2026-02-06 Painting Lanterns to Welcome the Year of the Horse: Three Goodness Culture Illuminates the West Palm Beach Campus

The Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA) Miami Chapter partnered with the West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority (DDA) to co-organize the "2026 Welcome the Year of the Horse Lantern Painting Event." On the morning of February 6, Venerable Ju Yuan, Abbot of Fo Guang Shan Miami, alongside BLIA Miami Chapter President Yanhua Deng, led more than a dozen volunteers into U.B. Kinsey / Palmview Elementary School of the Arts. Together, they spent a warm and enriching learning morning with over 80 fourth-grade students, combining art, culture, and "Three Goodness" education.

This event marked the first time the Miami Chapter visited the school, as well as the first encounter with Chinese culture for most of the participating students. At the start of the event, volunteers introduced the origins and significance of Lunar New Year in a lively and engaging manner. They explained that the Spring Festival symbolizes leaving behind the old to welcome the new, family reunions, and hopes for a blessed future. Blending this with the "Three Goodness" philosophy, they guided the children to welcome the New Year with a good heart, bless others with good words, and give back to society through good deeds. Volunteers also demonstrated lantern painting techniques while explaining the cultural symbolism of lanterns as emblems of light, good fortune, and best wishes.

Using lantern painting as a cultural bridge, the activity encouraged students to freely express their imagination while learning about Lunar New Year and Chinese zodiac culture. The children focused intently as they picked up their brushes to paint the phrase "Happy New Year" and well-wishes onto the lanterns, alongside depictions of the 2026 zodiac animal—the Horse. Though the lines were childlike and simple, they were filled with innocence and vitality, lighting up hope and kindness with every brushstroke.

Many students shared that painting a lantern for the first time was a novel and fun experience. Completing their artwork brought them the joy of earned effort and mutual encouragement, allowing them to feel the warm power behind the motto: "Do Good Deeds, Speak Good Words, Think Good Thoughts." School teacher Jeanne Brown expressed sincere gratitude to the Venerable and the volunteers for coming to the campus to integrate Chinese culture, arts education, and character building. She noted that she looks forward to deepening future collaborations to create more learning and growth opportunities for students.

Sherryl Muriente, Public Realm Director for the West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority, stated that the students' completed lanterns will be hung among the trees and displayed at the "2026 WPB Lantern Festival" at the West Palm Beach Zen Garden on February 28, becoming a shared cultural landscape for the community. She warmly invited teachers, students, and parents to attend and witness the children's creative achievements together.

Through this campus lantern painting event, Chinese culture was brought to the school in a warm, tangible way. It also planted the seeds of the "Three Goodness" principles deep in the children's hearts—guiding them to practice kindness, cultivate good thoughts in daily life, and open a brighter chapter for multicultural exchange and social harmony.