[中文版本]

———With the primaries imminent, seven candidates for the Montgomery County Board of Education shared their campaign philosophies at Thomas Wootton High School to garner support from the Chinese community.

May 14, 2024, is the primary election day in Maryland. The election for the Board of Education, the responsible leadership and supervisory body for the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) system, is in full swing. Children's education and the quality of public schools have always been top concerns for Chinese parents, who have high expectations and demands for local education. The candidates for the Montgomery County Board of Education pay great attention to the increasingly populous and socially active Chinese community. On the evening of May 4, at the Thomas Wootton High School cafeteria, seven candidates for the Board of Education participated in a forum hosted by the Montgomery County Chinese Parents Association, Wootton PTSA, Chinese Culture and Community Service Center, Calvin Li Foundation, and Chinese American Parent-Student Association. The candidates addressed issues of concern to Chinese parents and students, outlined their campaign philosophies, and sought support from the Chinese community.

The candidates, including Lynne Harris and Rita Montoya (At-Large), Brenda Diaz, Ricky Fai Mui, and Matalie Zimmerman (District 2), Shebra Evans, and Laura Stewart (District 4), attended the forum. The meeting was moderated by Dingmei Zhou, co-founder and former president of the Montgomery County Chinese Parents Association, who posed questions to the candidates on behalf of Chinese parents. The Chinese parents actively participated, listening attentively to the candidates' campaign philosophies and submitting questions to the candidates on paper slips.

Thomas Wootton High School has a high percentage of Chinese students. In recent years, the school has received multiple bomb threats, and its facilities are relatively old. School safety and the repeatedly delayed renovation plans are major concerns for Chinese parents. Lynne Harris, the current incumbent elected in 2020, responded by saying the Board is focused on gradual renovation projects due to legislative and financial barriers to obtaining full renovation funding. However, they are still actively striving for it. Meanwhile, they are enhancing school safety measures, such as installing cameras and conducting quarterly assessments, to ensure effective responses to emergencies.

Rita Montoya, another candidate, said that as a mother who sends her children to school every day, she is most concerned about their safety at school. She believes this is a core issue the Board must ensure and prioritize. She emphasized the need to re-examine existing policies and attract more partners and resources for upgrades rather than waiting for problems to arise before taking action. This would be her top priority if elected.

Brenda Diaz pointed out that Poolesville High School had similar issues in the past but has since resolved them. She noted the safety hazards in Wootton High School's gym, fitness center, and restrooms, which need immediate attention. She would visit the school to understand the situation better and implement effective improvements.

Moderator Dingmei Zhou asked about the inclusiveness and cultural sensitivity of the public school curriculum. She said, "Identity is crucial for the well-being of every child. How do you plan to ensure that the school curriculum includes the history and contributions of Asian Americans and other minorities? Do you agree this impacts the mental health and identity development of Asian American students?" Laura Stewart responded by highlighting her efforts to promote a bill in Annapolis and across the state to reflect our diverse society's history, including Asian Americans. She believes it is essential for every child to learn about their origins and history in their curriculum, which enhances their sense of belonging and effectively combats school bullying.

Shebra Evans stated that she has always believed that finding oneself in the curriculum is a crucial aspect of our diverse society. As a Board member, she has promoted adding identity-related content to textbooks, but much more needs to be done. She and her colleagues will continue their efforts to ensure the perpetuation of multiculturalism in the school system.

Matalie Zimmerman, a teacher, said she shows her students two things in the classroom: a mirror to see themselves and a window to see others' experiences. Empathy can better help understand others. She also noted that only 2% of educators in the U.S. are Asian Americans, and only 1% of administrators are Asian Americans. She encouraged more Asian Americans to participate in education.

Ricky Fai Mui, the only Chinese candidate, whose Chinese name is Mei Ruihui, came from a Chinese immigrant family. He moved to Montgomery County with his family from Atlanta in 2019. He has served at the Naval Academy, holds an MBA, and currently works in senior consulting management at a consulting firm. He has been studying the status of different cultures in mainstream American society and is committed to promoting mutual understanding and inclusion between cultures. He noted that while Chinese Americans have contributed significantly to American society, important traditional holidays such as the Chinese New Year and Mid-Autumn Festival are not given due recognition. In the future, he will strive to improve the quality of education in MCPS, eliminate school drugs and violence, and ensure school district safety.

During the two-and-a-half-hour forum, the candidates also addressed common concerns among Chinese parents, such as the insufficient level of gifted programs, campus bullying, discrimination against Asian Americans, and student mental health.

A representative of the Montgomery County Chinese Parents Association stated that the forum was organized to let American society better understand the contributions and demands of the Chinese community and to make their voices heard. Through dialogue with the candidates, they aimed to increase awareness of their campaign platforms and instill confidence in voting for candidates who can best represent the interests of the Chinese community. They hope more people will actively participate in elections and engage in more social activities.

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蒙郡华人家长会小记者俱乐部 翻译 (Translation) 24-05-13

[中文版本]

On October 13th, 2023, the Gold Lantern Awards were held at the Kennedy Center, honoring notable Chinese Americans. Among those honored included fifteen year old Peter Wang, who died in a Florida school shooting during his attempts to save his classmates. At the event, the director and scriptwriter, respectively Margaret ShaBi Hong and Elizabeth Wang, of the movie based on his story, titled “See Me Once More, My Dear Kid”, accepted the award on behalf of the brave student. Before the ceremony began, members of Capa JRC sat down with and interviewed Elizabeth Wang. 

“Almost as soon as I heard the news about the shooting, when I was a sophomore in college, it was shocking to me”, Elizabeth commented. She was born and raised in China, where they were not aware of the concept that schools would be so unsafe. It was a heartbreaking reality for her to face, and they knew immediately upon hearing the news that they wanted to write about this heroic story.

The film takes a unique perspective, focusing on Peter Wang’s mother and her grief with losing her son. Elizabeth explained, “There are a lot of news reports and awards given to Peter, but focusing on the broken family and how they gain the strength to continue with their lives is a really empowering perspective to take”. Her goal was for his family and other people around the world to see this empowerment, and find strength to continue on with their own lives, despite tragedies that occur.

The film covers a highly emotional topic, making it an easy assumption that writing about it would be difficult, but Elizabeth actually had a different experience. While writing the script, they had to do research on how many kids would die from school shootings each year, and she argued that this made her want to continue even more, because it made them realize how important it was to spread awareness. However, the most challenging part was during the filming, where many actors and crew would sometimes struggle emotionally with this heavy topic. Elizabeth quickly turns it around and says, “Finding a way to guide the team through their emotional hardships, especially since this was filmed during the pandemic, taught me a lot”. 

Elizabeth recalls a meaningful moment during a screening of the film, where they saw the audience very emotionally touched and felt that the movie brought awareness to teenager safety in school. She adds that while this one movie cannot affect policy, it will help people think about how to make their communities safer and more peaceful. 

Elizabeth Wang and Margaret ShaBi Hong were able to take a tragic event and use it as a tool to provide comfort and spread awareness. “See Me Once More, My Dear Kid” is a truly empowering and inspiring film, and JRC members are grateful for the opportunity to learn more about the behind-the-scenes process. JRC wishes all the best to Elizabeth and ShaBi Hong and we look forward to what they will do in the future!

By

Web Master 翻译 (Translation) 24-02-29

[中文版本]

Dear Mom and Dad,

Today is Thanksgiving. From my childhood to now, you have always been by my side. I know your work is very busy, and you come home tired. Yet, you never let me see it. When I'm anxious, you calmly tell me it's okay, I can handle it. Every day, you wake up earlier than me, prepare breakfast, and make dinner in the evening. You don't have to do so much; if I can help, I definitely will. I hope you can rest more and wish for your health always. When I grow up, I will definitely earn a lot of money to let you retire happily.

Zheng Jiamin

Thank you to Teacher Li Shuhong for recommending this article

By

郑佳敏 翻译 (Translation) 24-01-15

[中文版本]

Every year during Lunar New Year, Zaidao classmates organize a New Year's service event for the Chinese elderly around us. This has become a tradition for us, and we hope to have new ideas for the event each year. In past years, when celebrating the New Year with the elderly, we have made Lunar New Year's care packages/cards for the elderly and organized a Spring Festival performance. This year, Doris Wang and I decided to try something new. During the Lantern Festival, we solved riddles and organized an array of arts and crafts at a senior center.

On February 19th, 2024, Zaidao classmates held the Lantern Festival event at Heritage House. Loneliness is a common issue for the elderly in nursing homes, especially during a family-central holiday such as Lunar New Year, so we wanted to spend more time with them.

To start the event off, Doris and I wished the elderly a happy Lunar New Year and introduced the Zaidao website to them. We heard that many of the elderly here enjoy guessing riddles, so we prepared many lantern riddles for them. Each Zaidao student held a lantern and a riddle, and after reading the riddle, the elderly would raise their hands to guess. Those who answered correctly would receive a lantern from the students. Unexpectedly, the elderly were very enthusiastic, with many opting to yell out the answers without even raising their hands. The room was filled with joy and eager participation; the lanterns quickly awarded to the winners of each round. 

Our second activity was to do arts and crafts with the elderly. My mother recently went to China and brought back a variety of diy paper lanterns. We placed some lanterns on each table, then each Zaidao student went to assist a table of seniors with the lantern making. Since it was the Year of the Dragon, all the lanterns were in the shape of dragons. Making the lanterns was actually quite a simple process, but seeing the elderly proudly holding their own handmade lanterns gave the Zaidao students a great sense of accomplishment. After finishing, everyone took a photo together with their lanterns.

We originally planned to make tangyuan (sweet rice balls) with the elderly, but unfortunately, we didn't have enough time. So, we boiled some store-bought black sesame tangyuan in the kitchen, and after dinner, we gave each elderly person two tangyuan. Everyone enjoyed the tangyuan and had a happy Lantern Festival.

Zaidao's Lantern Festival this year was very successful and brought smiles to many seniors at Heritage House. The Zaidao students felt a great sense of accomplishment and everyone was very satisfied with the event.

By

贾盈盈 翻译 (Translation) 24-04-07

[中文版本]

On October 13th, 2023, the Gold Lantern Awards were held at the Kennedy Center, honoring notable Chinese Americans. Among those honored included Yue-Sai Kan, a Chinese-American television host, producer, author, entrepreneur, and humanitarian. She is known for her work in bridging the gap between the East and the West, introducing China to the United States.

At the awards ceremony, JRC members met Ms. Kan and arranged an interview. Although she is already in her 70s, we found that she does not appear as elderly as we had imagined. She wore a vibrant orange top, high-heeled shoes, and wore neatly crafted makeup. During our conversation, she maintained an elegant demeanor, appearing truly youthful.

Ms. Kan noted that many Chinese values in her upbringing have guided her through her career: “Our parents have very special values, for example, the respect for elders, working really hard, saving money, being kind to people, and being close to family. Especially, respect for other people, because if you think about it, the Chinese are very peaceful people. Right now a lot of people think the Chinese are scary because they might go to war, but the Chinese are not conquerors. The most important street in Beijing is called “Eternal Peace”, so in other words, that is their wish. Our job is to let more people know who we are.” 

“Looking East” was the first TV series to introduce Chinese culture to America. Yue-Sai Kan explains, “The main reason I shot the series was because no one had done it before. If no one has done it before, then you should do it.” She has shot thousands of shows and movies over the years, and she shares some of her proudest moments: “I loved interviewing Mother Teresa; I interviewed her in Rome. There was a show I did called “Doing Business in Asia”, where I featured four countries in Asia. That was the longest selling videotapes, it was selling for years and years and years. A specific TV documentary I am proud of is ‘Journey through a Changing China’. It is a program about the changes that happened in 1988/1989, when China was just opening. It was a really exciting time. We aired it all over the country, sponsored by American Express, and the next morning I got a phone call from Senator Inouye, who was the senior senator. That program was put into the Congressional Record. Out of thousands of programs, that was the one put into the Congressional Record, so I am rather proud of that one.”

Aside from producing programs and TV series, Yue-Sai Kan has also started a cosmetics brand, which has since been sold to L’oreal. She says, “I don’t run it anymore, but it was the first cosmetics brand ever produced for Asian women. It uses a lot of Chinese herbs in the makeup. A lot of American women use cosmetics, but not a lot of Chinese use cosmetics, so I knew it was a potential market for China. The idea really isn’t about lipsticks or eyeshadows, the idea is that if you can change the way you look, you can do anything.”

Although our JRC junior reporters haven't seen the influential television programs Yue-Sai Kan produced back in the day, through this interview, we learned about her contributions for the improvement of relations between China and America. Her efforts and life experiences are truly inspiring. At the end of the interview, she shared some advice: "Everybody makes different impacts. I happened to make that kind of impact because the time was important. Now it is a little different. For Chinese Americans, I think because the relationship between China and the US is so bad, there is an opportunity to tell the Chinese story.”

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贾盈盈 翻译 (Translation) 24-02-29

[中文版本]

Dear Mom,

Time flies, and you have been taking care of me for 14 years. I know it's not easy to look after me, but you've done it. Even though I may not always be the best son in the world, you are always the best mom.

Thank you for your constant care, guiding me on what is good and what is not. From my childhood to now, I've done many foolish things. You always patiently waited for me to realize it on my own, then explained why it was not good.

I believe you are the best mom in the world! I am very fortunate, and I love you so, so much—there's never enough love for you! Wishing you a happy Thanksgiving and Christmas!!!

Your loving son,

Du Leyao

By

杜乐尧 翻译 (Translation) 24-01-15

[中文版本]

On October 13th, 2023, the Gold Lantern Awards were held at the Kennedy Center, honoring notable Chinese Americans. Among those honored included Bel Leong-Hong, the founder, president, and CEO of Knowledge Advantage Inc, who has a career in the federal government spanning three decades. 

Bel cites her reason for advancing into high level positions in the federal government as wanting to pave the way for future generations’ prosperity and success in the industry. “When I started work, here in the United States…and I didn’t see too many people like me, that could show me the way. And when I got to the Department of Defense… I didn’t see too many people like me in senior positions. That’s when I decided I needed to do something,” Bel commented. When asked about her goals, she said, “It is my life’s passion to make sure that the next generation and the generation after that continue to flourish in this country.” She wanted “to make sure that [future] generations can have role models, and they [can] have ways to go up.”

Bel’s company Knowledge Advantage Inc was created in 1999 to solve the knowledge management challenges facing commercial and government decision-makers. As KAI approaches the midpoint of its third decade, Bel provided insights on where the company will continue to expand in the future. Bel believes KAI will expand into knowledge management and start working with data analytics. “More importantly, I also have a very strong component of growing leadership, and that’s where I’ve been focusing a lot on,” she adds. 

Bel has served as the elected Chair of the Democratic National Council and organized AAPI communities across the country since 2005 to increase AAPI awareness and opportunities. She believes the best way for the AAPI community to become more involved in the political process and be empowered is simply “to step up, be involved, and help each other.” She ended the interview by stating “If you help each other, then you can succeed.” CAPA JRC was very grateful to Bel Leong-Hong for allowing the JRC to interview her. The JRC looks forward to what Bel will accomplish in the future.

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戴焱 翻译 (Translation) 24-02-29

[中文版本]

Dear Myself,

Happy Thanksgiving!

You might think it's quite selfish to write a gratitude letter to yourself, but I hope you don't feel that way. I'm thrilled to be able to write to myself because the greatest achievements in life are often those we strive for on our own. I appreciate my own growth.

Lately, studies have been keeping me busy, so it's even more important to communicate with family and appreciate their support. I know there are times when my mood isn't at its best, or I'm dealing with too much, but I always maintain a balanced mindset, facing everything with a relaxed attitude. I'm very proud to be able to rise up in times of low spirits, and I appreciate the fighting spirit I have every day.

In this season of gratitude and love, I'm grateful for your diligent studying and sense of responsibility. Just need to be a bit more disciplined, correcting those lazy habits. But that's okay! Everything in life and growth accumulates gradually.

I believe that through my efforts, I will ultimately achieve all my goals and overcome any obstacles! I will forever be your greatest supporter.

Forever loving you!

Yao Jialu

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姚嘉璐 翻译 (Translation) 24-01-15

[中文版本]

Dear Parents,

Today is Thanksgiving, a perfect time to express gratitude to family, so I wanted to write you a letter to convey my appreciation. 

You have guided me from childhood to adulthood. Despite your busy schedules, you have always been patient with me and my sister, accompanying us in our studies, preparing meals, and taking care of the household every day. Your efforts to help and support us are truly commendable. I am deeply moved by Mom's decision to work from home for our benefit, and I am very grateful for your dedication and assistance.

I hope you won't be too tired, and I wish you wouldn't worry too much. Instead, I hope you both can be happier and healthier.

Your son,

Zhang Zuyu

Thank you to Teacher Li Shuhong for recommending this article

By

张祖瑜 翻译 (Translation) 24-01-15

[中文版本]

On October 13th, 2023, the Gold Lantern Awards were held at the Kennedy Center, honoring notable Chinese Americans. Among those honored included Chinese pianist Liu Hao. Hao was born prematurely in 2001 and lost his sight after excessive oxygen treatment at birth. However, his mother has dedicated herself to helping her son learn the piano after Hao displayed his talent at a young age.

“At the start, there were few pieces of sheet music for blind pianists,” Hao said, “My mother would translate music for me. She was very hard working.” Hao started playing piano at seven, and practiced often in China. He immigrated last year to the United States. “After coming here, I found that resources are abundant, and I can mostly self-study,” Hao said. “I can download sheet music online and learn by myself.”

Hao appreciates the feelings that playing piano brings. “I feel happy and relaxed when I play,” Hao said. “I really love music and hope others enjoy piano as well, as it is a very good way to relieve stress.” At just 22, Hao has already performed together with esteemed pianist Lang Lang, won numerous prestigious piano competitions, and starred in the movie "A Piano-Playing Blind Boy,” portraying himself.

At the Gold Lantern Awards award ceremony, Liu Hao was part of the program, playing a stirring piece alongside Wushu, dance, and chorus performances as many ambassadors, politicians, and celebrities watched.  Hao explained that he loves piano and hopes those who enjoy it as well will persevere. “You just need to believe in yourself, and persevere,” Hao said. “Practicing a lot is how you get better.”

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王瑞思 沈安琪 翻译 (Translation) 24-02-29