Supporters of Lunar New Year holiday rally before Quincy School Committee meeting on May 20, 2026. Photo by Lisa C. Johnson.
It finally happened! Tonight the School Committee for Quincy Public Schools unanimously voted to make Lunar New Year a holiday for the students!
The push for the holiday started with students five years ago. And it finally paid off.
The Quincy community showed up again and spoke in favor of the holiday. From students to grandparents and all in between. There was an overflow room for all the people that attended.
Supporters of Lunar New Year holiday line up to speak at Quincy School Committee Meeting on May 20, 2026. Photo by Lisa C. Johnson.
One of the student advisors to the School Committee spoke about how he does not celebrate Lunar New Year, but he knows that it’s it important to his fellow students. He mentioned that so many students take the holiday off that nothing new is started by teachers that day, so they often end up with busy work.
He talked about the importance of students being able to spend time with their grandparents on Lunar New Year. Just like he cherishes the sixteen Christmases that he was able to spend with his grandparents. Especially since he recently lost grandparents.
After everyone spoke, the Committee went into an Executive Session to meet with counsel, so we all had to leave. After about a half an hour, we were called back in. New School Committee Member Tom Leung read a statement into the record about the long road to this vote. Then the voting began!
It all happened so quickly that I think we were all a bit stunned. Finally it passed! It makes me feel good that Quincy is on the right side of history. With this being our nation’s 250th birthday, it’s about time.
Quincy School Committee meeting on May 6, 2026. Photo by Lisa C. Johnson.
This past Wednesday evening, I attended my first ever school committee meeting. I don’t have children, so it’s not the type of thing that impacts me directly. But as a longtime resident of Quincy, I am interested in issues that impact Quincy at large. Especially when the issue relates to fairness, inclusiveness and respect. Several people told me about the meeting and urged me to go. So I was happy to attend.
Quincy Public Schools “recognize” Lunar New Year as a cultural holiday, but schools remain open. However, Good Friday is a holiday where schools are closed.
Quincy is approximately 30% Asian and the percentage of Asian students in Quincy Public Schools is close to 40%. In some schools, Asian students are the majority. For years, many Quincy residents have been trying to close the schools on Lunar New Year and have it truly recognized as a holiday.
Quincy School Committee meeting on May 6, 2026. Quincy residents lined up to speak in favor of Lunar New Year becoming a holiday for Quincy Public Schools. Photo by Lisa C. Johnson.
At this point, I can’t understand the opposition to the holiday. It seems like disrespect at best. And at worst, it feels like blatant racism.
While this would be a school district holiday, it reminds me of the decades long fight to make Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday a federal holiday. There was so much resistance!
But Quincy residents are not discouraged. They are galvanized. People wrote letters. They showed up at this meeting and stood in line to speak.
Many spoke about how Lunar New Year is the most important holiday of the year to many different Asian groups. It’s not just Chinese New Year. Many added that for Asian kids, going to school on Lunar New Year would be like going to school on Christmas Day. It’s unimaginable.
Lunar New Year is a full day with extended families gathering — going to temple, eating special foods, wearing traditional garb, red envelopes, and the passing down of culture from older generations to the next.
Several grandmothers spoke about missing time spent with their grandchildren because they had to go to school. Parents take time off from work to celebrate with their families. So for the children to miss out is hurtful to families. And hurtful to the children themselves. How much time do most children have to spend with grandparents? That time is so limited. You can’t get it back.
It was not only adults speaking either. There were two children who spoke in favor of schools closing on Lunar New Year. A girl and a boy. I think the boy said that he was 11 years old.
He spoke calmly and came out of the gate running by talking about the Chinese Exclusion Act. He mentioned that this day, May 6th, was an important date because it was when the Act became law. And how he was so sad when he learned about it.
Then he spoke about how he is Chinese Vietnamese and feels excluded because his holiday is not truly seen. He has to choose between going to school or spending the holiday with his family and that it isn’t right. He received a standing ovation. The next generation is ready.
People spoke about children’s attendance record being impacted and that sometimes most kids in classrooms would not be there on the holiday. That impacts everyone to not have full class participation.
After everyone spoke, the committee decided to table the vote for two weeks because they needed input from legal counsel. The vote should take place on May 20th. I hope to be there.
If you’re looking for a good book, I highly recommend Ina Garten’s memoir, “Be Ready When the Luck Happens.” I truly enjoyed it and felt inspired enough by it to write this post. It’s one of those books where you’re sorry to see it end. But luckily, Ina Garten aka “Barefoot Contessa” is still around and we can enjoy more books from her and her wonderful recipes.
While reading, I was reminded that when my friends and I cooked for our dinner club, Ina Garten’s recipes were a group fave. And reading about her life made me like her even more!
It’s so interesting how when looking back over a career, the parts of it usually seem connected and even inevitable. But when you see how decisions were made and things happened in real time, it can seem quite random.
Her career was definitely not inevitable at all. If she weren’t so brave, curious and up for any challenge, things could have gone in a million different directions.
She was a policy wonk in Washington, D.C. before deciding to randomly buy Barefoot Contessa, a specialty grocery shop. She always loved food and entertaining and worked extremely hard on whatever captured her attention.
One of the things that I loved most was how she would always go back to a favorite saying by her husband, Jeffrey. “You never know your good breaks from your bad ones.” What seems like bad luck at first, can end up being good. And the opposite also holds true. We never know until some time passes.
Reading this book makes me want to get her first book, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, which celebrated its 25th Anniversary, with updated recipes!
And speaking of anniversaries, today is my 20 year blogging anniversary! While I don’t blog as much as before, it’s pretty wild to think about all that has happened in 20 years. It’s truly a different world.
This is a picture of my mom from a Christmas past. I’m not sure which year, but it was probably at least 15 years ago.
Today would have been my mom’s 86th birthday, but she passed away this past October 25th. It’s still surreal to not have her around. To not be able to talk to her. We were so close.
Last year was especially difficult for my mom. She was in and out of the hospital and different rehab facilities. On repeat. But she always kept her same sense of humor through it all.
This past holiday season was the first one without her and the firsts without her will continue. I struggled to find this picture and to write a title for this post. I struggled to write her obituary.
It feels strange to write this blog post, because I haven’t blogged since May. When my father died, it was really hard. But I still had my mom. And that made a huge difference. Now they are both gone.
I still have my brother and lots of family and friends, so I’ve had a lot of support. But things will never be the same after losing both parents. I have a ton of wonderful memories and they instilled in me a love of life. So I’m looking forward to the next chapters of my life. But I’m still mourning the previous ones.
Guess who’s teaching another class? Me! Except this time, instead of teaching sconebaking, I’m teaching plant care. Since I started selling plants, it seemed like a fun next step.
