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With the goal of promoting cultural awareness, the CCCNJ Youth Group is a welcoming gathering of young Chinese-Americans. Our parent organization, CCCNJ, supports the Chinese school teaching assistants and the Chinese Lion Dance troupe.

In addition to celebrating Chinese traditions, the youth group also participates in various social bonding activities to help reinforce camaraderie among its members.  The youth group is dedicated to educating the next generation about the immensely rich Chinese heritage and culture.

Youth group lion dance members meet every Saturday to practice and preserve the Chinese art of Mo Si, or the lion dance.  The lion dance is performed at many Chinese celebratory functions to bring good fortune and chase away evil spirits.  Our lion dance troupe is in great demand within the Chinese community, and every year, we are asked to perform at numerous venues to bring good fortune in the New Year. Other times, this dance is performed at weddings, openings or at heritage festivals.  The performers will need to work on different choreography based on the different celebratory events.  Performers will also be taking on different roles as dancers and musicians, working with traditional Chinese cymbals, gongs and drums.  The lion dance members need to have commitment and endurance in order to have a successful performance, but there’s lots of fun and team spirit.  Our past performances have included Chinese New Year festivities at CCCNJ and other locations, new business openings, weddings, senior centers, heritage events and even bar mitzvahs. 

 
 
 
Cantonese language classes are held every week for children of ages 5-12.  Each class has an adult teacher and one or more teaching assistant (TA), many of whom have completed their studies at the school.  Teaching assistants work with CCCNJ Chinese school teachers to help teachers and students succeed in their classes.  These young TAs may work one-on-one or with large groups of students.  They will learn communication skills, leadership, time management and teamwork.  In addition to helping assist the teacher, they will contribute by performing administrative work necessary to help our Chinese school be successful.  Our TAs contribute greatly of their time and effort to be of service to our school and community.