By Caroline Andrade
There were only Halloween treats to be found the morning of Thursday, Oct. 31, at Academy of Art University’s 701 Chesnut St. location, as the university opened its doors to some special trick-or-treaters. Greeted by Mike Petricca, James Holman, and Precious Neil from the Academy’s Campus Safety team, 20 kids from the Chinatown Community Children’s Center (CCCC) received special treat bags filled with art supplies from the Academy and Blick Art Materials upon asking everyone’s favorite Halloween question: “Trick or treat?”
“The kids enjoyed [the event],” said CCCC teacher Jenny Huang, who shared that it was the first time the children had visited the Academy. “They really liked the art and presents. Some of the materials are not common materials they see, like the pencils to write and draw. … The children are eager to try out the [Halloween treats] and use them.”
The CCCC was founded in 1972, and the organization is dedicated to serving low-income families and supporting early childhood education, from two to five years old, according to CCCC teacher Rudy Lam. “We promote cultural identity, and are a trilingual school that teaches English, Mandarin, and Cantonese to [provide] language support,” added Huang.
“[We] also support children whose language is Chinese to learn other languages and also, children who don’t have a Chinese background to help gain knowledge of the Chinese language. We empower children and families to enhance their cultural assets and pride so that they can be successful in the future.”
The kids weren’t the only ones in the Halloween spirit that morning. “I had a blast! It was really exciting and rewarding to see the kids’ faces and how happy they were,” shared Holman. “It’s hard to believe that we were all that small once, but for a brief moment, it brought me back and rehashed some good memories from my childhood.”