YACA contributes to the school by building community among Yinghua families, fundraising for students and parent education, and coordinating volunteer needs.
Used Uniform Sales
Used Uniforms can be donated at the Main Office. Pop-Up Sales are held two or three times each year in May and August. Items are sold for a suggested donation of $1.
Volunteers are always needed for the Used Uniform Service Team to wash and organize items. Sign up here!
Volunteers are also needed for Pop-Up Sales. Contact the YACA Community Chair at yaca-community@yinghuaacademy.org.
Spirit Wear
Get ready for Spirit Wear! Through YACA you can purchase unique Yinghua Academy (YA) clothing and merchandise for students, staff, and parents with a percentage of sales returning to the school! New merchandise can be ordered online on special occasions. And those at school on Fridays also may wear a spirit wear top and black uniform bottom.
EVENTS & FUNDRAISERS
MONTHLY:
Parkway Pizza Days – Every 4th Tuesday @ the Johnson St. location. 5% of sales go to Yinghua!
FALL:
- Confucius Day / Teacher Appreciation Day at Yinghua Teachers are highly regarded in Chinese society, and the Chinese consider Confucius to be a paragon of all teachers. Confucius believed in education without discrimination. As such, his birthday, September 28, also called Confucius Day, is celebrated as a teacher appreciation day at Yinghua Academy. On this special day, teachers are recognized and thanked for their contributions to their students’ lives and to the community at large. Here are templates children can use to create thank you cards for teachers: Thank you card 1 Thank you card 2
- The Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节, zhōng qiū jié) is held on the fifteenth day of the eighth month in the Lunar Calendar. The holiday takes its name from the fact that it is celebrated when the moon is at its fullest and brightest in the middle of autumn. The holiday is also known as the “Moon Festival.” Chinese believe a full moon is a symbol of peace, prosperity, and family reunion. Therefore, the date is also commonly referred to as the “Day of Reunion” and is a time when family members gather together to celebrate the festival. The ingredients of the pineapple mooncake include: pineapple paste, wheat flour, vegetable shortening, sugar, milk powder, and potato starch.
- Grandparents’ Day – One of the important cultural events at Yinghua Academy is our celebration of Grandparents’ Day (重阳敬老节) which is tied to the Chinese Elders’ Day celebration on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. This festival is also known as “Double Ninth Day,”(重阳节) and the date is special because the word for the number nine in Chinese is a homonym for longevity. Overall, the holiday encourages young people to respect their grandparents and elders. At Yinghua, we celebrate “Double Ninth Day” because we know that grandparents and other role models are critical to students’ success in school and in life. Families with grandparents living abroad or very far away are welcome to invite an elder family member or elder friend of the family, for instance, in lieu of a grandparent. We are not able to include Yinghua parents as guests unless a grandparent needs assistance for mobility or special needs or the parent is serving as an event volunteer worker. Click here for a parking map. In 2019 we invited grandparents to be a speakers in kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th grade classrooms and to be Grandparents’ Day Presenters in 5th-8th grade classes.
- Read-A-Thon – The 2019 Read-A-Thon ran over a fifteen-day period in October. Reading is one facet of this event and raising money is another. This is a fantastic opportunity to involve students in fundraising for our school. It’s amazing how generous grandparents, friends, family members and neighbors can be. Here’s how it works: We ask that students record their reading minutes and collect donations for fifteen days. We strive for 100% student participation, and hope that all students will reach the 450-minute mark. YACA recognizes reading and fundraising successes in three grade divisions: K-1st, 2nd-4th, and 5th-8th. All reading counts–Sunday comics in the newspaper, audio books, etc.!
- Book Fair – The Fall Book Fair is held in the school cafeteria during conferences. Stop by to browse a wide selection of books from Scholastic and Usborne booksellers, as well as Chinese books from China Sprout.
- Chinese New Year – Chinese New Year (CNY), also known as Lunar New Year, or “Spring Festival,” is an important Chinese holiday celebrated at the turn of the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar. At Yinghua, we put on excellent performances to celebrate this non-religious holiday.
- Kindergarten Chinese New Year “Encore” Performance – For several years the school has held an “encore” CNY performance by kindergarten classes. The purpose is to allow you to see the wonderful costumed acts once more, or to extend the viewing to more friends and family members since seating is limited at the main performances.
SPRING/SUMMER:
- Book Fairs – The Spring Book Fair is held in the school cafeteria during conferences. Stop by to browse a wide selection of books from Scholastic and Usborne booksellers, as well as Chinese books from China Sprout. Books in Chinese and English are available, and there are online ordering options. All sales benefit the school: Proceeds are used to purchase books and other items for the media center and to fulfill teacher wish lists for classroom libraries.
- School Tool Box Sale – Save time and purchase school supplies through School Tool Box. The Boxes are delivered to the buyer’s home in late August. Yinghua earns 4% per box.
- Field Day/Last Day of School – The last day of school at Yinghua is Field Day, a full day of school with lots of outdoor activities for students. Outdoor activities typically run from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., although classroom teachers may decide not to spend the full day outside. Lower School activities typically are held in the Northeast Athletic Fields, next to the school though Middle School students may walk to nearby Beltrami Park. Each class is typically assigned an Olympic country for the day. Parents are encouraged to attend as spectators and as volunteers!
- YACA General Membership Meetings typically occur in the month of May and include YACA Board elections and an update on YACA’s goals. Everyone is invited to attend. The 2018 guest speaker was Dr. Jules Nolan. Read her handouts on Social Emotional Learning and School Success.
- Dragon Festival at Lake Phalen in St. Paul
2019 Dragon Boat Team
2012-2019 dragon boat race pictures
Yinghua parents enjoy participating in the annual Dragon Festival at Lake Phalen. Yinghua encourages you to volunteer as a paddler or as part of the cheering crowd. Yinghua’s 2019 and 2018 teams earned 3rd place prizes, and the team has won the coveted spirit award several times.
ONGOING:
- Box Tops for Education – Clip and save Box Tops to earn cash for Yinghua. Find Box Tops on hundreds of products throughout the grocery store and online. Learn more and register at boxtops4education.com.
- Mabel’s Labels – Mabel’s Labels donates 20% of your total purchase to Yinghua if you designate us as your school.