To help overseas Chinese communities reconnect with the warmth of Lunar New Year traditions, the Fo Guang Shan Toronto Chinese School held the Joyful Spring Chinese School Volunteer New Year Gathering on January 31 at the Five Contemplations Hall. More than 80 volunteer teachers and family members came together to welcome the New Year through dumpling and wonton making, rolling sweet rice balls, a shared potluck, tea meditation, a gift exchange, and musical performances, creating a joyful and festive atmosphere.

Abbess Venerable Chueh Fan, also Principal of the Chinese School, shared that Fo Guang Shan’s overseas Chinese schools were established in accordance with the compassionate vision of Fo Guang Shan Founder Venerable Master Hsing Yun—to promote Chinese culture, integrate Buddhist values, and advance localized education. She extended New Year blessings and warmly welcomed teachers and families “home.”

The Abbess expressed appreciation to Academic Director Ms. Hong Liu for her dedicated leadership over the past two years, recognizing her role in nurturing a caring and supportive school community. She also affirmed the long-standing dedication of volunteer teachers and encouraged all to embody the “Three Acts of Goodness” in daily life, cultivating character and harmony while embracing the Master’s New Year blessing of “Harmony & Coexistence, Galloping Towards Success.”

The evening meal was prepared collaboratively, with dumplings and wonton soup filling the hall with warmth. Vegetarian dishes and teachers’ signature specialties were shared, while parents led families in making sweet rice balls, adding hands-on joy to the celebration. A gift exchange brought laughter throughout the room.

The program also featured tea meditation, dried fruit tasting, and musical performances, including a piano solo, a violin and flute duet, and a teachers’ chorus. The gathering concluded with the monastics leading the Song of Fo Guang Shan, expressing a shared aspiration to continue gathering in Buddha’s Light to support Dharma propagation and cultural transmission, bringing the New Year celebration to a meaningful close.

‍