During May, we’re interviewing high school students from across Spokane Public Schools in recognition of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month. These students are members of multicultural clubs where they can connect with peers while sharing and celebrating their heritage with our community year-round.
In early May, Lewis and Clark High School senior Henrickson Hamo was excited to finish up state testing in his school’s library. And while some students might have passed on being interviewed right after such a stressful task, he sat down with a smile to share about his experience as a member, and current president, of LC’s Islander Club.
Henrickson has lived in Spokane for seven years; his family is from Chuuk Island, a part of the Federated States of Micronesia. He joined the club his freshman year because he thought it would be fun to get to know others in the community and to learn about the cultures of peers from other islands.
“There are a lot of things I didn’t know about other Islanders’ culture, I didn’t know I could learn something like that here at LC,” he said.
Personally, Henrickson has been inspired by Marshallese members’ Christian faith, as well as how students in the club support one another. He’s proud to share those qualities with the LC community.
“We open [the club] to everyone. We want to other students to come and learn about our culture, to see what’s it’s like to be a Pacific Islander, see the program that we do with dancing because it’s different from here,” he explained. A few students wtih Asian and African heritage have attended club gatherings this year.
“If you’re not doing anything, whatever your ethnicity, you’re welcome to come and see what we do as Islanders,” he said.
Some of Henrickson’s favorite club activities are probably familiar to most teenagers – they play volleyball and other sports in the park together, and Henrickson enjoyed a “Secret Santa” gift exchange organized by the group.
He’s glad that his community is recognized in May during Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month because Pacific Islanders are not as well known to as many people.
“It’s important to celebrate them and recognize them for what they’ve done, and to recognize our culture as much as others,” he said.
With graduation around the corner and the conclusion of his term as Islander Club president, Henrickson is sharing words of encouragement – “Just keep your heads’ up, there’s a lot of trails you’ll go through” – and trusting that his faith will guide him through times of challenge.