On March 26, the Association of Northern California Chinese Schools (ANCCS) held its first in-person academic contests after three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Being in its 45th year, ANCCS has long held the tradition of holding yearly academic contests at schools throughout the northern California region. This year, the event was held at Sierramont Middle School of Berryessa Union School District.
VIPs in attendance included Director-General of Taipei Economic & Cultural Office in San Francisco Scott Lai, Culture Center of Taipei Economic and Cultural Offices in San Francisco (Milpitas) Director Sophia Chuang, Berryessa Union School District Superintendent Roxane Fuentes, and Sierramont Middle School Principal Carol Mar.
Director-General Lai told the audience that the results of students' mandarin abilities are not only due to teachers but also the hard work of parents following up with the education of their children. Director Chuang thanked ANCCS for helping ensure that Chinese heritage is passed on to the next generation. She noted that sowing the seeds of cultural education overseas is incredibly important.
45th ANCCS President Lisa Wang stated that there were sixteen contest categories with 466 contestants from 32 Chinese schools around the northern California region. The contests formally started at 1:30 in the afternoon, and results started being posted at four. The award ceremony kicked off at 4:30, featuring speeches from VIPS, performances, and of course, the awarding of trophies to the top three contestants from each contest category.
Other than ANCCS staff on-site, student volunteers and an assistant advisor from the Formosa Association of Student Cultural Ambassadors in the San Francisco Bay Area (FASCA SFBA) taped up maps and test site identifiers, set up chairs for the award ceremony, directed contestants, and taped up results.
Students, parents, staff, and VIPs in attendance added up to nearly a thousand participants at the event. It is incredible to see a long-standing in-person tradition being revived after three years, hoping to see many more years of ANCCS academic contests!
