The East Engineering Club has hosted two virtual visitors this fall: Director of the UW-Madison Engineering Summer Program Sara Rothe, along with recent East attendee Tessara Lark; and Ramon Maldonado, former East Engineering Club SHPE liaison and UW Madison graduate, presenting on his work for Universal Studios Amusement Park. We are preparing for the state level Kidwind alternative energy competition, a family science event in collaboration with the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, and a campus visit hosted by the National Society of Black Engineers. New members are always welcome. Contact Cynthia Chin to learn more.

Math Club participated in the first math meet of the year in October. Join our math team now to get in on the action for the next meet. We can always use more competitors. See Karen Paschke or Phil Galarowicz for more information. East had two teams competing in the international High School Mathematics Contest in Modeling November 2nd-15th. East had two teams competing in the international High School Mathematics Contest in Modeling November 2nd-15th. Each team submitted a research paper filled with technical writing and policy recommendations regarding honeybee pollination of food crops. More about the actual contest problems and results will become available in February. Three cheers for the students who took on this challenge: Megan Carpenter, Tessara Clark, Restia Lin, Logan Moua, Adyleenah Shatz-Muzaffarr, Dean Thao, Gabriel Vloch. We are in our third decade of participation in this contest. East is proud to field multi-age teams with a wide variety of math backgrounds each year.

Welcome to UW-Madison student Kelly Ploszaj, who has joined us as a part-time math tutor assisting in classrooms and in study areas. Potential volunteer tutors who meet district in-person requirements are invited to contact Jared Miles about assisting Algebra and Geometry students in the Achievement Connections Program. Persons interested in supporting classrooms of after-school study programs may contact Cynthia Chin to find out more about this option.

The Hour of Code has arrived. December 5th-11th is Computer Science Education Week. A variety of IT sponsors have put together self-guided tutorials for young people learning how to code. We hope to arrange opportunities for students to participate in this hour of code here at East.  Students can also try an independent project at code.org. Positive messages for young people about coding and learning to code can be found at hourofcode.com. Thanks for helping us get the word out to all of our young people: Technology isn’t going away. Learning to program helps them use that power to accomplish their goals.

Join East's Engineering Club, Latinx parents, UW-Madison's Engineers Without Borders, and UW-Madison's Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers at East High School on Wednesday, December 7th from 5:30-7:30pm for a Family Science Night event, "Noche de Ciencias". The event is open to anyone of any age and aims to engage the community in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). There will be food, hands-on activities for a variety of ages, and college STEM readiness/support/financial information in Spanish and English. Students can meet with representatives of the UW-Madison Engineering Summer Program and ProCSi (summer computer science camp), both of which programs especially serve first-generation college students and others from groups historically underrepresented in STEM at Wisconsin. Students will also have an opportunity to talk to members of the UW-Madison's Engineers Without Borders chapters about their international projects in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico.

The holiday season is special. It’s a time for gathering with friends and family; for being grateful for all of life’s blessings; for taking time to reflect on the year that was, and look ahead to the one that will be. For the Hmong people, and specifically those in Wisconsin, it’s all of those things and more: this period ushers in the new year and is traditionally hallmarked by celebrating the recent harvest and honoring ancestral connections.

Throughout the day on Tuesday, November 22nd, and in observance of this important time in the Hmong calendar, East High scholars in ESL teacher & advisor May Choua Thao’s Southeast Asian language for native speakers classes (34, in total) put on five, hour-long performances of a three-phase program honoring Hmong customs, values, and traditions—an annual practice established in the school’s Forum space in 2006, and continued in the Margaret Williams Theatre ever since.

As has been the case with many happenings across the district, this year’s event was its first post-Covid iteration; though it’s been staged for more than 15 years, none of 2022’s participating scholars had ever taken part, and many had no prior experience with theatre production or the performing arts. Their willingness to step outside their collective comfort zone to share insight into their heritage was equal parts inspiring and informative for each of the day’s audiences, which primarily comprised fellow East scholars and teachers, but also included the performers’ families, as well as classes from Emerson & Lincoln elementary schools, and Black Hawk & Sherman middle schools.

The first phase, or act, of the show focused on the after-harvest period, which is akin to Thanksgiving, and saw scholars acting out skits centered on cultivating crops, then preparing and sharing a Hmong meal; the second phase focused on spiritual/cultural practices, specifically the act of “soul-calling,” and featured a student-artist playing the qeej, a ceremonially important Hmong instrument; the third phase emphasized communal celebration, and featured a show of Hmong fashions commonly found in China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand & the U.S, as well as scholars playing pov pob, a Hmong ball-tossing game.

According to Thao, the annual production has several key goals. “We aim to promote the Hmong language and Hmong literacy,” she said. “Because one’s ability to speak and read the language only serves to better connect them to the culture. We also give the students an opportunity to shine. When they’re in a big school like this, they can sometimes feel invisible, or like they don’t have a voice, and this event provides them a literal stage and spotlight. And finally, and maybe most importantly, we strive to educate both students and staff about what it means to be Hmong.”

In the U.S., the Hmong New Year is less about a specific day than a season; it’s guided by weather and, for that reason, is celebrated at different times in different regions, typically ranging from October through December. The East High celebration, along with others in the Madison area, has historically taken place in November. It’s one of two significant Hmong-focused events that Thao and her classes undertake; the second is a Hmong literacy event that occurs in March, culminating in the compilation of a book composed of student-penned stories.

As has been the case in previous years, all aspects of the show were scripted, sourced, and choreographed entirely by Thao and the scholars in her classes—they developed the program, brought in the costumes and instruments, wrote and paced out the story, and even coordinated the seating arrangements together, as a group. The entire experience is one that’s served to bond them over the course of the semester, thus far.

“For me, the most rewarding part of this endeavor is seeing the pride in the scholars’ faces,” said Thao. “Living here, they’ve become Americanized—some don’t speak the language, and they’re not aware of many important aspects of Hmong culture. When you allow them to perform and tell a story like this to their teachers and classmates, it boosts their self-esteem and brings them happiness, and also draws them closer to their culture, each other, and their friends.”