All were formally recognized during HISD’s Asian-Pacific American Heritage Celebration 

HISD observed the start of Asian-Pacific Heritage Month on Thursday, May 7, with a kick-off reception held at Kim Son restaurant downtown.

As a part of that celebration, members of the district’s Asian Advisory Committee recognized five outstanding teachers and one student club for their contributions to Asian students and to HISD as a whole.

The teachers honored were: Marilou Alcaraz (Briarmeadow Charter), Pia de Leon (River Oaks ES), Dr. Nghia Le (Washington HS), Oscar Le (Sharpstown International School), and Nazan Sohail (Key MS). The Asian American club at Chávez High School is led by Thanh Hoang  and sponsored by Maria de Leon. Each winning teacher received a $500 cash prize. The club received a $200 prize to help fund activities.

“This year’s selection process was very difficult, as all nominees exceeded expectations,” said Dr. Patrick Leung, committee chair and a professor of social work at the University of Houston. “We would like to congratulate these outstanding teachers and club for their achievements.”

Entertainment at this year’s kickoff was provided by students from Bellaire High School and the Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion Magnet School.

The district would like to extend its thanks to the many sponsors and community partners who underwrote the event and helped make it such a success, including the H-E-B Tournament of Champions and MetLife.

[photoshelter-gallery g_id=”G0000NSMu4y7H9QY” g_name=”050815-AsianHeritage” width=”600″ f_fullscreen=”t” bgtrans=”t” pho_credit=”iptc” twoup=”f” f_bbar=”t” f_bbarbig=”f” fsvis=”f” f_show_caption=”t” crop=”f” f_enable_embed_btn=”t” f_htmllinks=”t” f_l=”t” f_send_to_friend_btn=”f” f_show_slidenum=”t” f_topbar=”f” f_show_watermark=”t” img_title=”casc” linkdest=”c” trans=”xfade” target=”_self” tbs=”5000″ f_link=”t” f_smooth=”f” f_mtrx=”t” f_ap=”t” f_up=”f” height=”400″ btype=”old” bcolor=”#CCCCCC” ]