Ms Shannon Chamoun's art students present parades with Japanese symbols

   Everyone loves a parade, and Pre-K through 6th grade students at St. Joseph Elementary and Middle Schools witnessed one last week thanks to art teacher Shannon Chamoun. Her classes had been learning about a traditional Children's Day festival in Japan held on May 5. It's the culmination of what the Japanese call "Golden Week" which may be a kind of Spring Break for workers and local businesses. Streamers or windsocks resembling fish and dragons, known as "Koinobori", are allowed to flutter in the wind while carried through the streets. Middle School art students tried to duplicate this custom for Elementary School children with their own colorful creations on May 5. Elementary School art students did likewise for Preschoolers on    May 7.
    Artwork like this is seen throughout Japan as a way of promoting hope for children to grow up healthy and strong. The Koinobori usually represent koi fish because they're considered the most spirited type, full of energy and power, which are traits parents desire in their children. The dragons come into play because the streamers pay homage to a myth about a golden koi fish that swam up a waterfall at the end of a river and became a dragon.