The New Jersey Chinese Teachers Association recently presented three Glen Ridge High School students with awards for their volunteer efforts and another award to a GRHS student for leadership.
The winners were all boys this year, the volunteer awards going to freshmen Fatehbir Pouauchi and David Ness, and senior Kyle Piano. The leadership award was received by senior Robert Ness. All four are students of Chinese language teacher Shihong Zhang,
Fatehrib, who received a gold award, said he volunteered 116 hours last summer during a GRHS program for Chinese students. He said it was a learning experience for him, getting to know how Chinese students lived and studied.
“They don’t eat fast food as much as we do and their school days are extremely long, maybe 14 hours,” he said. “It’s a long school day, but the results, getting into college, are good.”
Fatehrib, who said he volunteered as a middle-schooler, was also an ambassador for 20 Chinese students during last year’s summer program.
David, who totaled 103 hours and received a gold award, also volunteered during the summer camp and helped out during the school year with events such as Chinese New Year and Asian-American Pacific Islander events.
“There’d be AAPI-Montclair events and we had a few at the Montclair Museum of Art,” he said. “At Glen Ridge High School, we celebrated Diwali, the Indian festival of lights which is the triumph of good over evil.”
David picked AAPI events because many of them occurred in Glen Ridge and he did not have to travel to other communities to fulfill his responsibility. He also volunteered when in middle school.
‘I usually get to do it with my friends,” he said of volunteering, “which is fun and I’m helping the community.”
Kyle did 180 hours of volunteer service and received a silver award because the higher the grade a student is, the more hours they must volunteer for eligibility. In addition to the summer camp, he also volunteered for the International Partnership for Education Research and Communication. The goal of this organization is to prepare students for global citizenship.
“Through IPERC, a Chinese student ‘shadowed’ me for a week at school and stayed at my house,” Kyle said. “It was very interesting. At first it was awkward because of the language barrier. But we both liked sports.”
Kyle said he would do it again, but he would want more free time when he did it.
“I find it fascinating to explore different cultures,” he said. “I think it’s beneficial.”
His shadow’s self-chosen English name was Chris. His actual name was Luo TianYu.
“I learned that even though we’re from very different backgrounds, we had a lot in common,” Kyle said.
He was introduced to Chris at GRHS and explained to him what shadowing would entail, his classes and the food.
“He had a lot of preconceived notions about American culture,” Kyle said, adding that Chris thought Americans usually ate fast foods.
“We sifted through that,” Kyle said. “For some reason, KFC — Kentucky Fried Chicken, is the most popular fast food in China and he ate more fast food than I did.”
Kyle did however introduce Chris to Popeyes cajun chicken. But dinner at home was not so exotic.
“I come from an Asian household, so what we eat is pretty similar, he said.
Robert, the co-president of the AAPI Club, was nominated for his award. Last year he received a bronze volunteer service award.
“I volunteer a lot and help to set up Diwali Night,” he said, “and I’ve also been an Eagle Scout since September.”
For his Scout project, he created a pollinator garden at the Glen Ridge Congregational Church. At school, he will be volunteering for the Chinese New Year party, Feb. 6, and for a possible trip to an Indian temple in Edison.
“Usually, the AAPI Club educates anyone who comes to a meeting about AAPI topics,” he said. “Tomorrow, we’re having a meeting on how Christmas is celebrated in other Asian countries and how Asian-Americans celebrate it here. A lot of times, some countries don’t celebrate Christmas and other countries have a mixture of Western and Eastern ideas.”
Teacher Shihong Zhang was also nominated for teacher of the year, an award she won last year.
Students are honored for volunteering added by Daniel Jackovino on
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