Spreading AAPI Awareness to LA Readers

K-12 STEAM Education

County of Los Angeles

Expand existing project, program, or initiative

"Okay! No more questions!," my mother harrowed. This was one of the many times my mother grew impatient with me after asking further around the differences growing up in America versus Asia. It wasn't always easy for her to understand each other since we had our upbringings in two different countries, continents, and cultures. Fast forward 25 years later, she's retiring from her teaching career. Even though teachers notoriously receive little to no budgets to decorate and buy books for their classrooms, my mom found creative ways to contribute to her students by making her own. Today there are 5.4 million Chinese Americans with about 30% living in Los Angeles alone! California's had a long history of Chinese immigrants, yet as immigrants become first generations to multi-generational Americans, there comes a time to balance embracing some levels of their heritage. And that's how Bun Bun the Bunny was born-raising awareness to the AAPI community through our children's book.

With Bun Bun the Bunny, we want to: 1) raise awareness towards the health conscious ingredients 2) bring education of the Asian culture in a fun and interactive way through Bun bun's children books 3) raise awareness to AAPI 4) decrease Asian culture stigma and improve open-mindedness in the LA community The initiative is getting 3000 copies of the self-published Bun Bun the Bunny book (releasing this summer) out to the community. This means partnering with AAPI organizations to disperse the book. We expand our initiative by creating lesson plan books, flashcards, and additionally designed interactive activities for children to access and learn Mandarin Chinese in a playful way. We want to get it into Chinese Schools that teach on Sundays as well as various schools in LA county for teachers to teach more about the Asian culture-especially during AAPI awareness month. We also want it to get into the hands of adults learning Chinese as a Second Language (CSL) and embracing learning Chinese doesn't always have to be mundane textbooks. We created the content so that the book introduces bite-size vocabulary words. Our original plan was to create 12 zodiac books for each year in the Chinese Zodiac, WIth the grant, this will support us to create the 2024 Dragon book and get it into the hands of more children and adults.

If our project is supported in Los Angeles, the impact will be significant. Our book will not only be embraced by the Asian community but also capture the interest of non-Asians who will eagerly purchase and share it with their children. This will create a movement, changing how we perceive language and culture learning. Learning a new language will no longer be seen as stressful but rather as a fun and enjoyable experience. The book's success lies in the joyous combination of baking, reading, and embracing Chinese culture, fostering meaningful connections among families and communities in Los Angeles.

The impact of our project can be measured through various indicators. Firstly, we can assess the distribution of books in schools and learning centers to determine the reach of our content. Additionally, tracking the sales of flashcards, lesson plans, and supplementary learning materials will provide insights into the project's influence. Gathering testimonial videos from parents, teachers, and children, as well as encouraging them to share their reading moments with Bun Bun using a designated hashtag, will demonstrate the community's engagement and the project's impact on individuals. By monitoring these metrics and capturing qualitative feedback, we can effectively measure the success and influence of our initiative.