Written by CAPA-JRC reporter Joy Jiang
On the evening of June 11, 2022, members of the Chinese American Parents Association of Montgomery County (CAPA-MC) gathered at Gaithersburg High School for the annual membership meeting, celebrating another successful year, updating members on recent activities and events, and electing new leadership for the upcoming year. Among the attendees were Interim Superintendent Dr. Monifa B. McKnight, former Board of Education (BOE) member Dr. Alan Cheung, and several other figures in education and government in Montgomery County.
Before the meeting, many CAPA-MC-sponsored student clubs were featured at the venue. Six of them set up booths to introduce themselves and their activities to attendees. The Growing and Giving Club also brought plants grown during the year at their booth to showcase and sell.
The CAPA-MC Growing & Giving Club sells club-grown plants at the meeting (Lucy Wu).
Student club members introduce themselves at booths (Lucy Wu).
CAPA-MC Membership Meeting
The President’s Report kicked off the meeting, with this year’s CAPA-MC President Tingmei Chau giving an overview of CAPA-MC and its recent advocacy and community service. It was then passed on to various committee and club mentors to give updates on their impact over the year.
Over the past year, CAPA-MC’s clubs expanded greatly, with most clubs gaining members and three new clubs being created – the Growing & Giving Club, the Run & Hit Tennis Club, and the Special Education Equal Development Society (SEEDS).
The Growing & Giving Club is a gardening club founded in August 2021. So far, it has donated their personally-grown produce to CCACC senior citizens and received a grant to promote the protection of the Chesapeake watershed.
The Run & Hit Tennis Club is dedicated to local tennis and physical education for students, and SEEDS, the most recently started club, supports the education of special education students.
CAPA-MC New Leadership Elected
Throughout the event, attendees were able to hear from those running for CAPA-MC’s next President, Vice President, and Board of Directors. In the end, they cast their votes, and the following people were elected.
President: Zhengdong Chen
Vice President: Dawn Liang
Treasurer: Jingfeng Huang
Board of Directors: Zhen Yuan, Vivian Xu, Fengkai Zhang, Vivian Jiang, Zhengdong Chen, Dawn Liang, Jingfeng Huang
Newly elected leadership waves goodbye to the old leadership (Jessica Zhang).
Dr. Alan Cheung Scholarship Awards Ceremony
The Dr. Alan Cheung Community Leadership Scholarship recognizes exceptional contributions to one’s community from Asian American youth. Each year, 10 individuals and 3 groups are selected to receive the scholarship.
The individual scholarship went to the following people this year.
Christy Li from Montgomery Blair High School
Lilian Xiao from Poolesville High School
Claire Yu from Richard Montgomery High School
Alexander Yeung from Richard Montgomery High School
Beatrice Chung from Thomas S. Wootton High School
Stacy Liu from Thomas S. Wootton High School
Hongjin Fang from Thomas S. Wootton High School
Stephen Wu from Quince Orchard High School
Eileen Luo from Montgomery Blair High School
Joanne Fan from Thomas S. Wootton High School
The group scholarship went to the following clubs.
The CAPA-MC Youth Service Club
The CAPA-MC Junior Reporter Club
The American Young Art Circles
This article was provided by Chinese American Parents Association Junior Reporter Club (CAPA JRC) with members who interviewed, audio recorded, wrote, translated, and video recorded. CAPA JRC has 25 Montgomery County middle to high school students. They have created a bilingual platform delivering news and serving the community.
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA0gylW1ZCcgDvDiLAyObbA
Instagram: @capa_jrc
Blog: https://capajrc.org