HMONG YOUTH POETRY COLLECTION: FROM MOUNTAINS TO 10,000 LAKES is a youth poetry collaboration between the Hmong for Native Speakers classes at Park Center Senior High and Hmong Hip-Hop Artist, Tou SaiKo Lee. The students wrote their own 16-line poems with the guidance of Tou SaiKo after multiple days of developing students’ voices through spoken word, real life stories, and aspirations. This special book is made possible by the Education Minnesota Foundation Classroom Grant: The Untold Story. The students’ poems are organized into four sections: Finding Me, Family, Our Community, and Keeping Our Culture Alive.

DEAR MY TEACHER: LETTERS OF JOY, PAIN AND TRIUMPH FROM TODAY’S TEENAGE HMONG STUDENTS
Explore the world of today’s Hmong teenage students through honest, sincere, and heartfelt letters to their teachers. Caught in between two worlds, their perspective is unique and necessary to understanding how education, race, and the Hmong experience intersects. At times, their words may be humorous and poignant, but all their stories are grounded in truth and empathy. “DEAR MY TEACHER” is crucial for fellow students, teachers, and anyone who knows a Hmong student.

THE CULTURAL DISH: BEHIND EVERY DISH IS A STORY is a book dedicated to students’ teachers for inspiring countless generations of students to live healthy lives and for the education experience through cultural food that brought students and teachers together. As the students wrote:

“My mother’s hands are precious, as they are the hands that raised me, fed me, and supported me…This special squash bowl dish is special to me because it reminds me of home, my mother’s cooking, and my childhood.”

“My parents and my grandma LOVE the cucumber side dish during the summer days…My mom, dad, and grandma would eat cucumber with rice, sometimes with salt if they want a better taste.”

“When we ‘ua neeb,’ I saw my mom have a bowl of dark green thick soup and I asked what is that, and she told me it was eggplant beef soup with tendons. My mom knows this is one of my favorite soups to eat whenever there is any.”

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