New Year, New Semester
Let’s welcome the Lunar New Year and the new semester with the powerful energy of the dragon! Read on to learn more about upcoming fun, informative FIT program events, resources, and information.
MESSAGE FROM THE FIT TEAM
Hi all! Welcome to all of the new students and welcome back to all of our returning scholars. We are so excited to bring you a new semester of meaningful and interactive events, workshops, and volunteer opportunities. The team reviewed all of your feedback from last semester and will bring even better events this semester. We hope that you are also looking forward to the Spring Semester and what it has to offer!
As always, Sabrina and Tiffany are always here to support you all, so do not hesitate to reach out to us through email at fit@sfccsc.org.
POLICY UPDATE
The FIT team strives to find new ways to improve our program and bring a better experience to all our participants. After reflecting on our current student handbook policies, we decided to adjust our rules regarding communications and strikes. Moving forward, the strike policy will only apply to credit workshops and volunteering events. This policy change also applies retroactively to any non-credit events missed this semester.
THIS MONTH’S FIT OPPORTUNITIES
🏮 Lunar New Year - Workshop 🏮
Join our first workshop of the semester, the Lunar New Year Workshop. This online workshop will happen on Saturday, February 3rd from 10AM - 11 AM on Zoom. In this workshop, you will get to learn more about different ways that cultures across the world celebrate Lunar New Years and participate in interactive activities.
This workshop counts for 1 FIT workshop credit. To sign up for this workshop, fill out the Google Form linked here.
🧡 GLIDE Lunch Helper - Volunteer 🧡
Volunteer as a lunch helper at the Glide Memorial Church to serve food for those in need. At this volunteer event, you will assist with plating food, sanitizing the work area, and handing out boxed meals, silverware, and drinks. Event details are listed below:
Time: Saturday, February 24 from 11:30AM to 1:30PM
Location: 330 Ellis St., San Francisco, CA 94102
This workshop counts for 1 FIT volunteer credit. To sign up for this event, fill out the Google Form linked here. After filling out the Google Form, you will receive another email from GLIDE within a few business days to sign up on their website. Please also complete the application on the website to fully sign up for the event.
LOCAL EVENTS
🐈⬛ Black Panther Free Screenings 🐈⬛
The Downtown SF Partnership is celebrating Black History Month, February, by holding two free screenings for the Black Panther movies. Black Panther will be screening on Thursday, February 8th from 6PM to 9PM, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will be screening on Thursday, February 15th from 6PM to 9PM.
Both of these movies will be screened at the Landing at Leidesdorff on Commercial and Leidesdorff Street, 94108. To get tickets to these screenings, visit this link for Black Panther and this link for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
🐉 Chinese New Year Parade 🐉
As one of the top ten parades in the world named by the International Festivals & Events Association, the Chinese New Year parade is the largest parade to celebrate Lunar New Year outside of Asia. It is also one of the few remaining night illuminate parades in North America. This year, the Chinese New Year Parade will be held on February 24th from 5PM to 7PM. You can enjoy the parade in person or through the television and appreciate the colorful pageantry of Chinese culture and tradition the parade has to offer. The parade will start at Second and Market Street, go through downtown past Union Square, and finally through Kearny to end in Chinatown.
RESOURCES
💼 Project Pull - Paid Summer Internship 💼
If you are interested in a paid summer internship that gives you the chance to work directly with mentors from the San Francisco City departments, then sign up for Project Pull! Project Pull is an 8-week-long program for high school students to build a foundation for success in college and their future careers. Interns will commit to 20 hours of work from Monday to Friday while gaining professional mentorship in STEAM jobs.
To be eligible for the Project Pull applications, you must:
Must be a current high school sophomore, junior, or senior
Live or go to high school in San Francisco
Have at least a 2.75 GPA from their last finished semester
The application deadline is Wednesday, February 14 by 5PM PST. For more information, visit this website.
🕊️ Human Trafficking Writing, Art, Music Contest 🕊️
The San Francisco Collaborative Against Human Trafficking is holding a writing, art, and music contest for human trafficking awareness. Showcase your creative talents to get a chance to win up to $500 in awards prizes. The contest is open to any middle or high school student attending school in San Francisco or the greater Bay Area. This year’s theme is “Invisible But Not Forgotten”.
The deadline for submissions is Thursday, February 29th at 5PM PST. For more information on the contest, visit this website.
🎓 10,000 Degrees - Maisin Scholarship 🎓
10,000 Degrees’ Maisin Scholars Program provides support for high school seniors to be ready and successful for college. On top of their summer workshop series that covers topics like school system navigation, scholarship and financial aid help, and connections to partner resources and programs, the Maisin Scholar Program also offers up to $3,000 annually for up to four years for 75 SFUSD high school seniors.
Priority deadline for the Maisin Scholarship is Saturday, March 2nd. For more information, visit this website.
⚡ PG&E Better Together STEM Scholarship ⚡
PG&E is offering Better Together STEM Scholarships for students who are pursuing full-time STEM education at universities within California. Students must also be residents of California and PG&E customers at the time of application. These scholarships are in the amounts of $2,500, $5,000, or $10,000.
The deadline for the scholarship application is Friday, March 15 at 1PM PST. For more information on the Better Together STEM Scholarship visit this website.
INSIGHTS
🧧 Lunar New Year 🧧
The Lunar New Year is a holiday observed in many parts of the world, with over 2 billion people celebrating the holiday across the world. It celebrates the second new moon after the winter solstice that signals the midpoint between the spring equinox and welcomes prosperity, abundance, and togetherness for the new lunisolar year. Listed below are some ways that countries celebrate the Lunar New Year:
Mongolia celebrates Tsagaan Sar with dishes made from dairy. The symbolism of the white color from the dairy indicates purification of darkness, just like how the moon does in the night.
Vietnam celebrates Tết Nguyên Đán according to the 12 zodiac animals assigned to each year on a rotating basis. These 12 zodiac animals deviate from the Chinese zodiac animals in that the ox is replaced with the water buffalo, and the rabbit is replaced with the cat.
Korea celebrates Seollal with a three-day public holiday, where people visit their families, wear traditional clothing called hanbok, and play traditional games like yutnori.
Philippines celebrates Tsinoy with sweet rice cakes called tikoy and lion dance troupes to get rid of bad spirits. As they dance, the lion dancers will grab angpao or red money envelopes that shopkeepers hang at their door frames.
💬 Quote of the Month 💬
Charity Cultural Services Center
731-747 Commercial St, San Francisco, CA, 94108
415-989-8224 | website: www.sfccsc.org | email: fit@sfccsc.org
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