A student-led initiative to create the nation’s first public high school Filipino course comes to fruition.

Since their arrival in the 19th century, Filipino immigrants and their descendants have played an instrumental role here in Hawaiʻi, both in driving the economy forward and threading the state’s cultural fabric. Though one in four residents bears Filipino roots, Filipino history and culture has been strikingly absent from classrooms in the state.

In 2020, a group of frustrated Filipino high school students turned a conversation into a crusade aimed at righting the oversight.

Punahou High School sophomore Marisa Halagao recruited peers from public and private schools around O‘ahu to form the Filipino Curriculum Project. “I was feeling lost in my identity and wondering where the representation was in my Asian history class,” Halagao says. “We started this project so that no Filipino student has to ask that question, ‘Why don’t I feel seen?’”

After two years of campaigning and working with an educator design team to create a Filipino-based curriculum, the Filipino Curriculum Project team presented their framework to teachers and administrators at O‘ahu schools, including Waipahu High School, where roughly two-thirds of the 2,500 students are Filipino. “When I saw how invested they were and heard why it matters to them, there was no possibility of me saying no,” says Zachary Sheets, the school’s principal. “Our motto is ‘my voice, my choice, my future,’ and if there’s anything you want to do as a high school principal, it’s empower students.”

With widespread support from institutions, educators, and community members, CHR 2300, or Filipino History Culture, was approved in October 2023 by the Hawaiʻi Department of Education—the first public school district in the nation to approve a Filipino studies course. Presented in six units, three times per week, Filipino History Culture encourages community engagement and civic action, inviting students to consider topics such as human rights, resilience and sustainability, the effects of migration on Filipino identity, and solving current challenges.

Though the course is available statewide, only two O‘ahu high schools—Waipahu and Farrington—have signed on for the 2024 to 2025 school year. Halagao and Filipino Curriculum Project co-director Raymart Billote, both aspiring educators, are continuing to coach student collaborators throughout Hawaiʻi on action steps they can take to help drive demand and improve the course’s reach.

During the first week of fall classes, Billote sat in on the inaugural session of Filipino History Culture taught at Waipahu High School, his alma mater. “When we shared our immigration stories as a kind of icebreaker, it was such an emotional, full-circle moment,” he reflects. “It’s so inspiring to see students take control of their education and want to learn about themselves and their roots.”

The announcement of a Filipino social studies course was a welcomed surprise for many students interested in themes of identity. Says Waipahu High School senior Jero Balason, “As an American-born Filipino, I am eager to explore my heritage further and am curious about the opportunities the course may provide for a deeper understanding of my roots.”

To learn more about the Filipino Curriculum Project, visit www.filipinocurriculumproject.com.

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