PACIFIC ISLANDER DAY AT PRARIE VISTA

I visited Prarie Vista Middle School in Hawthorne, CA, as a part of their Pacific Islander Day Celebration. Prarie Vista is a modern school facility, located not far from LAX. Eleven students attended, all from Tonga. Eight of the ten are like me, first generation American born. I enjoyed speaking to the students about "being the only one" in my school and profession, and being mentored by many who were not from the Pacific Islander community. The students were very bright and well spoken, and quite humorous. Counselor Janna Marks arranged for and hosted this event, and we ate some delicious pizza and Spam musubi. You can see a picutre of the students on the home page of www.npien.com