The Anaheim Union High School District established the very first Korean-American Ethnic Studies class in United States history, granting students the opportunity to learn about a history never taught before.
Founded by civic lead instructional coach, Dr. Jeff Kim, the Cambridge Virtual Academy class began in fall with 41 students from high schools across the Anaheim School District enrolled. The students virtually meet with Dr. Jeff Kim an hour each week from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The course is divided into five parts: “My Story,” reading “Korean Americans: A Concise History,” observing Korean American stories of resilience, as well as contributing to a virtual museum and civic engagement piece. The students begin by learning about their personal cultural background.
“Many of the students are also Korean American, so they could have a chance to learn about their own Korean American story of resilience many may not even know. I want them to realize that they have a story of resilience even before we began.” Kim said.
Kim hopes that by learning more about their stories and heritage, students will feel more connected to the class.
In the second part of the class, students will read “Korean Americans: A Concise History” written by Edward Chang, the first book to cover the Korean-American community in 1903. In the third part, students will have an opportunity to meet with influential Korean-American figures such as World War II Colonel Young Oak Kim. In the fourth part, the students’ work will be put into a virtual museum, where it will be kept as a piece of history. For the final part of the course, students will have a chance to work on a civic engagement piece to spread their unique stories to other communities.
With the rising amount of hate crimes against Asian Americans since the pandemic, Kim noticed his students feared the violence and their futures. He felt the need to take action and was therefore inspired to create the course.
“I didn’t want to respond out of anger and fear. I wanted to respond out of love and wisdom,” Kim said.
Kate Park, a freshman at Oxford Academy who is currently enrolled in this course, expressed how she felt welcomed in the class.
“As a Korean American myself, I feel like I am being able to learn more about not just myself, but about others who share similar backgrounds or identities,” Park said, “Through the work, I feel like I was always encouraged to share my thoughts and be very open to whatever I thought. I think that is great because the freedom to express myself is so open and I can sense that no one is judging me.”
Being the very first Korean-American Ethnic Studies in the United States marks a new era of exploring heritages, not only for Korean-Americans but for other Asian American communities too.
“I see this as paving the way for other Asian American ethnic classes. It is going to shape how teachers teach because they will see our work products and have a ripple effect on their teaching habits.” Kim said.
