Community Spotlight: Sylvia (Hsiao-chuan) Teng and Ed White Elementary
Celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month 2024 with our calendar of live events, recommendations, and on-demand content!
Asia Society Texas believes in the strength and beauty of diverse perspectives and people — and our work to advance cultural exchange is possible in large part thanks to the community partners with whom we've collaborated over the years. Each of these numerous organizations and individuals brings a unique background and area of expertise that, combined with their passion and generosity, help strengthen and enrich our programs, from innovative arts to energetic festivals and camps to lively panel discussions.
Through our Community Spotlights, we're excited to shine a light on some of our partners with whom we've been fortunate to collaborate over the years.
About Sylvia (Hsiao-chuan) Teng and Ed White Elementary School
Sylvia (Hsiao-chuan) Teng and HISD's Ed White Elementary School are stellar community partners with Asia Society Texas. A music teacher at Ed White, Ms. Teng has shown deep commitment to sharing cultural learning opportunities with her students, which pairs with AST's goals to deliver accessible resources to students of all ages, host engaging programs, and collaborate with educators to spark curiosity and promote cultural empathy.
How our partnership began
AST's work with Ms. Teng and Ed White began through the Arts Connect Houston Seed Grant in 2021. This grant gave AST the opportunity to develop a robust Lunar New Year program at the school, and Ms. Teng has welcomed our teaching artists and local lion dance troupes to provide art workshops and performances.
What we enjoy about partnering with Ms. Teng and Ed White
Ms. Teng and her students work tirelessly every year to produce a musical performance featuring traditional Chinese instruments, singing, dancing, and more. During the annual performance, it's clear that Ms. Teng has helped every student feel confident performing, whether or not the language or instrument is new to them.
Ms. Teng and the students at Ed White are always eager to expand their knowledge while connecting with each other. Everyone at the school demonstrates so much kindness and grace whenever we work together, and we believe that is thanks to teachers like Ms. Teng.
What Ms. Teng and Ed White enjoy about partnering with us
Ms. Teng shares: "We have truly enjoyed partnering with Asia Society Texas over the last four years. The partnership has allowed our Ed White community endless opportunities to be immersed in rich Asian cultures by allowing our students, teachers, and communities to experience the diversity of various cultures within the Asian community through art workshops, field trips, lion dances at our school, and performing opportunities at AST.
"It is important to expose students to a wide array of cultures at a young age so that they can appreciate the vast differences in our world. These experiences will enable our students to practice and incorporate global learning at an early age, which will enhance their lives as they grow older. All of this could not have been done without AST's ongoing efforts, especially with the help of Phuong Ha's creative ideas that gave our students the opportunity to experience and be engaged while learning about various cultures.
"I also thank Dr. Chang, our principal, for introducing AST to our school and allowing all the wonderful programs to take place for our community at Ed White to enjoy and experience. These opportunities may not have been experienced by our school's families if our joint partnership did not come into fruition."
What we're looking forward to next
We're excited to work on creative art projects at Ed White Elementary and to host their students at our Center to tour our latest exhibition Xu Bing: Word Alchemy and our interactive Explore Asia exhibition soon!
About APAH Month at Asia Society Texas
Beginning in 2021, Asia Society Texas has celebrated Asian Pacific American Heritage Month with the Houston community and beyond through a curated calendar of events for 31 ways to celebrate over the 31 days of May. Spotlighting the traditions, talents, and contributions of Asians and Asian Americans, the calendar highlights the month's key Asia Society programming, providing a platform to showcase local artists, performers, educators, and leaders who contribute to the vibrant, multicultural tapestry of Houston while also featuring staff recommendations for our favorite music, books, movies, and more by Asian and Asian American creatives.
At Asia Society Texas, APAH Month is an opportunity to celebrate and honor Asians and Asian Americans and to uplift their stories to a broader audience as part of our goal to inspire our larger community to better understand one another through culture, conversation, and connection. For information about sponsoring APAH Month and other projects like this one, please contact Saleena Jafry at [email protected] or 713.496.9939.
Presenting Sponsor of APAH Month at Asia Society Texas
Sponsors of APAH Month
Comcast
Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP
Media Sponsor
APAH Month 2024 Calendar
Digital Calendar Interactive/Printable PDF
Past APAH Month Calendars
2023: Highlights | Details
2022: Highlights | Details
2021: Details
About Asia Society Texas
Asia Society Texas believes in the strength and beauty of diverse perspectives and people. As an educational institution, we advance cultural exchange by celebrating the vibrant diversity of Asia, inspiring empathy, and fostering a better understanding of our interconnected world. Spanning the fields of arts, business, culture, education, and policy, our programming is rooted in the educational and cultural development of our community — trusting in the power of art, dialogue, and ideas to combat bias and build a more inclusive society.
