On the evening of January 14, 2025, Montville Township High School's [MTHS] Mandarin program hosted a vibrant Chinese New Year celebration filled with traditional cultural elements. Nearly 300 members of the community attended the event, which was organized by the MTHS Chinese Honor Society. Attendees to the 6th Annual Chinese New Year event enjoyed a combination of performances, activities, and traditional foods that showcased Chinese traditions, art, and culture. The elaborate showcase of language and culture is family-friendly and free to all who attend.
“Tonight was incredible!” said Supervisor of World Languages and ESL, Dr. Tamar Spitzer. “This is such an amazing night. We had so much fun!”
Spitzer attended the 2025 Chinese New Year celebration with her two children. “They couldn’t wait to attend after seeing the show last year,” Spitzer noted.
Over 50 students from both MTHS and the Robert R. Lazar Middle School performed. Both schools are part of the Montville Township Public Schools [MTPS] district. Beginning in grade 6, MTPS students are introduced to Mandarin. Lazar Mandarin students from grades 6, 7, and 8 performed during the evening.
The 8 members of the MTHS Chinese Honor Society, along with their Mandarin teacher and club advisor, Zishan (Annie) Huang, organized the 2025 Chinese New Year celebration. Additionally, Lazar Mandarin teacher Ruomin Chang supported the middle school students as they practiced and prepared for their performances.
The exciting evening featured both student performances, as well as three special guest performances.
Working both collaboratively, and as solo artists, the students from Lazar and MTHS performed a wide variety of programs, including a wedding ceremony demonstration, dragon and lion dances, fan dances, a kung fu fan dance, a chopstick dance, a dragon ribbon dance, YO-YO demonstrations, singing, playing instruments, and many other types of traditional entertainment.
“What an awesome event!” Assistant Principal Dr. David Gelber told Huang. “I am so proud of you and all your students. Thank you so much for including me. I really loved the event. This event was so well done!”
Ranging in age from toddlers to grandparents, the audience, of families, educators, and dignitaries, also enjoyed the artistry of four invited professional and semi-professional performers. The bronze medal winner in the World Championship, Martial Artist Kelvin Lu, a grade 8 student at Lazar Middle School, provided a powerful, elegant, and captivating performance that filled the venue with excitement and energy. The crowd also marveled at the mystery and artistry behind Peng Li’s face-changing performance, while Andrew Sun-Yan, a 2018 MTHS graduate, dazzled the audience with YO-YO tricks that drew awe and applause. The final invited presentation of the evening, an elegant and serene tea ceremony, was presented by Angie Ngai and Champion Herbs Tea Studio.
“It has been a pleasure of mine to demonstrate my passion [for Martial Arts] for the Lunar New Year festival,” Lu said of the experience. The award-winning Martial Artist and Lazar student also shared with Huang and the MTHS Chinese Honor Society, “I truly admire the hard work you put into the event, for it was a phenomenal experience. From the wonderful Chinese delicacies, to the marvelous performances, and the cheerful atmosphere, I was ecstatic to be a part of it all!”
In addition to the performances, the MTHS Chinese New Year celebration featured interactive cultural stations where participants could try traditional activities such as ping pong, shuttlecock games, dragon ribbon twirling, pitch-pot, a wedding ceremony demonstration station, and a traditional Chinese architecture display section. Guests also had the opportunity to wear traditional Hanfu and take photos in front of a backdrop of the Forbidden City, immersing themselves in the beauty of Chinese culture.
“The event not only provides students with a platform to showcase their talents but it also deepens their understanding and appreciation of Chinese culture,” Huang said of the annual MTHS Chinese New Year activity. “This event also offers the local community an opportunity to engage with, and learn more about, these rich traditions.”
Looking to expand students’ opportunities to explore Chinese culture and language, MTHS will offer two new courses in the 2025 - 2026 school year. The first, “Chinese Global Studies Honors,” is an upper-level elective that focuses on Mandarin language specifically useful in business settings. The course emphasizes international trade, business communication, and Chinese business etiquette and practices, offering students valuable insight into China’s role in the global economy. This course will be taught in both Mandarin and English.
The second course, “Chinese Culture and the Arts,” is an elective that explores Chinese traditions, art forms, and modern culture. Incorporating elements like calligraphy, traditional painting, Chinese music, dance, food, and film, this course allows students to engage with China’s rich cultural heritage. This course will be taught in English.
In addition to Gelber and Spitzer, many distinguished guests attended the Chinese New Year activities, including: the Montville Township Mayor, Matthew Kayne; Board of Education [BOE] Vice President Joseph Daughtry; BOE Members Michael Palma, John Petrozzino, and Caitlin Smith; Shihong Zhang, the Co-Founder and President of the New Jersey Chinese Teacher Association; and Mandarin teachers from other school districts.
“My colleagues and I were very impressed by the performances of everyone involved,” Daughtry said. At the January 21 Montville Township Board of Education meeting Daughtry added, “It was a fantastic production. The students did an outstanding job. It was pretty amazing to see that. An excellent, impressive, and entertaining event.”
In addition to entertainment and activities, everyone attending the free family event was invited to enjoy traditional Chinese food.
“Many attendees at the MTHS 2025 Chinese New Year expressed that the event was not only educational but also a memorable evening of joy and family fun,” Huang noted.
The evening, hosted by the MTHS Chinese Honor Society, was also sponsored in part by the Montville Township Educational Association [MTEA], and the New Jersey Education Association’s PRIDE program [NJEA]. Those donations covered much of the food and other supplies needed to organize the celebration so it could be offered free to the public. Parents also donated food and beverages, including the owners of Imperial 46 restaurant and Kam Man Supermarket.
“Through its outstanding performances and engaging activities, the MTHS Chinese Honor Society's dedication highlighted the richness of Chinese culture,” Huang explained. “These students provided a truly unforgettable cultural feast.”
MTHS is one of seven schools in the MTPS district. The Montville Township Public Schools district, located in Morris County, NJ, is home to five elementary schools, Lazar Middle School and MTHS. The district is a pre-kindergarten through grade 12 district that provides educational opportunities to 3,500 students.