buildOn - After School Service, Education, Empowerment

Philadelphia Principal at buildOn School Reflects on Cultural Identity

April 22, 2013 by buildon

Mr. Peou Interview

By Sulaiha Olatunji, buildOn Youth Engagement Zone Manager

buildOn freshman at Philadelphia’s Youth Engagement Zone at Furness High School have been exploring different styles of writing that incorporate issues of coming of age and cultural identity. After reading Sandra Cisneros’ “House on Mango Street” and Sherman Alexi’s “Absolutely True Diary of Part-Time Indian”, students wrote vignettes about their own experiences in the style of these authors, and interviewed their peers at the high school to learn more about their diverse community. The first interview that students conducted was with their principal.

Principal Daniel Peou, a native of Cambodia, has a unique relationship to Furness and South Philadelphia, as well as a deep appreciation for service and global education. Here is some of what he shared with the students.
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Bay Area Students’ Pop Up Soup Kitchen Project

April 18, 2013 by buildon

Empowerment. That’s what we strive for at buildOn, and that was the motivation behind a “Pop-Up Soup Kitchen,” inspired, planned, organized and executed by buildOn Bay Area students at Galileo Academy of Science and Technology in March.

The Galileo students fed over 150 hungry people in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district. Now the students now feel inspired to create future service projects they are passionate about, and the students’ perspectives changed about the people living in the Tenderloin, which has a bad reputation. “Everyone was so nice to us and so grateful,” said buildOn member Kendall Yee. “I don’t think of the Tenderloin as a scary place anymore… and I love doing service here.”
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