/08/15/212338844/bayard-rustin-the-man-who-organized-the-march-on-washington

Heritage Potluck 2020

In the midst of a challenging year, we can still celebrate our school community remotely! Come to the Virtual Harvest Heritage Potluck this Thursday, November 19 from 6:30-7:30 pm, and enjoy fellowship and fun with other Sacajawea families. Join us on Zoom at https://tinyurl.com/SacPotluck2020.

Even though we are not sharing food with each other, we invite you to make a dish that is special to your family to enjoy while we are together. We will also have a few fun virtual activities for kids and adults, plus small group conversations where families can chat, tell stories, and maybe even swap recipes.

Just because we're apart doesn't mean we can't come together. We hope that you will join us this Thursday at 6:30pm! See you at https://tinyurl.com/SacPotluck2020

Sacajawea T-Shirts on sale now!

It's that time of year again: Sacajawea T-Shirt sales, and this year we're trying something new and using an online ordering system. The design of our shirts feature this year’s focus continent, Europe. We have a collection of short/long-sleeved T-shirts and hoodies.

Please note: orders need to be in by 11/26 (Thanksgiving) to allow for a pre-holiday break delivery.

As always, we're providing student shirt scholarships, and you can request one (or ask other questions) by emailing us at: SacajaweaTshirts@gmail.com.

To donate to our shirt scholarships, please visit https://www.sacpta.org/make-a-donation.

Wrapping up Move-a-Thon 2020

It’s time to wrap up Move-a-Thon 2020!

Our students moved, danced, wiggled, exercised, and played to raise money for Sacajawea during our Move-a-Thon 2020. So far, we’ve raised over $20,000. Thank you to everyone who participated!

If you haven’t yet submitted all of your pledges, now’s the time. You can submit on the Pledgestar site or turn in your pledge sheets at school on Monday or Tuesday from 8:30a - 3pm.