The History And Experiences Of Korean Americans (And Other Headlines)

It’s Education Wednesday here at LAist, and today, I’m introducing you to a group of students learning about the history and experiences of Korean Americans and how it sparked conversations about their own family history.

Deeper Korean American history

Moving to Los Angeles from the Philippines at such a young age, one of the things I wished I’d learned about in school was Filipino American history. Most of the stories I’ve heard came from my relatives or secondhand stories from friends who had similar immigration experiences and shared some of the same struggles as my family.

But for students in the Anaheim Union High School District, this type of class became a reality this fall. My colleague Josie Huang wrote about a course being offered for the first time titled, “Korean American Stories, Experience & Studies.” The virtual night class offers a look at the history and experiences of Korean Americans.

This class has inspired both Korean and non-Korean students to examine their own family histories. Tenth-grader Guillermo Hernandez repeated a quote he’s heard his teacher, Jeff Kim, say:

“The Korean American story is not just the Korean story; it's the great American story,” Hernandez said. “That quote really moves for me because it makes me realize that the American story is built off of different cultures and different cultural stories.”

Read the story here.

And for more education-related content, you can click here to read all the stories.

Have a happy Wednesday, friends. There’s more news below - just keep reading.

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