{"id":185,"date":"2026-05-26T14:36:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T14:36:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=185"},"modified":"2026-05-26T14:36:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T14:36:35","slug":"pan-asian-identity-at-crls-heritage-high-energy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=185","title":{"rendered":"Pan-Asian identity at CRLS: heritage, high energy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Inside the walls of Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (CRLS), the energy was palpable on Friday as the school\u2019s Pan-Asian Club kicked off its annual Asian-American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month assembly. The event, open to the entire school, filled the Fitzgerald Theater with students, faculty and community members for two 75-minute sessions.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s wonderful to see so many students showcase the range of talents across Asia and be celebrated for it! It serves as a reminder of how far we\u2019ve come as a society,\u201d said Ellen Lee, Sheltered English Immersion Math Teacher at CRLS. She added that \u201cBy taking traditional roots and mixing them with modern music and dance, the performers showed that culture isn\u2019t just something we inherit.\u201d<\/p>\n

The event was a powerful showcase of cultural pride (disclosure: I was one of the student organizers). It was also a great reminder of how much talent lives within our very own Cambridge community.<\/p>\n

Both 75-minute sessions featured the same program: seven performances, a cultural Jeopardy game and five speeches, including one from Cambridge City Councillor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler. Fromthe rhythmic precision of K-pop choreography to moving student speeches, the stage stayed busy. The audience got a front-row seat to how the younger generation is blending deeply rooted traditions with our daily life in Cambridge. \u201cOur lives have been shaped by rich ingredients of thousands of years of culture and heritage, yet our parents and grandparents immigrated here to add something new to the recipe,\u201d said Min Jae Kuo, who gave one of the speeches.<\/p>\n

An inspirational speaker<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Cambridge City Councillor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, a major inspiration to many students of Asian descent in the audience, took the stage to share his experience growing up as a mixed-race Wasian (Asian and White) student, at a time when \u201cWasian\u201d was not a widely used term.<\/p>\n

He spoke about navigating questions of belonging, visibility, and self-definition, especially within the context of immigrant communities and cultural identity, saying \u201cThere is no typical Asian American experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

William Wei, a senior at CRLS, said he was struck that Sobrinho-Wheeler\u2019s reflections \u201cwere so sincere and personal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sobrinho-Wheeler also reflected on his involvement in civic life as a public servant, and on his community work, which is focused on immigrant advocacy and civic engagement, where he uses his experiences to support and uplift diverse communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI liked Jivan\u2019s message about how so much of identity is what is projected onto you, so you really have to know who you are,\u201d said Joel Patterson, a math teacher at CRLS.<\/p>\n

Capturing the Essence<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This was definitely not just another assembly at school. It felt like a deliberate claim of space. In a school where roughly 13.2% of the student body identifies as Asian, the event carried particular significance in centering those voices and experiences. CRLS Pan-Asian Club leadership (seniors Isaiah Sippel and Radhapriya Thakur, junior Jackson Lam and sophomores Claire Zou and Zachary Cash \u201928), guided by faculty advisors Helen Shin (Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) Math Teacher) and Jenny Chung (History Instructional Coach) spent weeks coordinating the event.<\/p>\n

Lam said the goal was clear: \u201cI aimed to honor my roots without making it feel like a history textbook come to life.\u201d<\/p>\n

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One of the highlights of the sessions was the duet by Acadia and Min Jae Kuo. The crowd reacted with soft \u201cawww\u201d moments throughout the performance, clearly moved by their last performance together on stage. The auditorium filled with warm applause, and you could feel the energy and appreciation even from the back row.<\/p>\n

This time, the focus on the assembly wasn\u2019t on explaining traditions to an outside audience. It was just about sharing authentic joy with one another.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe truly enjoyed the performances and students\u2019 testimonials about their personal cultural experiences-they were so powerful,\u201d said Anna Considine, instructional aide to CRLS\u2019s English Language Learners.<\/p>\n

Lily Rayman-Read, a history teacher at the school, said \u201cThis was one of the best assemblies in CRLS history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Local Roots, Broader Connections<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The assemblies serve as preludes to the culminating event of AAPI Heritage Month, the Cambridge and Somerville Asian Festival, which starts May 30 at 12:30 at the Somerville Growing Center and on May 31 will continue at 2 p.m. May 31 at the King Open School and Cambridge Street Upper School cafeteria. The festival represents a broader bridge between student life and the local neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Organizers are expecting a massive turnout, building on substantial previous attendance. The Somerville festival will include a Union Square Asian Market Walking Tour for all ages, a market scavenger hunt and dyeing and decorating grocery tote bags with Asian kitchen spices, sample teas and Asian snacks.<\/p>\n

The Cambridge festival will feature mehndi (traditional South Asian henna body art), diwa painting (decorating small oil lamps used in South Asian celebrations), a community mural and coloring station, writing your name in Japanese, Mahjong, a mobile story time, food and snacks, karaoke, badminton, a showing of the movie \u201cK-pop Demon Hunter\u201d and student civic projects. Expect the same high-energy atmosphere from the high school auditorium moving out into our entire community.<\/p>\n

For Cambridge, events like these are crucial. They prove that heritage is not just something you read about in a history book. It is actively lived, remixed, and celebrated in real-time.<\/p>\n

Looking Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n

With the assembly concluded, organizers hope the conversations it sparked about identity and representation at CRLS will continue beyond AAPI Heritage Month. The upcoming Cambridge Asian Festival offers another opportunity for the community to celebrate Asian American culture and visibility.<\/p>\n

With another successful assembly in the books and a festival on the horizon, the Cambridge Pan-Asian community has set a vibrant tone for the next upcoming weekend ahead. It is rooted in history, but completely defined by the youth of today.<\/p>\n

Read more School Committee probes screen usage data<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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