Year Of The Snake Celebration written by Kiera DelMonte, Understanding Your Animal written by McKinlee Rainey, St. Michael’s Club Celebrates Holi written by Riley Campion, Costa Honors Black History Month written by Kylie Woodward.
YEAR OF THE SNAKE CELEBRATION
The Chinese New Year celebrations wrapped up on February 12, with the vibrant
Lantern Festival, a tradition marking the end of the 15-day festivities. This festival is filled with colorful lantern displays, dragon and lion dances, and the tradition of eating tang yuan–sweet rice dumplings symbolizing unity and family togetherness.
People hang lanterns from New Year’s Eve until the last day of the festival, lighting up the streets with bright colors. Lion dances are performed and fireworks are displayed, while many reflect on the new year and what the future holds.
This year’s Lantern Festival also marks the beginning of the Year of the Snake according to the Chinese zodiac. People born in this year are said to be graceful, wise, and charming, with a tint of mystery. The Snake is the sixth animal in the zodiac cycle, and those born under its sign are believed to have strong intuition and an analytical nature.
As the sixth animal in the Chinese zodiac, the snake carries deep symbolic significance, representing wisdom, transformation, and flexibility. This year is viewed as a period of renewal, growth,
prosperity and good fortune. Like the snake shedding its skin, the year of the snake is a chance for personal transformation and new beginnings.
The Lantern Festival is not only a time of celebration, but also offers time to reflect on family, unity, and hope for a prosperous year ahead. The festival brings the community together as lanterns light up the sky.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR ANIMAL
Chinese zodiacs first appeared in the 5th century B.C., but they were officially identified during the Han Dynasty. The zodiac was originally used to track the years, months, days, and even hours in the calendar. There are twelve animals that correspond with the Chinese zodiacs: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. Each animal represents a year in a 12-year cycle, a day in a 12-day cycle, and 2 hours within a 24-hour cycle. A few myths suggest that the animals and their order
in the cycle were picked from the results of a race.
This system is sometimes used to determine if two people are compatible or to determine people’s interests, possibly influencing a person’s career. It is known that someone’s personality traits
will typically correspond to their animals characteristics.
For example, if your animal is the snake, you are known to be wise, or if your animal is the monkey, you are known to be curious. A person’s Chinese zodiac animal depends on their birth year, and each
year the animal rotates, going through a cycle of 12 different animals.
ST. MICHAEL’S CLUB CELEBRATES HOLI
Mira Costa’s St. Michael’s Club helps bring the vibrant celebration of Holi to the Manhattan Beach community through an annual after school event. Holi, a widely celebrated Indian holiday, is known as the festival of colors and is often associated with the arrival of spring, as well as the triumph of good over evil.
“Holi is one of my favorite events of the year,” said St. Michael’s Club president Karishma Dhawan. “Ever since I was younger, my family and I would always go to the beach or attend a party to celebrate
Holi. It’s a lot of fun, and you make a ton of memories from it.”
In previous years, the St. Michael’s Club hosted Holi celebrations on campus, allowing students to participate in the traditional color-throwing festivities. However, this year, Costa is bringing the celebration to the beach, giving students and locals the chance to experience the cultural significance and joy of this event. The celebration is set for March 15, one day af-
ter Holi.
“In the past, we put on a Holi event where everyone could participate and throw color on each other at Costa. This year, the St. Michaels Club is hosting an after-school event on the beach where anyone who wants to participate can come and just have a lot of fun!” said Dhawan.
Holi is a simple celebration, but it still brings much excitement and exhilaration
with its essence being rooted in color, music, and community.
“It’s really simple and fun to play. You just need some friends or family to play with, packs of color powder to throw on them, and a loud speaker to play music!” said Dhawan.
The St. Michael’s club hopes that this celebration will leave a lasting impact on
those who attend. The event is aiming to help promote cultural awareness alongside
being a fun activity.
“This celebration brings attention to the importance of community and cultural significance to Indian holidays,” said Dhawan.
Holi is not just about throwing colors it is about bringing people together, celebrating unity, and appreciating the vibrancy of Indian traditions.
The St. Michael’s Club’s Holi celebration promises to be an impactful event for Mira Costa students and the Manhattan Beach community. Whether you’re partaking in the festival for the first time or not, this event will be an unforgettable experience.
“We hope other people in the Manhattan Beach community can take away just how fun Indian celebrations are,” said Dhawan. “Indian culture is not regularly touched on, so just experiencing one aspect of it would be special.”
COSTA HONORS BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Costa’s annual Black History Month assembly on Feb. 20 brought students and
faculty together to celebrate Black culture and history. The event was held in the quad during office hours and included educational booths, an interactive scavenger hunt, and live music.
This event encouraged students to explore the campus while learning about Black history and culture. There were stations spread across the school, highlighting significant Black historical figures, cultural contributions, and social movements. Students worked in teams to solve clues and answer questions. After finishing all 20 clues, the prize for students consisted of a series of gift cards to Starbucks, Amazon, and California Pizza Kitchen.
Following the hunt, students could go to an art gallery booth where they could color influential African Americans in history, such as Bayard Rustin and Michelle Obama.
On Feb. 21, Costa’s Black Scholar Union presented the “Sounds of Hope,” a gospel concert from 7 P.M. to 9 P.M. in the auditorium.
This concert was the first one of its kind in 15 years, and was another celebration of Black American history and music, with a special guest Stephan Terry and S.O.U.L along with Costa Jazz Band and Costa Vocal Ensemble, where entry was twelve dollars for students and twenty for adults.
In addition to the Outdoor Assembly and Gospel Choir Concert, there have been many other events on campus in honor of Black History Month. Yesterday, a slam Poetry contest took place during office hours, where many students recited impactful poems. Many classrooms have also participated in a door decorating contest to recognize various historical Black figures this month.
Costa has truly honored Black History Month. From the Gospel Choir Concert, scavenger hunts, arts and crafts, slam poetry, and door decorating, our community has made it a priority to celebrate this month in a special way.
“We decided this year to try to do more not only at school but to branch out to people outside of school,” said BSU President Donné Ward. “We’ve never really had people participate and get into the events as much as we did this year.”
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