Hi Alhambra!

My name is William. I am a student within the Alhambra Unified School District; as an Asian-American, I, like the 2 billion people in the world, celebrate Lunar New Year each year. The popularity of our Alhambra Lunar New Year festival shows that many people in our community also celebrate Lunar New Year, many of whom do not identify ethnically as Asian. So, I want to talk about something important for the community in AUSD and for Asian Americans in general.

Lunar New Year welcomes the spring season on the first new moon of the lunar calendar. It marks the start of a new year on the Lunar calendar. (National Museum of Asian Art). Each year celebrates an animal on the Chinese Zodiac, this year its the horse. Each animal corresponds with the year you were born and the zodiac repeats every 12 years. Lunar New Year is celebrated as a 15 day holiday where people decorate their homes with red lanterns, cleaning the house together, having a traditional meal with the entire family, and going to festivals where there are dragon dances and fireworks(Britannica), which creates a nice ambience for families and friends to gather together for celebration.

Every year, on the first day of Lunar New Year, many Asian American students in AUSD aren't able to properly celebrate one of the most important days of the year because despite the importance to a large portion of the community, they must attend school. I believe that all AUSD students and their families deserve the opportunity to celebrate this important holiday. I propose that the AUSD Board of education select the first day of the 15 Lunar New Year days as a school holiday. 51% of the population of Alhambra represents Asian culture and given that there have been difficulties with majority ethnic groups. Taking this day off will give many students a chance to reconnect with their roots and learn more about their culture, it will also give a chance for other ethnic groups to learn more about Lunar New Year, and promote cultural acceptance and knowledge within our community. Thank you for taking your time to read my Petition!

    Sincerely,

  William Yeap

Works cited:  

“Lunar New Year.” National Museum of Asian Art, 21 Jan. 2026, asia.si.edu/whats-on/events/celebrations/lunar-new-year-celebration/.

“Lunar New Year | Traditions, Legend, & Facts | Britannica.” Britannica, www.britannica.com/topic/Lunar-New-Year Accessed 22 Mar. 2026.