Workshop – WI Act 266 Teach AAPI Studies K-12

This workshop provides an overview of The Asian American Education Project’s lesson plans and the five thematic units on: citizenship, civil rights, identity, immigration, and racism. It will cover the importance of including APIDA history in school curricula by exploring the contributions of APIDAs in labor activism, the fight for school integration and citizenship rights, the use of the Model Minority Myth as a racial wedge, how the Perpetual Foreigner Stereotype is part of systemic racism, and the intersectionality of APIDAs and other minority communities.

Laura Ouk, a Cambodian American educator based in Chicago, was born in Paris after her family fled from the Khmer Rouge regime and later resettled in the U.S. She earned a BA in Educational Studies from Denison University and a MAT in Special Education from Relay Graduate School of Education. With over a decade of experience in K–12 education, Laura is committed to advancing inclusive practices and supporting first-generation students in accessing postsecondary opportunities. She played a pivotal role in advocating for the TEAACH Act in Illinois. Laura also contributed to the Cambodian American Studies Model Curriculum, launched in California during the 2024–2025 school year. She currently serves as the Board President of the National Cambodian Heritage Museum and as the Board Vice President for the Cambodian Association of Illinois.

WCSS and the Asian American EDUcation Project have two awesome presentations coming up to help Wisconsin teachers meet the requirements set out in Act 266 and fill their toolbox with content and methods to teach Asian American Pacific Islander history to students. This is the second of two workshops.