Saturday, April 11, 2009

Asst. Superintendent Ashley Meets Stanford Students

Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Ruth Perez Ashley of the Long Beach (CA) Unified School District addressed students at Stanford Middle School's (Long Beach Unified School District) third annual Asian Pacific Islander (API) Heritage celebration. Fourteen students of various ancestries enjoyed the lunch time meeting, including Japanese, Tongan, Fijian, Samoan, and others. Ashley, a product of Long Beach schools and Chamorro (Guam) genealogy, gave each students two sea shells, and asked them to use one shell to represent themselves and one to represent an influential family member. She spoke of family and cultural traditions, myths, and superstitutions, including the Guam legend of Sirena. She taught the group about the Japanese occupancy of Guam in World War II, and Japanese customs that became part of the culture. The students were very candid in their discussions with one another. NPIEN thanks Ruth Ashley, and ongoing supporters principal Katy Cruz, and school secretary Connie Joyce.

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