Posted by Communications Staff on 5/23/2022
When students returned to in-person learning in 2021, Ferris junior Catherine Loeak noticed something in her fellow Marshallese students.
“Everyone was just slacking, especially at showing our culture out in the community,” she said.
Loeak knew she needed to change that for the wellbeing of her fellow Marshallese students and all Pacific Islanders at Ferris. So, she created the Ferris Islander Club to build community, become more of a family, and promote their culture.
Since creating the club, Loeak’s seen a change in her classmates.
“Some were getting into trouble and I’m like the mom of the group, just telling them, ‘You need to stop skipping and focus more on school,’” she said. “They look at school differently, so I thought, ‘How could I make them excited to come to school? How could I make them want to come to school?’ I figured them having their own place at school would help that process. Once I started the Islander Club, I saw them be more serious about coming to school and being more excited about coming to school.”
Loeak’s brother helps lead the Rogers Islander Organization (RIO) at Rogers High School. That group started in 2018 and continues today.
“They had the idea after noticing some of the Marshallese were kind of splitting off into their own groups, so they wanted to have everybody be with each other just to share our culture,” said senior Nathanael Hermios, the RIO leader.
The goal of the RIO is simple: “To spread our culture to other places so other people can see us and learn from our culture,” said junior Malachi Ankien.
Ankien, who transferred to Rogers recently, said the club helped him meet new people and be involved.
Much like the Ferris Islander Club, the RIO promotes community and holds members accountable.
“We meet after school to update on grades. We’re not only about community but trying to raise the generation for next year without having trouble,” Hermios said. “A couple people might struggle here and there but we just want everyone to be their own person and not live for anybody else.”
The RIO is involved with an event in June that will bring together Pacific Islander groups and clubs from other SPS schools and across Spokane County to play games and meet each other. Some senior SPS Pacific Islander students also attended the first-ever Asian/Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Graduation Celebration on May 1, which kicked off Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
Similar clubs are present in other SPS high schools, and all of them promote community and the Pacific Islander culture—one that is abundant in the Spokane region.
Loeak understands she and her classmates only have four years to make high school memories. Starting the Ferris Islander Club was one way to make do that and make a difference in the lives of her fellow classmates.
“I wanted this to be a pivotal moment in their life as well, a moment to remember.”
