The Alhambra Source is publishing the winning entries in its Storytelling Competition for Alhambra Unified School District elementary school students. This week, we publish Alisa Sambajon’s story, “Meet My Dual Immersion School.” Alisa, who attends Marguerita Elementary School in Alhambra, was the runner-up in the K-2nd Grade category.

We will publish the rest of the winners each Thursday over the next four weeks.

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“Meet My Dual Immersion School”

by Alisa Sambajon

My school, Marguerita Elementary, is special because there is a dual immersion program that teaches Mandarin. My school is also special because there are fun activities like movie nights, field trips, and cool fundraisers where parents can spend time with the kids.

In my school, if you are in the dual immersion program, you will have two classrooms, one in English, and one in Mandarin. I did not know how to speak or write in Mandarin before, but now I am able to. I can even talk to my friends in Mandarin. Because my classmates are learning how to speak in Mandarin, my school also celebrates Chinese culture. Every year, my school celebrates Chinese New Year and the Moon Festival.

During Chinese New Year, we celebrate the new year and the animal that the year represents. My classmates and I dance to Chinese music and sing songs in Mandarin to our parents. The Moon Festival celebrates the legend of a Chinese lady that goes to the moon because she ate food that gave her a very long life. My class celebrates by eating treats like Moon Cake during the Moon Festival.

There are a lot of fun activities at my school like movie nights, field trips, and fundraisers where my family spends time in my school. During movie nights, the kids go back to the school to watch movies in the auditorium with their families.

Last year, my family and friends watched Wreck It Ralph during movie night. It was a funny movie. The field trips at my school are always a lot of fun. One time, my class went to see a play called The Wizard of Oz. It was a long play, but I enjoyed the music, especially when the song, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” played.

The play was fun to watch with my class. The fundraisers at my school are a lot of fun, and families are able to help the school. My favorite fundraiser is the Jogathon. During the Jogathon, students run as many laps as they can to help raise money for the school. I like it when parent volunteers come to the school to cheer for my friends and me. Students win great prizes like being a principal for the day and getting class parties with pizza and ice cream. I’m excited to see what happens at the next Jogathon!

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Did you miss second-grade Park Elementary student Una Ibranan’s story “A Letter to a Friend”? Read the story here.