Schools to Celebrate Asian Pacific Month

The Los Angeles Unified School District’s Asian Pacific American Education Commission will kick off its annual Asian Pacific American Heritage Month celebration today.

In 1979, May was proclaimed the month in which Asian Pacific American contributions to American history are acknowledged.

This year’s celebration at 8:30 a.m. in the Los Angeles Board of Education’s office courtyard will involve a series of student musical routines, cultural booths and displays and a special song performance by actress Jennifer Paz, who stars in the play “Miss Saigon.”

Award to the winners of the commission’s annual essay and poster contest also will be given at the event.

In keeping with the theme, “A Tapestry of Cultures Weaving Our Future,” students from throughout Los Angeles County submitted essays and posters depicting how their cultural experiences add texture to the country’s expanding multicultural fabric.

From a pool of hundreds, 12 essays and 13 posters were selected as contest winners.

Additionally, 10 Asian Pacific American high school students will be honored by the commission for outstanding scholastic achievements. Of the 10, four attend schools in the San Fernando Valley: Grace Kwak, Insoo Suh and Vy Dinh Truong, all seniors at North Hollywood High School, and Esther Lee, a sophomore at Van Nuys High School.

The Board of Education is at 450 N. Grand Ave.. Admission is free. For more information, call (213) 625-6796.