About
A Pacific Islander is someone whose origins are from the indigenous peoples of the Polynesia, Micronesia, or Melanesia, or any other island located in the Pacific Ocean. In 1992 Congress designated May of each year Pacific Islander month. It recognizes the historical and cultural contributions of Asian, Pacific Islander, and Native Hawaiian peoples.
Ways to Celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Read a children’s book written by Asian authors, featuring Asian characters, or illustrated by Asian artists. PBS.org has a list of recommendations that you can choose from!
Visit a museum! If you live nearby an Asian history museum, it could make for the perfect family outing! If you aren’t ready to do in-person activities or don’t have one local to you, try the Asian Art Museum’s Museum from Home, or Google Arts and Culture offers a great round-up as well.
Get crafty! There are so many great crafts that you and your kids can do together that will provide you all with an opportunity to talk about the role they each play in Asian culture. Check out this list of fun activities.
Spend the night cooking together. Skip your normal go-to meal and spend time picking out a new dish to make in celebration of AAPI Heritage Month!
Lomani-Lee
AAPI Heritage Month Ambassador
Lomani-Lee is a 4th grader at Cottonwood of Fijian and Chinese descent. Her father is native Fijian or Itaukei and her mother is 2nd generation Chinese American.
Fun fact: Pacific Islanders are made up of Polynesians, Melanesians, and Micronesians. Fiji is a Melanesian nation made up of an archipelago of 300+ islands in the South Pacific.
Proudly Itaukei, a reference to the indigenous population of Fiji, Lomani-Lee has a rich culture rooted in the vanua or land of Fiji.
Being part of the Cottonwood School community allows them the flexibility in learning that they need in order to travel regularly to their second home in Fiji.
Deeply rooted in the Chinese community here in Sacramento, Lomani-Lee has the time to invest in her serious commitment to Kung Fu because of the flexibility in learning Cottonwood provides. Most recently, she won 3 gold medals at the Pan-American International Wushu Competition.
Here is a link to one of Lomani-Lee’s favorite Fijian desserts!