Edwardsville Elementary School Students Celebrate Lunar New Year with Giant Dragon Puppets

EDWARDSVILLE - Woodland Elementary School fourth graders celebrated Lunar New Year with giant dragon puppets.

On Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026, the entire Woodland student body gathered in the gym for a special presentation by Page Lee’s fourth grade class. Lee explained that her class has been learning about winter traditions and holidays around the world, and they wanted to do something special for Lunar New Year. Students created two dragon puppets and walked across the stage to demonstrate what they had learned.

“I think it’s really important for everyone to immerse ourselves, even if it’s uncomfortable or even if it’s different,” Lee said. “It's really important for everyone to just learn about it. You don’t have to agree with it, but it’s exciting and it’s fun to always broaden our learning experiences and learn something new. It brings us closer together, too, and I think that’s what has really meant a lot.”

Lee noted that her class read passages and watched videos about Lunar New Year. When she asked them what they wanted to do as a project, the students came up with the idea of making two life-sized dragon puppets in red and gold to symbolize luck and prosperity.

While the creation of the puppets was “chaotic” at times, Lee decided to “trust the process” and give the students full creative control. She helped them use the hot glue gun, but otherwise, the kids did everything by themselves.

On Feb. 17, the schoolwide morning meeting started with a speech by Lee’s students to explain what Lunar New Year is and why people celebrate it. Then, the students presented their puppets and bowed to their classmates as a sign of respect.

Lee pointed out that a few Woodland students celebrate Lunar New Year with their families, and she hopes the presentation allowed them to “feel heard and seen.” She shared that she grew up in a small town without much exposure to other cultures, so it’s important to her to share these experiences with her students.

“I realized there was so much more to learn, and I wanted to bring that into the classroom,” she said. “We have so many different kids that I interact with, and they teach me so much. Everyone needs to learn about these different cultures.”

Last year, a few of Lee’s students who celebrate Ramadan shared a presentation with the school about the holiday and what it means. Lee believes moments like this encourage the entire school community to come together. She hopes the Lunar New Year presentation sticks with her kids and pushes them to learn more about the world.

“It's important for us to understand and recognize that it’s okay to celebrate different things, but also to educate ourselves on it so we can truly understand the meaning of it. The kids have loved it. The parents have loved to see their students understanding and learning new topics and different cultures,” she added. “It's really exciting to celebrate all together as a Woodland family.”