Celebrating AAPI Heritage Month in the Classroom

Highlight AAPI contributions

It’s important to talk about racism against the AAPI community, but for AAPI teachers and students, the constant stream of harrowing news can be exhausting and traumatizing. “It’s really upsetting, seeing elderly Asians being targeted,” says Jane Fung (CA ’02). “It’s very disturbing to watch and it’s extremely sad that I live at a time in America that this still happens in broad daylight.”

That’s why it’s equally important to celebrate the AAPI community as well.

Teachers need to share AAPI accomplishments, joys, wins and successes. “My students need to see themselves in the classroom and the media,” says Jane. “If you don’t see yourselves in movies or see any celebrities or anyone in the public eye who look like you, you think, maybe, there’s something wrong with you or you’re not as desirable. As a preschool teacher, I want to bring in lots of my students’ families’ culture and be sensitive to their needs. I want to make sure they can identify themselves in the classroom.”

Whether you’re looking at science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), government, business, television and film or sports, there are countless AAPI heroes to celebrate in the classroom:

• Government: Asian and Pacific Islander Americans in Congress (United States House of Representatives History, Art and Archives) and Asian American Senators (United States Senate)
• Business: 40+ Asian-Owned Businesses to Support Right Now (Good Housekeeping), A Comprehensive List of Filipino-Owned Small Businesses to Support This Holiday Season (One Down), 21 Asian American-Owned Small Businesses You Can Support Today (Self) and 8 Local Businesses That Visitors Should Support in Hawaii (The Manual)
• STEM: Giants in History - Asia’s Scientists (Asia Research News)
• Music: 18 Asian Musicians to Listen To (Teen Vogue) and AAPI Heritage Month (Spotify)
• Sports: Notable Asian, Pacific American athletes and achievements (ESPN) and 7 Asian American sports trailblazers who changed the games (NBC News)
• TV and film: 29 Polynesian Celebrities Who Are Taking Over Hollywood (Buzzfeed) and Asian Pacific American Heritage Month: 9 Actors in Hollywood on the Books and Films That Inspired Them (Variety)

For more AAPI heroes:

• 16 Asian American Heroes Our Kids Need to Know About (Red Tricycle)
• 10 AAPI women you should know (but probably have never heard of) (Medium)
• 8 Asian-Americans We Can’t Overlook This Women’s History Month (Huffington Post)
• 8 Groundbreaking Contributions by Asian Americans Through History (History Channel)