Last Friday, there was a notable event that took place in Fick Auditorium. Students, parents, and Chinese ambassadors from Chicago came to watch a performance by the Chinese language students. The event commemorated Edina’s new partnership with the Confucius Institute at the University of Minnesota.

“I’m not exactly 100% sure of the details, but we presented cultural presentations in the form of music, dance, art, and poetry for the district and some other people and students,” said EHS junior Cai Selmo.

The Confucius Institute is a non-profit organization that works to promote and teach the Chinese culture and language throughout the world, and they have a branch at the University of Minnesota. “We were partnering with the U of M branch but somehow those are connected to some Chinese government organization. I don’t know much about it,” said EHS junior and Jonathan Peterson. This new partnership will aid in the enrichment of the curriculum for all Chinese language classes.

The celebration was very entertaining, and featured many different kinds of performances. To start with a bang, four students swung large flags to the beating of drums. There were a variety of Chinese dances that were presented, ranging from a girl dancing alone on stage to a large group of students performing a “fan dance.” Most were accompanied by music with a relatively slow tempo. Also, there was a group of singers, and on top of it all, a dragon costume.

“It was sort of nerve wracking knowing that some very important people were there but it was a really cool and fun experience,” said EHS junior Will Staunton.

Both EHS Principal, Dr. Locklear, and Superintendent of Edina Public Schools, Ric Dressen, were present. At the end of the show, Locklear came up on stage, accepted an official document to honor the new partnership with the Institute, and presented an elegant glass apple to the Institute to thank them for coming.

“It was nice taking a week off of studying and instead being able to experience an entirely different culture,” said EHS junior Isaac LaLuzerne.