Corner Canyon Student Organizes Districtwide Lunar New Year Celebration

It’s the Year of the Snake! Join us in shedding the old and embracing the new by attending Canyons District’s Lunar New Year Celebration Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. 

Chinese Dual Immersion students and their families from across the District are invited for an evening of delicious food, fun activities, and inspiring student performances. The event will be held at 6 p.m. in the Commons at Corner Canyon High School (12943 S. 700 East, Draper). 

Students from Draper and Lone Peak elementary schools and Corner Canyon High will perform traditional Chinese songs in the auditorium starting at 6:45 p.m. Chinese dual immersion students of all ages will be on hand to manage traditional games and activities. In fact, the entire event is student organized and the brainchild of Monet Oaks, a senior at Corner Canyon High and student in the Chargers’ college-level Chinese Bridge Program.

“Some of my fondest memories from those earliest elementary school days are the Chinese performances we practiced and put on for our peers,” Oaks said of her motivation to sponsor a Lunar New Year Event. “I figured this would be a great way to bring the community together and create a memorable and a positive experience for our students and parents.”

Oaks is also working to invite recruiters, higher education representatives, study-abroad organizations, and Chinese summer camps to staff booths where families can learn about extracurricular and college and career opportunities for multi-lingual students. 

Canyons District has some of the most extensive language immersion offerings in Utah. No other type of instruction, short of living in a second-language environment, has been as successful at helping students become proficient in a second language. Students start the program in the first grade and continue through high school where they can work to pass an Advanced Placement exam and take college-level courses for early college credit. 

“This program has been such a big part of my life and I just love it. What I’ve liked most is the relationships I’ve forged with students and teachers,” Oaks said. “With dual immersion you go through your entire K-12 education with the same 30 to 40 students. It’s almost like you’re a family.” 

Of course, studying your freshmen year for the Chinese AP exam isn’t easy, so Oaks decided a New Year celebration might give students a fun outlet, she said. “This program has served me and a lot of students well. This is my way of paying it forward.”

Earlier this year, Oaks started a Chinese Club at Corner Canyon, which is open to anyone who wants to join. 

She looks forward to where her adventure in language and culture takes her next. 

“I’m not sure where my Chinese will take me,” she said, “but I hope in college, and beyond, to be able to combine my two interests in Chinese and business.”