Piute County School District,

Happy New Year! Though we still have to deal with some of the difficulties that started in 2020, we now have the opportunity to change our perspective. We can look at the current world problems from the angle of a new year. We can experience a pandemic and be morose or experience a pandemic and find reasons to be joyful everyday. Either way we have to endure a pandemic.

As mentioned previously we used to not celebrate New Years on January 1st and some countries still don’t. Many asian countries will celebrate the lunar calendar’s new year on February 12th. That new comes with one of the world’s most famous festivals, the Lantern Festival. The lantern festival has made such a mark on history as to inspire hundreds of similar festivals at differing times of year all over the world.

You may not have heard of the Yee Peng Lantern Festival, but you have most likely seen a picture of it. Around the time of the 12th lunar month in the city of Chiang Mai in northern Thailand thousands of tourists and locals purchase what are called sky lanterns; they then light and release the lanterns into the sky at the same time. 

The multitude of lanterns in the sky is an inspirational sight. The various lantern festivals attribute different meanings to the lanterns. Some see the releasing of the lantern as releasing something you want to let go of, similar to Lent for many christian denominations in the spring; many see it as an opportunity to send up a wish or goal that will reach heights closer to deity. The lantern release is seen as a symbol of good fortune in many cultures.

I wish each of you the best of fortunes this year. I challenge you to make it a great year regardless of any obstacles that are out of your control. At new year’s we frequently recommit to goals we have struggled with in the past. In addition to setting and achieving our own goals, let’s help everyone around us do the same. Let’s assume that every student has made a goal to be the most optimistic, hard-working, and diligent student in the school this year. Let’s help them achieve it.

As always, I’m grateful for your help in furthering the goals of the schools and the school district. Wishing you a happy new year and a happy week 19.

Koby