February 4, 2009 > Chinese New Year at Milpitas Community Chinese School Chinese New Year at Milpitas Community Chinese School By Dustin Findley Photos By Dustin Findley Milpitas Community Chinese School (MCCS) celebrated Chinese New Year for the first time at its new location. Now located at Milpitas Christian School in San Jose, right on the border with the city of Milpitas, the way MCCS celebrated was also new. The former location in Rancho Middle School had a stage, so the focus of celebrations past focused on performance. Without a stage, this year's celebration incorporated musical instrument playing, lion dancing, crafts, various activities, and a marketplace of traditional Chinese food prepared by the parents. The parents volunteered to make the food and donate all of the proceeds to the school. MCCS moved to the new location in 2008. Staff and board members are most grateful to Milpitas Christian School for their accommodations. MCCS is a non-profit organization, and most of the staff volunteer a great deal of their time for the school. The focus of the curriculum at MCCS is to teach Cantonese, what board member Michelle Koan said is "supposed to be the home language." The school teaches language and also serves to instill Chinese culture and heritage to the next generation. Koan said that most Chinese children speak English at home, so it's important for them to go to Chinese school every Saturday because the language takes a long time to learn. At the end of the celebration Principal Mable Li said that with all the people that attended there is a good chance that they will do this again next year.