NWCS Chorus – Year End Performance – June 18, 2022, 10:45am – 11:30am
Please come to the school cafeteria on Saturday, June 18, 2022 at 10:45am for the NWCS Chorus Year End Performance!
NWCS Spring ’22 – Newsletter, Week 12 (06/04/22)
Dear NWCS Families, As we start the month of June, we are heading to the final stretch with only 3 sessions left – including the graduation and year end celebration. This week, we will host a General Assembly in Briarcliff Middle school cafeteria – 9:20 ~ 9:50 AM. We cordially invite you to join for
Category Archives: 校長的話 / Principal’s Notes
NWCS Spring Week 14 – 06/07/2014
From: NWCS Principal <principal@nwcsny.org>
Date: 6/6/2014 9:34 PM
大家好，
首先，你們都應該非常高興，因為明天就是學校這學年的最後一天。這是一個不小的成就。我敬佩你的奉獻和努力也很為你感到驕傲！喔, 差點忘了說, 孩子們也做的不錯啦。哈哈 …
其實我們都知道, 今天如果沒有我們做父母的堅持及強迫，加上老師耐心的教導我們的孩子，幾乎是不可能達到了這一個里程碑。
明天，我們有一個非常忙碌的一天！
我們有期末考試！考試是讓老師們看孩子們到底吸收了多少。大家加油，祝大家好運！
我的老公跟我去皇后區法拉盛拿7盒獎杯。我們明天將分發獎杯給得獎者。今晚不要告訴孩子們，他們會過於興奮而無法讀書。 
我們的娃娃班和幼稚園班明天上午10:30在學校劇場舉行畢業典禮。我希望您們大家都能來祝賀他們。對小朋友們來說，這是他們得到的第一張文憑/證書。
我們的第三個小時的課程後就是學校年終大野餐！我希望你已經購買票了。如果沒有，請明天早上找Shuna Awong！你不要錯過這一年一次的與你北威的好朋友, 吃好吃的食物, 玩好玩的遊戲, 一起來歡迎美好的暑假！
明天早上九點準時見!
Hi Everyone,
First of all, you should all pat yourselves on the back because you have made it to the last day of Chinese School. That is no small accomplishment and I applaud you for your dedication and commitment. I am very proud of you! All of you! ….. Oh of course, the kids did a good job too. All kidding aside, we have reached another milestone, and it is not without the parents’ persistence and the teachers putting up with our kids.
So, we have a very busy day tomorrow!
First, we have the final exams! It is a way for the teachers to see how much of their hard work has been absorbed, so study hard and good luck to everyone!
My husband helped me pick up the 7 boxes of trophies from Flushing in Queens. We will be distributing the trophies to all the winners. Don’t tell the kids tonight. They will get too excited and not able to study.
Our Pre-K and Kindergarten classes are having their moving up day ceremony in the theatre at 10:30 am and I hope you will all come and congratulate them. For many of them, this is the very first of the many diplomas / certificates they will receive.
Last, but not least, after our 3rd hour class, we are having our year end picnic blast! I hope you have purchased your tickets. If not, please see Shuna Awong first thing in the morning! You don’t want to miss this once a year celebration with good food, good fun, and good friends from your NWCS family!
Vice Principal, Ms. Shuna Awong, wants to share the following info with you:
The location and direction are following:
Sprain Ridge Park, 149 Jackson Avenue, Yonkers 10705.
Get on the southbound Taconic Pkwy from Briarcliff Middle school.
Continue on Sprain Brook Pkwy.
Take the Jackson Ave exit in Greenburgh.
Turn R on Jackson Ave.
Continue onto Old Jackson Ave.
Slight L onto Jackson Ave.
The park entrance is on your L. Follow the sign for the “pavilion”. It is a short drive up the hill.
We will have a map and directions printed for those who need in the cafeteria.
Our Art teacher, Terry Taylor, also has books for you to purchase tomorrow and you can get it signed too!
See you tomorrow! Classes start at 9am sharp. Please be on time.
–
李宜蓉 Eileen Y. Lee
北威校長 NWCS Principal, 2009-2014
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GO NWCS!!!! Visit www.nwcsny.org
or email LearnChinese@nwcsny.org
NWCS Spring Week 13 – 05/30/2014
From: NWCS Principal <principal@nwcsny.org>
Date: 5/30/2014 8:19 PM
大家好，
歡迎大家回來學校。 不敢相信再兩個星期這學年就結束了。時間過得好快哦!
這個星期六是我們的年度學校開放參觀日。請大家告訴大家, 誠懇邀請大家明天來捧場。
下週六的期末考試和第三個小時的課結束後，請大家參加學校的年終野餐… 大家一起歡迎暑假, 同時利用這個機會跟我們北威的朋友說“再見” 。 副校長將在餐廳賣票。
我們網站專家，彭博士，在Google找到了新工作, 他們全家要搬到加州了。 彭博士一直熱心的幫助學校許多年，網站，文件管理和新的在線註冊流程體系。彭博士的太太也是學校的財務主管。我將購買一個告別和感謝的禮物給彭博士及彭太太。如果您有興趣的話, 請到餐廳來找我和簽名。
我想很多人都知道，我們有一個工藝美術導師。她叫Terry Taylor。 她的女兒從幼兒園 就在我們的學校。 Terry 最受歡迎的活動是畫臉 , 孩子們都非常喜愛。 她曾經代表我們學校參加一個活動, 她全天做臉部繪畫。 結果, 其他學校 也要 求她 到 他們的學校教。J Terry 有一本新書， 我想與大家分享。 如果您想在暑假期間 與您的孩子做些有趣的手工藝，請看看這本書。
明天早上九點準時見!
Hello Everyone,
Welcome back! I hope that you enjoyed the extra time last Saturday. Can you believe that this is the 2nd to last Saturday for Chinese School?
It is our Annual Open House tomorrow! Please spread the word! Invite everyone you know to come visit. The more the merrier!
Next Saturday after the final exams and the 3rd hour classes , we are having our Year End Blast Picnic. We will welcome the summer and also have a chance to say “See you again” to all of our NWCS friends.
See the message below from our Vice Principal, Shuna Awong.
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Don’t forget to buy your tickets tomorrow for our year-end picnic, which will be held next Saturday at Sprain Ridge Park from 12 noon to 3:30pm.
We can also use help setting up and grilling at the picnic or if you can bring (contribute) small items to the picnic, that will be greatly appreciated. Below are links for the parks and for signing-up to bring small food items.
For tickets and all other questions, please see me at the cafeteria tomorrow.
http://parks.westchestergov.com/sprain-ridge-park.
www.SignUpGenius.com/go/10C0A4BA4A928A7F94-nwcs
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Speaking of “see you again”, our webmaster, Charles Perng, and his family are moving to California. Charles has been hired by Google and he is moving his family to the West coast. Charles has been helping the school for many years, website, document management and the new on line registration process system. It is sad to see him leave and at the same time, we are very happy for his new endeavor. Charles is already in California for a couple of weeks while his wife, Sylvia, stayed behind with their kids to complete Chinese School and regular school until the end of June.
For those who are interested, I will be collecting to purchase a farewell and appreciation gift for Charles and Sylvia, come see me tomorrow and sign the card too.
Many of you know that we have an Arts and Craft class. Our instructor is Terry Taylor whose daughter has been with our school since kindergarten.
Terry’s face painting is the most popular event that the kids love. As a matter of fact, she represented our school at an event doing face painting and was approached by other schools to teach at their schools as well. Parents at other schools use her class to negotiate with their kids for going to Chinese School.
Terry has a new book that I would like to share with you. If you are looking for crafts to do with your kids during the summer, check this out!
See you tomorrow! Classes start at 9am sharp. Please be on time.
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北威校長 NWCS Principal, 2009-2014
——————————————————-
GO NWCS!!!! Visit www.nwcsny.org
or email LearnChinese@nwcsny.org
NWCS Spring Week 08 – 04/12/2014
From: NWCS Principal
I hope that everyone enjoyed the warmer weather this week. Although it was still a little cool in the morning, it was actually quite nice during the day … I almost forgot what a crowded street looked like … it had been empty for so long with all the snow that we had. Ahhh, it is all in past … let’s hope that the weather continues to get better and better!
I decided to give my class an open book quiz. My twins said “Man, I wish I had an open book quiz too!” I said you can open your tablet, your book, your dictionary, your whatever … but if you did not pay attention in class, it would not matter. Open book will only be easy for those who studied.
One of my 1B/Intro to Chinese Language class students, who happens to be Russian, told me she had a chance to speak Chinese during the week in her regular school. She said she had a substitute teacher in one of her classes, who was Chinese, and she went up to the teacher and said “I know how to speak Chinese!” The substitute teacher looked at her… not sure if she was kidding … My student said “Talk to me in Chinese then, if you don’t believe me!” I was getting nervous listening to her telling me the story, but at the same time so proud of her confidence. The substitute teacher said “你叫什麼名字？” I said to myself “YES YES YES, we practice that like every week in class, my student answered “我叫何娟娟”. She nailed it! I was beaming I am sure … I asked as soon as she finished saying her name in Chinese “What did your teacher say?” She did a famous Home Alone (movie) kid look, with two hands covering both cheeks, with a mouth open so wide … a shocking look … needless to say I was on cloud 9. She continued (there is more?) to tell me that the teacher then asked “你幾歲? “ and she answered “我十歲!” Now I put both hands up to my chin and did the Home Alone kid look too “Oh my goodness, I am so proud … but don’t forget to use the 2nd tone not the 4th tone for number 10, you are 10 years old, you don’t want people to think you are 4 years old”. The whole class was laughing but they understand the importance of the tones! I then asked her “Did you happen to tell her where you learned to speak Chinese?“ (I just can’t help myself) She said “Oh I forgot! I only told her that I go to Chinese school every Saturday!”. Oh well, maybe next time she will remember the name of our school.
Remember too, our Chinese Language Contest is coming soon. Originally we scheduled it for April 26, but it might conflict with some other activities, so it might be rescheduled to the following Saturday to give us all more time to practice! I will keep everyone posted. The lower grades will be a speaking contest and the higher grades will be a writing contest.
I know that some families might be traveling during the Spring break so I hope that everyone has a safe and wonderful break! As for my family, it is all about baseball! So much so, that this year my twins are both on 2 teams and my husband is the coach on both teams. Whoo hooo, I just can’t wait to go sit at game after game with all of my free time!
Speaking of sports … the Spring sports are gearing up and some parents have approached me and expressed the challenge of trying to accomplish both! This is a recurring theme every year and we, as parents, are all going through the same dilemma. Don’t worry, the school will work with you to come up with a solution that works for both. Remember, where there is a will, there is a way! So communicate with your teachers, and I am sure by working together, we can come to a workable arrangement.
See you all tomorrow! Classes started at 9am sharp. Please be on time.
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李宜蓉 Eileen Y. Lee
北威校長 NWCS Principal, 2009-2014
——————————————————-
GO NWCS!!!! Visit www.nwcsny.org
or email LearnChinese@nwcsny.org
NWCS Spring Week 07 – 04/05/2014
From: NWCS Principal
Date: 4/4/2014 5:55 PM
Happy April! It is great to start seeing kids coming out and playing sports on the somewhat still wet fields … but a little mud is not going to stop those energetic kids … but first save some energy for Chinese School though!
After last week’s email, some of you came up to me and said that you liked the message about the alumni visiting our school and some mentioned how cute the first graduating class students were … did you notice that they were all wearing suits and dresses?
Guess what, another parent, whose children are in the 1st grade and Kindergarten, shared with me that she too attended our school when she was little, in 1976. She remembered the New York Times did an article on our school in June 1977. When she told one of our board members, Francine, who is also an alumni, Francine suggested that she scan the news article and send it to me. THANK YOU, Carolyn and Francine, our two wonderful returning alumns.
I attached the article here: Chinese-Study-Their-Heritage-June-5-1977. It talked about how and why the school started some 45 years ago. At that time, most of the students came from Chinese Speaking families and they conversed in Chinese with their teachers. Times has obviously changed … but one thing did not change, as Carolyn pointed it out … the parents back then also expressed how difficult it was to get their kids’ butt out of beds on Saturday mornings (well, those are my words, the parents in the article were more graceful in expressing their “suffering”). Carolyn said the article resonated with her even more than others because she is still in touch with one of the families quoted in the article. Is that something or what! I am sure I can speak for many of you, hearing stories like these just makes us not only cherish its history, but also makes us appreciate the fact that we, as the parents, are doing the right thing for our kids … Besides the educational aspect of learning Chinese, the article also mentioned the friendships built during the years of spending Saturday mornings together. Just like the parents in the article, my family has met many people in the school and some have become good friends that we know we will keep for a long time to come. Our kids have also made some good friends since they were in Pre-K. My twins called them their buddies who they suffer with together every Saturday. I said “Whatever works, son!! Now go study some more like your suffering buddies are surely doing right now!” Anyway, I hope you will enjoy reading the article as I surely did.
Midterm for some classes tomorrow! Study hard and good luck to all!
Also one correction to the contest date! It is on Saturday 4/26/2014.
See you all tomorrow! Classes started at 9am sharp. Please be on time.
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李宜蓉 Eileen Y. Lee
北威校長 NWCS Principal, 2009-2014
——————————————————-
GO NWCS!!!! Visit www.nwcsny.org
or email LearnChinese@nwcsny.org
NWCS Spring Week 06 – 03/29/2014
From: NWCS Principal
Date: 3/28/2014 8:23 PM
This is the last Saturday of March! Time flies … we are almost half way through the semester.
Speaking of half way through, some parents were asking about the midterm date on the calendar. We currently have it for week 8, some teachers and/or parents thought it should be week 7. We typically would like to have the midterm exam when we complete half of the material, to assess where our kids’ progress. It is really the teachers’ call. Why? It is because they know how much the class has achieved and when to have the midway assessment. So either week 7 or week 8 is fine (as long as we don’t have a midterm both weeks, haha). Please don’t stress over it, just follow the teachers’ lead. I remember one year I said hi to a teacher in the hallway and I said “Midterm time, huh?” She said “Actually no, I changed it to next week because this weekend is Halloween, so I wanted the kids to be able to enjoy the holiday”. Being flexible is what I love about our teachers! That said, please confirm with your teachers which week is the midterm, and be sure to study for the right week.
So what else is happening in the next few weeks … a fun event for our students at the end of April. Our Dean already sent me the rules and I just have to add the English translations to it. I promise to send it out this weekend (by Sunday night?)
In May, our teachers will be attending an ACS (Association of Chinese School) conference to share and learn teaching tips and ideas. This is going to take place during the Memorial Day weekend. Our Dean will share the details with the teachers.
We will also have our General Meeting where we will be electing a few new board members. We need to add some new blood to the team to continue to generate new ideas and work together to make our school the best one in town, or in the country :-). So please come see one of us and find out more about how you can help. This is the 5th year that I am the principal for our school and I loved every second of it … but I am looking for someone who can take on this role … come talk to me and I will share my experiences with you. No pressure, just to chat! You know me, I don’t pressure anyone ….
As the principal, I have received many email messages over the years and recently, I received this email from one of the alumni, here is what she wrote:
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Hi!
My name is Julie Yao Cooper. My parents were one of the founding families of your school – that group of Yorktown IBM researchers! It is wonderful to see the school thriving after all these years. I still have many close bonds with my Chinese School classmates.
My mom just recently passed away. We are starting to plan a memorial service for her, and as part of that, I am hoping that some of the founding families will come back for this occasion in early May (probably Sunday May 4th).
It might be fun to arrange a visit to the school on May 3rd– would the school be open to having us come by, if some of us are interested? Also, do you have any alumni records? I am trying to track down some families, in relation to this event.
Regards, Julie
P.S. I don’t know if you have this, but I have attached a picture of our first Chinese class.
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I have to admit, I had tears in my eyes when I read the letter … (I attached the picture too, the first year graduates). I replied my welcome and thanked her parents for their effort in establishing the school some 45 years ago and today, my children benefited from their hard work. There is a saying in Chinese “前人種樹, 後人乘涼” It means our predecessors plant the trees and us, the successors, get to enjoy the shade from the trees. (One sows and another reaps). Doesn’t this make you want to do your best to continue our school’s wonderful tradition?
See you tomorrow! Classes start at 9am sharp. Please be on time.
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李宜蓉 Eileen Y. Lee
北威校長 NWCS Principal, 2009-2014
——————————————————-
GO NWCS!!!! Visit www.nwcsny.org
or email LearnChinese@nwcsny.org
NWCS Spring Week 05 – 03/22/2014
From: NWCS Principal
Date: 3/21/2014 9:47 AM
Spring is here! Spring is here! The snow is finally beginning to melt, so it is no longer icy white everywhere. You can actually see some green (or almost green, more like yellowish green) coming out of the ground! I am sure all of you welcome the warmer temperatures (like above freezing would be good) and it is finally here and hopefully it will stay for a while … however, my gang is planning to go skiing this weekend.
So what do we have for this Saturday? Teacher Parent Meeting is scheduled on our calendar. Please communicate with your teachers if you, or the teacher, are not able to meet this Saturday. Communication between the teachers and parents should be ongoing, so don’t wait until the scheduled Teacher Parent Meeting day. We scheduled it as a reminder to all. If you need some private time, please reach out to the teacher. I am sure it can be arranged.
One of the mothers in my class sent me a note saying her son wants to know if he has the homework pages correctly. I was so impressed that he actually asked for the homework, as it does not happen often in the Thomas house. Then the mom said he wants to finish it so he can have his game privileges…. A light bulb went on in my head (happens a lot with me by the way) and that is we need to be POSITIVE. My husband and I have been doing the opposite, “… you don’t finish this, you are going to lose that …” when we should be saying, “… you do this, and you will earn that … and what you earn is a PRIVILEGE, so cherish it with your LIFE”. Well, maybe not the last part …
I always love to hear parents’ experiences because I learn so much from everyone. A mom told me a while ago that when they first started Chinese School, she had to fight and argue with her daughter EVERYDAY, when her daughter came home from Kindergarten during the week. After snack, she had to force her to sit at the table to do her Chinese homework for 15 minutes. (Sound familiar, parents?) After about 3 weeks … one day she was about to yell at her daughter to wrap up the snack because she thought her daughter was prolonging the snack time … when she got to the dining table, there her daughter was, already had her Chinese homework out and actually was 5 minutes into it … WITHOUT the mom’s LOUD reminder. When she was telling me the story, I thought I saw something sparkly in her eyes, or maybe it was my imagination or maybe it was actually me who had tears in my eyes. THERE IS HOPE FOR OUR CHILDREN! All kidding aside, what I learned from this story is to “be consistent” and it will work. I mean, what parents enjoy yelling and screaming at their kids (ummm … uh … sigh … never mind), but the kids fight you because they are hoping you will give in, and many of us do. However if you stick to your position for a little bit, they will understand mommy and daddy mean business! That said, parents, we need to support each other while traveling down this Chinese Learning journey. We can do it! We can do it!
Our Dean is working on our Spring speech and writing contest rules and we will share with everyone shortly. The contest is going to be at the end of April. So have your kids start practicing their pronunciations and tones (for the lower grades) and writing, grammars, sentence structures (for the higher graders)! So stay tuned!
Order your lunch here so you do not have to cook and have more time to enjoy the beautiful weather!
See you all tomorrow! Classes start at 9am sharp. Please be on time (including the Principal, wink wink)
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李宜蓉 Eileen Y. Lee
北威校長 NWCS Principal, 2009-2014
——————————————————-
GO NWCS!!!! Visit www.nwcsny.org
or email LearnChinese@nwcsny.org
