YES Prep West

YES Prep Public Schools is one of the few educational organizations in the US that I am aware of who are actively engaged in advancing social justice. One aspect of their work in particular is supporting and developing their students' identities through Affinity Summits. These annual summits are organized by teachers who volunteer their time to develop a one-day program of workshops and activities for students to build relationships and self-confidence.

During my first year at YES Prep West, I noticed there was no affinity summit for students who identified as Asian and Pacific Islander American (APIA). Realizing this missed opportunity, I reached out to and collaborated with the YES Prep Head Office to organize the first APIA affinity summit on May 2017 during the Asian/Pacific Islander American Heritage Month. Students, teachers, and staff who identified as APIA got together to discuss issues unique to the APIA experience, such as the model minority myth and (mis)representation in the media. In addition, students learned about the APIA history that is seldom taught in general history classes.

I thoroughly enjoyed planning the summits. I learned a lot about the Asian-American experience that was unknown to me given my upbringing. As a third culture kid I didn't strongly identify with my Chinese nor with my American background. I have always heard about certain Asian-American issues through the media, such as the model minority myth. But other aspects of Asian-American issues were completely new to me, such as the internment of Japanese Americans during WW2 and the Chinese Exclusion Act.

In July 2017, three of my colleagues and I were accepted into the highly competitive Hollyhock Fellowship program at Stanford University. Organized by the Center to Support Excellence in Teaching, the two-year long program "...welcomes high school teachers [in English, math, social studies and science] from across the country who are interested in deepening and developing their content-specific instructional practices and creating equitable access and opportunities for all learners in their classrooms."

During the summers of July 2017 and July 2018, I met with other science teacher fellows at Stanford to learn about new and improve upon our existing pedagogical methods. After the summer workshops, during the academic year, I worked with a coach individually and with another science teacher fellow in "content clusters" to apply the methods learned during the summer into my classes on a monthly basis. My coach and content fellow provided feedback from video recordings of my classes that focused on applying one particular pedagogical method. In addition, I worked with my colleagues on a project aimed at increasing equitable learning at our school in particular our special education students.