Join the White House Initiative and the Department of Education TEACH Campaign in a Roundtable Discussion between Educators, Artists and Youth on Thursday at 4pm PT (7pm ET). Singer-songwriter and teacher Clara Chung and musician David Choi will join President’s Advisory Commissioner Sefa Aina to encourage dozens of students to pursue careers in the classroom in Granada Hills, California. (Previously, Clara did a White House Gig.) The event, put on by the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, is part of a national campaign by the Department of Education to recruit highly qualified and more diverse teachers. Only 1 percent of teachers across the country are Asian American or Pacific Islander.

DATE: Thursday, February 17, 2011
TIME: 4 p.m. PT (7 p.m. ET)
PLACE: Granada Hills Charter High School, 10535 Zelzah Ave., Granada Hills, California
If you can’t be there in person, the discussion will be streaming online too.

The event is a very important issue in our community as the Obama Administration is calling on youth to become teachers. In his state of the union address, he says:

To every young person listening tonight who’s contemplating their career choice: If you want to make a difference in the life of our nation; if you want to make a difference in the life of a child — become a teacher. Your country needs you.

In addition, the online community can ask questions before or during the event by tweeting with the hashtag #aapiteach – and they’ll ask as many of them possible during the q+a section of the discussion.

Video for Encouraging Asian American Students to Become Teachers featuring:
Clara Chung, singer-songwriter + teacher
David Choi, Singer-songwriter
Taryn Benarroch, Director, TEACH campaign
Sefa Aina, Commissioner, President’s Advisory Commission
Eddie Lee, Youth Outreach Coordinator, White House Initiative on AAPI’s