Weeklong Summer Enrichment "Chinese Language & Art" class wraps with wonton making

The Summer Enrichment Program at Warwick Valley Central School District offered a week-long course during which students were immersed in Chinese culture. The class, Chinese Language & Art, has been led this week by Warwick Valley High School and Middle School Mandarin Chinese teacher Dr. Xu Ping Moroney. 

You can see a gallery of pictures from Friday's fun below this story.

Students in this Summer Enrichment course have learned how to depict the world around them using simple Chinese brush stroke techniques to paint nature scenes. They also learned Chinese calligraphy, writing the names of the seasons, as well as learning the characters for their own names, along with the year, so that they could sign their art work.

One art project had the students researching their own Chinese Zodiac symbols. The students learned that the Chinese Zodiac is made up of 12 animals, ecah one representing one year in a 12-year, repeating cycle. For example, someone born in 1973 would be an Ox, while someone born in 2019 would be a pig. The students drew pictures of their zodiac animals and labeled and signed their work using their new calligraphy skills.

You can read even more about the art and activities from this week's class here.

Dr. Ping also challenged her students to learn some additional Chinese by memorizing the poem Yi Wang Er San Li, which tells a simple story of a walk through the countryside. The students performed the poem for the parents and grandparents who were visiting for the final day of class!

The students were proud to exhibit and explain all of the artwork they created throughout week. But the real main event of Friday morning's class was enjoying wontons together! Not only that, the students got a Chinese culinary lesson on how to make their own wonton soup from scratch. Then, they passed that new skill on to their parents, teaching them step by step. 

Everyone prepped and cooked the wontons together, like one big family, and then sat down around a table together to enjoy their fresh soup, some fruits and sweets.

The morning visit wrapped up with a couple energetic rounds of a game called Jianzi. Think of Jianzi like Chinese hacky sack, but instead of the titular sack the game uses a feathered shuttlecock. Players must keep the shuttlecock in the air for as long as possible, using their feet, legs, and any other body part -- just not their hands. 

During the school year, Dr. Ping's Mandarin students always have an annual wonton project in the middle school teaching kitchen. In those classes, however, students must master the technique and communicate ONLY in Chinese with their fellow cooks. 

"Cooking is a wonderful way to spend quality time together as a family. Learning to make wontons, you gain valuable life skills; something you can do to bring people together," said Dr. Ping. "A lesson like this, it's something they will always remember and can share with others, whether cooking at home or cooking with friends. And now that you know how to make wontons -- what a great way to make NEW friends!"