It struck a chord with me when, a few years ago, a close family member of mine told me “No offense, but why should I care about the Philippines? I mean, I really don’t know our relatives there… I was born here. I’m American an I don’t speak the language.”
After that conversation, I feared the worst possible scenario: my children (and future generations) who are born here will become so removed from the Philippines and its culture that they’ll lose an important part of themselves — their identity, their being Filipino.
With the founding of the School, I wanted to ensure that there was a resource in the community that provided the educational opportunities for those who wanted to connect to and learn about Philippine languages and culture, and meet other Filipinos as well.