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Chinese language:
Selected compositions by 2010 graduated students (G6 and G9)
I love Kwong Kow Chinese School
Fall 2009, Hannah To, 4th Grade Student
 My name is Hannah To. I am nine years old and a fourth grade bilingual class student at Kwong Kow Chinese School in Miss Ye’s class. I am also studying Chinese dulcimer and Chinese drum with Mr. Zhang Zhentian.
I have studied Chinese at Kwong Kow School for about five years. I still remember when I first enrolled in kindergarten we were still studying in the old school site at 90 Tyler Street where a statue of Confucius is placed in front of the School building. It was inspiring to see the statue of Confucius while studying Chinese at the School. As my father told me Kwong Kow Chinese School was founded in 1916 as one of the oldest Chinese language Schools in the United States which had more than ninety years of history. Over the years the School has graduated generations of students with great accomplishments. After moving to the current School Building in 2008, Kwong Kow is the only Chinese language school which owns it’s building, a fact that every student should be very proud of.
Every teacher in Kwong Kow has been very kind, caring, and patient towards me. My teachers have taught me everything from learning to write the first Chinese characters to learning composition, reciting poetry, and reading story books in Chinese. Even my grandparents in Hong Kong are proud of my progress of learning Chinese language as an American-born grandchild.
Another rewarding experience is to learn Chinese dulcimer with teacher Zhentian Zhang. Teacher Zhang has offered his meticulous attention and warm encouragement to teaching my dulcimer skills which has greatly enhanced my interest in this musical instrument. I feel very fortunate to be able to learn from such a loving and wonderful teacher, and very honored to be able to perform on the stage with Teacher Zhang in different occasions for the School. I’ll continue to work hard on playing the dulcimer to express my gratitude to his teaching.
I am also grateful to my mother for driving me to study at Kwong Kow School from the suburbs for long distance every weekend. I shall endeavor to work hard to study Chinese to show my gratitude to my parents.
From Our Heart
We are a group of Chinese young people who are born and raised in the United States. To continue our mission of spreading Chinese culture, the Boston Chinese Drum and Dulcimer Ensemble has spent sixteen years captivating audiences worldwide. Established in 1994 under the sponsorship of the Kwong Kow Chinese School, we have studied under the tutelage of Professor Zhentian Zhang, learning traditional music on the Chinese Hammered Dulcimer and Chinese percussion instruments. We study not only music but also the history behind each piece which we have propagated through performances and workshops to audiences locally throughout New England, nationally in Hawaii, California, and New York, as well as internationally in China, Taiwan, Germany, France, and England.
Throughout these experiences, we have developed lifelong friendships through teamwork and collaboration through mutual respect. Under the leadership of the Kwong Kow Chinese School, we developed a responsibility to our community, teacher, ourselves, and have given back in-kind by supporting school and community events.
Although each of us has numerous responsibilities, we are dedicated to the ensemble and devote hours every week to coming together for learning and improving our musical talent. Being members of the ensemble gives us the opportunity to hone our skills, learn about leadership, perseverance, and the importance of individuality in the context of an ensemble. Growing up together has helped turn our passion for Chinese music into a desire to become cultural ambassadors of our generation. We hope our dedication will inspire future generations.
We would like to thank Zhang Da Ye for his patience, time, and dedication to teaching us over the years. WE LOVE YOU!
My Learning Experiences in Kwong Kow Chinese School
By Susanna Liu
 I’ve been asked to share some of my experiences of being at Kwong Kow Chinese School. I can’t believe it’s been a little over 10 years since I’ve graduated, and over 5 years since I’ve moved to New York and left the Boston Chinese Dulcimer Ensemble, but the lessons that I’ve learned are still very vivid in my mind and still play a big part in my everyday life.
I literally grew up with Kwong Kow Chinese school. From, the time I was a kindergartner to the summer I graduated college, I was dedicated to learning Chinese characters and culture. Not only did I attend reading and writing classes, I also participated in Chinese traditional dance, then, studying the Chinese hammered dulcimer.
To me, being at the school was more than just memorizing characters, or playing Chinese music. It was about learning my heritage. Believe me, when you’re a young child, it wasn’t easy when all your friends were relaxing on the weekends, and you had to go to even more school. Although my parents have told me a million times that I should learn more about my culture and never forget the language, persistence was another story. I was so grateful for my parents who gave me their unconditional love, encourage me and accompanied me to go to KKCS under any circumstances during the weekend and holidays for more than then years. As time went by, I eventually began to realize the importance of it all. I was constantly seeing examples of peers who, to my surprise, could not speak the language of their parents. Even more importantly, I met adults who had grown up not speaking their parent’s language and regretting it. This made me realize that the threat of losing your heritage or not even knowing it in the first place is very real. So needless to say, I kept attending Chinese school weekend after weekend to absorb as much as possible.
The experiences from Chinese school are not limited to the classroom. As part of the Boston Chinese Dulcimer Ensemble, I accomplished many things. I was the first American-Born Chinese in Massachusetts to record a Chinese dulcimer CD and I was extremely fortunate to have been able to travel worldwide and perform. These experiences were invaluable to me. How many high school kids can say that they’ve been in various press conferences worldwide? How many high school kids can say that they’ve performed for the mayor of Taipei that would later on become the President of Taiwan? Through these experiences, I have learned confidence and poise. I got to see, first hand, the places in China that have inspired the very musical pieces that we perform. I’ve experienced a sense of pride that can only come with sharing with others the knowledge of a beautiful, thousands of years old, culture. One of the beauties of American society is that it is a melting pot. The way it works is for everyone to share his or her own heritage and Kwong Kow Chinese School has given me the means to accomplish this.
From learning Chinese calligraphy to learning Chinese fairy tales and fables, from learning responsibility and time management to learning stage presence and how to articulate your thoughts in interviews, being a part of this school has shaped my life in so many ways. I’m extremely grateful to my parents again and my teachers at Kwong Kow Chinese School for who I am today. In particular, I would like to extend my heartfelt thank to Prof. Zhang, my dulcimer teacher for his excellent teaching, his high expectation, and himself as a model of a good human being for me to follow for my life time. I’m extremely happy to see Kwong Kow Chinese School is still going at it, 93 years strong, and still changing the lives of their students.
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Students at KKCS
Students' Work Display
