MIHS ECAAR Club Visits Island Park and Northwood

Mercer Island, WA, October 22, 2024 – Members of the Mercer Island High School Education Coalition for Asian American Representation (ECAAR) Club visited Island Park on Monday and Northwood this afternoon to give presentations to all fourth and fifth graders.

The presentations by ECAAR students at Island Park covered several topics, including cultural foods and micro aggression, traditional games, Asian companies, K-pop, and East Asian music. Today at Northwood ECAAR students spoke about cultural foods and micro aggression, Asian companies, K-pop, iconic landmarks across Asia, and East Asian music.

This is the third consecutive year ECAAR, whose goal is to educate others about Asian culture and racial issues in our society, has visited at least one elementary school for a presentation.

“Each year, we have around five to six different topics for presentations,” said Cecilia Wang, one of two co-Presidents of ECAAR. “The topics change each year depending on what club members want to focus on. In the past, we have presented about Asian mythology, origami, and Pakistani pottery. No matter what the topic is, we try to make a presentation that aligns with our goals and have a fun relevant activity for the elementary students to enjoy.”

The presentations started in 2022 when ECAAR leadership decided to dedicate one of their three yearly projects to something that gives back to the community. Since most of the members of ECAAR attended one of the four elementary schools on the island and remembered how exciting it was for high schoolers to visit, choosing this project provided them an opportunity to serve the community they grew up in. 

“No matter the age, racial issues exist all around us. We hope that the kids who we present to can learn more about Asian culture and start to recognize the racial inequalities ingrained in our society,” continued Wang.

At least one member of ECAAR was in each fourth and fifth grade class at Island Park and Northwood as the presentations to students were done simultaneously in each school.