Crest Students Undertook Multi-Modal Examination of Asian American Experiences

Mercer Island, WA, November 28, 2023 – In October and November students at Crest Learning Center have been doing a multi-modal examination of Asian American experiences and history in the United States.

This examination has had a focus on how the history of Asian Americans reflects and shapes the larger history of America as well as the Seattle region specifically.

As part of this study, students took a field trip to the Wing Luke Museum on October 19 where they learned about the history of the Asian American experience.

Students also hosted a presentation and Q&A session with Judy Kusakabe, a Japanese-American woman incarcerated with her family in Camp Harmony in Puyallup and Minidoka in Idaho during World War II, on October 19. The presentation and discussion, which took place at Crest, was a very powerful learning experience for the students and staff who participated.

Crest students have been reading, analyzing, discussing, and responding to Thi Bui's memoir “The Best We Could Do”.

Students hosted a conversation on November 2 with four leaders from Make Us Visible WA as they built connections between the novel and the larger historical contexts of Asians in the United States. The four leaders that took part at Crest were Angela Bahng, Devin Israel Cabanilla,  Angelie Chong, and Nguyen The Anh.

Students also have self-directed assignments that help them explore different aspects of historical and contemporary experiences of other Asian communities in the United States. Students finished their study by conducting research and producing a creative group project related to an area of Asian American history that they wanted to highlight and explore further. This culminating group project was finished on November 8.