Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Since 1978, the United States has celebrated Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month. For the 24.5 million people of Asian or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander descent living in the U.S., it’s a chance to celebrate their unique life experiences, traditions, and cultures, along with the many ways they've shaped this country. This article by Oprah Winfrey is a great explanation and shows the importance of this month: What AAPI Means and why AAPIHM falls in May.

During the month of May at MTS, the community put together a number of events and activities in celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (AAPIHM). This included a visit from author Oliver Chin to our Lower School, a multi-cultural snackfest organized by MTS parents, and displays around campus highlighting AAPIHM. The MTS librarian, Lisa Levin, also shared a virtual reading room with parents with recommendations on books to read by Asian American authors. While it is important to weave Asian American culture into the curriculum throughout the year, AAPI Heritage Month is a great time to honor the contributions of Asian Americans to our country.

Lower School Gather with Author Oliver Chin

Students loved the school visit with San Francisco based author and publisher of Asian children's books, Oliver Chin! He talked about what AAPI Heritage Month is and why we celebrate it with some interesting facts and statistics. He also highlighted his recent work, "Awesome Asian Americans: 20 Stars Who Made America Amazing," along with the Octonauts, and several other books he's written. Finally, he engaged students with several drawing contests, inviting volunteers to come up and draw something suggested by the crowd. It was a hoot!

Multi-Cultural Asian Snackfest

Parents of AAPI heritage in our community organized a fun "snackfest" representing food from many different Asian regions to give students a chance to taste and experience a variety Asian snacks. The snacks included mochi from Japan, red bean buns from Taiwan, choco-pies from Korea, Khakhara from India, rambutan from Vietnam, and spring rolls from China. Everyone enjoyed the wide variety of tasty snacks!

AAPIHM Displays on Campus

Parents volunteers put together a beautiful display in the library alcove highlighting a variety of Asian authors and inspiring individuals. Volunteers also organized displays in the covered courtyard with fun Asian American heritage challenges, such as matching characters from different Asian Heritage to English text or to a global map. Mandarin teacher, Vivan Dai, had students write different Chinese characters, and students also introduced themselves in different Asian cultures. 

A shout out to everyone who contributed to the AAPIH Month in May at MTS! Special shouts out go to: Pauline Aoki, Tiffany Chang, Vanessa Cheshire, Simon Cheshire, Ivy Chen, Vivan Dai, Nhien Doan, Sarah Einhorn, Enmi Kendall, Jonathan Kibera, Menden Kibera, Sarah Latif, Lisa Levin, Lucy Liu, Ann Le, Makiko Smith, and Reah Suh.