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WINSTON- SALEM — Our Lady of Mercy preschoolers and Kindergartners rang in the year of the Dragon with Chinese New Year festivities earlier this month.

Led by Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Heaton, they paraded through the hallways of the school playing Chinese drums and carrying their own dragon while the other classes cheered them on.

In preparation for the event, the Kindergartners learned about the Chinese Zodiac and what attributes the 12 animals of the Zodiac possess, tasted Chinese cuisine, practiced writing Chinese symbols and learned to count to ten in Chinese.

For the parade, they made dragons and lanterns to carry along. Mrs. Cancro, the lead Pre-K teacher, turned part of the Pre-K classroom into China Town, filled with cultural items.

The Pre-K students decorated lion puppets, listened to Chinese music, and read children's books about Chinese New Year traditions.

They also read books by Ed Young such as Lon Po Po (Chinese Red Riding Hood story) and Yeh Shen (Chinese Cinderella story) and compare them to the traditional versions we know.

The Dragon Parade has become an annual tradition at Our Lady of Mercy, with all the older classes lining up in the hallways, waving and cheering on the little ones as they pass by the classroom doors.

— Lara Davenport