Mercer Island AAPI families connect with school district at community event

By Soyun Chow, For the Reporter

Mercer Island Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) families, community leaders and school district officials attended the Voices Heard Asian American Pacific Islander community event at China Harbor restaurant in Seattle on Saturday, October 22.

The event joined 217 AAPI families,18 Mercer Island School District (MISD) leaders and five community leaders for dinner and discussion about AAPI students. The idea for the event was formed by parent Sophy Yang, Mercer Island Schools Foundation Executive Director Tammy Shoop, Mercer Island School District Superintendent Fred Rundle, and Mercer Island School Board member Tam Dinh. Over 30 community volunteers joined together to create the event, which included festive decorations, lively music and dancing at the end of the evening.

After dinner, keynote speaker Superintendent Fred Rundle and School Board member Tam Dinh visited every table to connect with all attendees. The other keynote speaker, Judy Kusakabe, participated in the Lighting of a Diya in recognition of the festival of lights Diwali holiday.

The Masters of Ceremonies were Eunyoung Kim, 16-year Mercer Island resident and active volunteer in the school district; and Natalie Newcomb, MISD graduate and KUOW Weekend Edition announcer and weekday producer and reporter.

Mercer Island High School junior Grace Go created a video shown at the event, which highlighted the wide variety of educational pursuits and talents of students in our district.

“The theme tonight is Voices Heard,” Rundle said. “I want you to know that I both hear you, the Asian American and Pacific Islander members of our school district, and see you.”

Rundle noted some of the changes in the race and ethnicity demographics with students in the district over the past 10 years. In 2012, there were 18.6% Asian American students and now there are 27%. Ten years ago, there were 4.6% Multiracial students and now there are 13.7%. There are also 27 different Asian languages spoken amongst our students.

He gave updates on MISD services and goals of “creating conditions and offering experiences for every student to realize their potential and graduate with knowledge and skills to reach for their dreams in college, career and life. We can have K to 12 classrooms where students are both academically challenged and balanced, happy and healthy.”

Presenter Judy Kusakabe has lived on Mercer Island for 50 years and worked in the school district as an interim dietician and Special Education paraprofessional. For over 20 years, she has been speaking to students about her family’s experience of Japanese American incarceration during World War II.

“I began to gather and share stories because I believe that children and adults should learn about what happened in America so that it would never happen again,” Kusakabe said. “I believe that more people should stand up and have their voices heard. This is my voice and I want it to be heard by as many people as I can reach.”

Kusakabe also thanked administrators and educators for “creating an atmosphere of joy and kindness. I feel the warmth every time I walk into a classroom.”

She also thanked parents “for raising your wonderful children to be kind, respectful and compassionate.”

Attendees at the event were mostly parents of AAPI students, including Sandy Sun-Ha, 19-year Mercer Island resident, and parent of two students at Mercer Island High School and two students at Northwood Elementary School.

“The Voices Heard event was not only important to myself, but also to the rest of the AAPI Community of Mercer Island. Having all of us together made us feel that our voices could actually be heard by the Mercer Island School District and community,” Sun-Ha said. “Fred Rundle fully immersed himself into the event and parents felt they could get to know him and see that he is a parent, just like many of us are.”

She continued to say that the evening was shared with “not only our AAPI neighbors, but also the non-AAPI who support us. As Judy mentioned in her speech, it is not just about standing up for ourselves and ensuring history does not repeat itself, but also knowing that our neighbors will support us and stand up for us too. Words cannot describe the feeling of knowing we belong. We are stronger together.”

The event made a lasting impression on Sarah Heller, who moved to Mercer Island with her family from Hong Kong last March and was pleasantly surprised by how open and welcoming the community has been.

“It has also been wonderful to make contact with the AAPI community here and see the level of diversity in the schools,” Heller said. “Especially as a multicultural and multiracial family, it’s been reassuring to see that we blend right in.”

The event not only made a lasting impression on attendees, but important connections were made, including AAPI leaders working with the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) to improve outreach to AAPI families; and Mercer Island Schools Foundation and Mercer Island Youth and Family Services seeking more AAPI representation on their board.