PanAsian Club Fun

Grand Terrace High School (GTHS), in collaboration with Asian-American Resource Center (AARC) of San Bernardino, held its first Asian–Pacific Islander (API) Cultures and Traditions Celebration on Friday, May 17, 2013. The free event, hosted by the school’s Pan-Asian Club, or the PAC, and AARC was attended by nearly 500 community members. Many of them had never been exposed to the diverse collection of dances and traditional costumes of the API, especially at one single event. Traditional food catered by one of our sponsors, Hiep Thanh Supermarket, helped make the event even more special with their delicious fried rice, egg rolls, and yucca desserts served to all attendees and volunteers. Several GTHS clubs added a carnival atmosphere to the API event. The Key Club (Advisor Roberta MacDonald) sold Boba drinks while the Engineering Club (Advisor Rodger Golgart) showcased a Frisbee-throwing robot. Children were able to win goldfish at the Bolt Club (Advisor Heidi Wilson), participate in coconut bowling at the PAC booth, and learn how to make origami with the Math Club (Advisor Anna Bathgate/Ramona Martinez) students. There were over 10 API performances from various ethnic groups in the Inland Empire including the Coconut Dance (Khmer Buddhist Society of San Bernardino), the Filipino Tinikling Dance (Perris Valley Fil-Am Association), and a demonstration of Leak Kanseng, a Cambodian traditional game, performed by the PAC students. TaikoMix of Riverside presented one of the most heart-pounding performances with their amazing Japanese drumming skills. The highlight of the API event was the API fashion show of nearly 50 volunteers modeling traditional outfits from various API countries. The director of AARC, Mr. Rasmey Sam, is dedicated to introducing, preserving and highlighting the API cultures and traditions, which lead him and his staff to host the annual API events for the past three years. According to this year’s API event, he states “It was a great pleasure to see various Asian Pacific Islander communities come together to celebrate and showcase their cultures and traditions. This year, I would like to thank Mrs. Salian Garcia and Grand Terrace High School for their facility and collaboration for our annual API event.” Mr. Sam also added, “According to the latest census, there are approximately 300,000 APIs living in the Inland Empire.” The high attendance and wonderful compliments from Mayor Walt Stanckiewitz, Assemblymember Cheryl Brown, and other community members validate the PAC’s very mission: to raise cultural awareness in a community that is not familiar with the beauty of the API. PAC shared, “On behalf of the PAC, I sincerely give thanks to all of our supporters, the AARC staff, especially Director Rasmey Sam and Program Coordinators Hoa Nguyen and Pichara Oung, and GTHS staff and families for helping us put our mission on center stage. We hope to see you at our next API event.” For more information of the PAC and AARC, or for upcoming events, please contact Pan-Asian Club (PAC) of GTHS Advisor Salian Garcia at 909-580-5006 extension 4812, or Asian-American Resource Center Director Rasmey Sam at 909-383-0164.