Thursday, October 24, 2013

Board salutes Filipino American History, Native American Heritage

The Board of Education has proclaimed October as Filipino History Month and November is Native American Heritage Month.

Many classes around the San Diego Unified School District will use these months as an incentive to focus on Filipino History and Native American Heritage.

For October's designation of Filipino American History Month, Subdistrict E Trustee Marne Foster noted that the local chapter of the Filipino American National Historical Society is a very active educational group in San Diego.

"The Filipino American community in San Diego County is the largest Asian American group in the county," she wrote to Trustees, also noting that there are more than 3 million people in the United States of Filipino heritage.

In his message to the Board of Education, Subdistrict D Trustee Richard Barrera said that Native Americans have a rich and important heritage in the United States and that there are many students of Native American heritage at San Diego Unified.

"The contributions of Native American Indians to this nation’s government, history, and culture are as numerous and varied as the tribes themselves," Barrera wrote, "and the President authorized and requested to call upon federal, state, and local governments, groups and organizations and the people of the United States to observe such month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities."

Download copies of the proclamations (PDF)