While taking Asian history this past school year, Marissa Halagao ’23 wondered why the class was primarily focused on China and Japan, even though there are 48 Asian countries and Filipinos represent Hawai‘i’s largest Asian ethnic group.

As a Hawai‘i-born Filipina, she had never seen Filipinos represented prominently in her school courses or in the media. Determined to address the issue, she along with students and teachers developed a new, inclusive curriculum for Punahou and Hawai‘i’s public schools to broaden students’ understanding about the history and culture of the Philippines.

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In late April, Marissa’s efforts were recognized by Spark and Inspire, a program initiated by Teach for America Hawai‘i and HawaiiKidsCan, to support projects that address educational inequity in Hawai‘i. She was one of three grant recipients, and was awarded $2,000 for her project. She was the first student to receive the grant; prior recipients were all teachers…