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Take a look at the Asian Culture Exchange, one of the lesser known clubs at DHS
By; Kaela Laurin & Lennon Seefeld
Because of such a wide variety of clubs at DHS, many don’t get proper exposure.
One of these hidden gems is the ACE club. The acronym stands for “Asian Cultures Exchange” and the club is new as of last year. The ACE club is an opportunity for students to learn about different Asian cultures that DHS students don’t receive a lot of education about.
Currently, the ACE club has on-going events that include field trips to places like Asian markets, Korean barbecues, and outings to see the movie “My Neighbor Totoro” produced by Studio Ghibli.
Club President Crystal Duan shared her experiences and motivations for starting the club.
“There always hasn’t been that many Asian kids at Dexter,” Duan said. “I felt like it would be really cool if I brought it to the high school so everyone can learn a little bit more about it.”
Exposing others to Asian culture is also of personal importance for her.
“I am 100% Chinese,” Duan said. “I was actually born in China and not many people know this, but I moved to the U.S. when I was eight. So Chinese culture has been a big part of my life, that was a part of who I am.”
Duan also speaks fluent Mandarin and has been able to share that part of her life and her culture with many people through the ACE club. Additionally, students who haven’t had an experience to learn about other cultures before can now do that with the ACE club through Crystal Duan’s personal experiences and life surrounding Chinese culture and traditions. With Chinese culture comes many traditions and holidays. Duan hopes to bring those holiday experiences to Dexter students.
“The biggest one will probably be the Chinese New Year,” Duan said, noting the typical festivities that come with this holiday that takes place between January and February. “Usually, we would hang out with families, eat really good food, and hand out red pockets to relatives, family, and mainly children.”
Duan asked Spanish teacher Maria Vazquez-Brieva to be the teacher advisor for the club.
“Vazquez, she’s always been one of my favorite teachers.” Duan said, “She’s very passionate about what she teaches. And also she is a part of the AAPI community. And I thought that would just be really cool to get her as our advisor.”
Most recently, the ACE club has celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival otherwise known as the Moon Festival. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, families spend time together, hang up lanterns, enjoy the full moon, and eat a traditional Asian dessert called mooncakes. At the ACE club meeting, students made these mooncakes from scratch while also learning about the story behind the holiday and listening to traditional Chinese music like C-Pop. Additonally, Students learned how to say “Happy Mid-Autumn Festival” in Mandarin (中秋节快乐 zhōng qiū jié kuài lè). The event was not only culturally enriching for those who came, but a huge success for the club as well.
“I just want to share how much fun I had,” Vazquez said, “We made mooncakes and we listened to music and we ate them. We were there for almost three hours. It was so much fun, and it was very successful.”
As for future plans, Duan has hope for a few different things.
“I’m planning in the future probably a fundraiser soon so we can gather the funds,” Duan says, “I’m thinking if we get enough funds or enough interest, maybe we can plan a field trip to Chinatown.”
When asked what she would like everyone to know about ACE club if she could only tell them one thing, Duan said this,
“I would say that it’s open to everyone like you probably heard it on the announcement, but you really don’t have to be like a part of the AAPI community to join.” Duan explained, “Don’t feel awkward about coming in.
The ACE club currently meets every first and third Friday of the month in Mrs. Vazquez’s room, 581. The meetings last from an hour to an hour and a half.
