Teacher’s Night 2011 Recap
Interns at the APA Program table during Smithsonian Teachers' Night 2011. From left: Tiffany Quebral, Jasmine Fernandez, and Kirsten McMurdo.
Recap by Fall 2011 intern Tiffany Quebral
Four floors of the National Museum of the American Indian filled with over 4,000 teachers and hundreds of staff, interns and volunteers made this year’s Smithsonian Teachers’ Night a success. In addition to all the people, the array of freebies spanned from brochures to enormous tote bags. Of course, the complimentary food and drinks didn’t hurt anyone. At our Asian Pacific American Program table, our stash of bookmarks, brochures, and pens (especially pens) emptied out quickly. Besides getting all the perks at Teachers’ Night, its educational purposes were definitely reached. In addition to educating teachers about the mission of our program, we conducted an informal survey to help with the development of a curriculum for HomeSpun in 2013. We received about twenty surveys which I’m sure will be valuable when we start writing the curriculum.
I think we gave teachers a chance to step out of their classroom books and standards and see the array of opportunities and programs that the Smithsonian can provide. It was great to see the genuine respect and enthusiasm teachers have for the Smithsonian. My hope is that our presence broadened teachers’ perspective of the importance of learning about the Asian Pacific American experience in the classroom.
Discussion