On Thursday, February 19, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. Belen Jesuit will celebrate the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Sheep, with a special festive assembly in the gym. For this special occasion, the gym will be decorated with Chinese motifs and the students will have a taste of the ancient Chinese culture. About 20 leaders from the local Chinese community will join us for the celebration. Mr. Philip Wang, Director General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Miami, will present Belen Jesuit Preparatory School with a silk replica of the famous masterpiece «One hundred horses», painted in 1728 by the Jesuit Italian-Chinese painter Brother Giuseppe Castiglione, S.J. The original artwork is in the collection of paintings at the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Republic of China-Taiwan.
Five high school students from Taiwan who will be participating in Belen’s student exchange program with a Jesuit school in Taiwan will be in attendance. The students will arrive on Monday, February 9. During their two-week stay, they will be hosted by five families from the Belen community and will take classes at Belen. Our students in the new course “Introduction to Chinese Language and Culture” will benefit additionally from the exchange and will welcome the students. The teacher of the class, Mrs. Hsiao Chiu, who is also from Taiwan, will co-lead the Overseas Study Program tour of Taiwan this summer to further awareness of the Asian culture.
As part of this new exchange program, five Belen students will have a similar experience at our sister school, St. Ignatius High School in Taipei during our Spring break.
All faculty, staff, and Board members are invited to welcome our guests and rejoice in this new era of Belen Jesuit’s commitment to offer our students the best education possible in a global world.