Extending Civic Engagement to Your Neighborhood School: One Community Member Takes Steps to Affect C
Mike Chau is a community member of the Francis Scott Key Elementary School’s newly-implemented School Advisory Council. “I’m still learning,” Mr. Chau says. “I’m starting out by learning and getting all my questions answered."
After leaving his position as a Civic Engagement Coordinator at the Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Association Coalition (SEAMAAC), Mr. Chau began supporting the Cambodian Association for Greater Philadelphia (CAGP) doing some grassroots organizing and sitting on the planning committee for CAGP’s Cambodian New Year Celebration, which is being held at the Hilton Hotel at Penn’s Landing on April 8. Mr. Chau also contributes to the civic engagement efforts of VietLead (Vietnamese Leadership and Advocacy).
“Civic engagement is my bread and butter,” Mr. Chau says. While he graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Mr. Chau spent some time focusing on Political Science before settling on his Economics major. “I’ve always been interested in the welfare of human society,” Mr. Chau explained of his passion for civic engagement. “I’m a very curious and inquisitive person.”
Mr. Chau’s extensive experience in South Philadelphia’s various Asian organizations and his passion for civic engagement inspired him to become involved at Key School. Over 50% of Key School’s student population speaks a language other than English, so the involvement of multicultural community partners is crucial.
“Principal Pauline Cheung pulled me in,” Mr. Chau explains. As a principal, Ms. Cheung is incredibly busy, and Mr. Chau views his involvement with SAC as a way to provide much needed support in the school. “When people are super busy,” Mr. Chau continues, “you try to be as supportive and helpful as you can.”
In his experience with civic engagement, Mr. Chau says he’s learned that “everything is the way it is for a reason.” To make changes, he explains, “you need to get people’s buy-in before you can really do anything meaningful.”
The meaningful changes Mr. Chau would like to see on his SAC include greater efforts around parent and family engagement and community, particularly for the school’s multilingual families and community members. Mr. Chau hopes that there will soon be a structure in place to facilitate conversation among the different language groups.
In terms of urban education, Mr. Chau understands that the needs vary among different schools. “Civic engagement is political education, he explains. He believes civic engagement should be a stronger focus in our schools. “How do we get people to care? How do we get students involved?” he asks. Maybe his involvement in Key School SAC will help him find out.
