They say that Wal-Mart is coming to town
but please don’t let that get you down.
Find a grocery store that is nearby,
and find someone who works inside.
Please make sure they are not too busy,
take a photo with them and find out if s/he
is someone who has worked in this store here for 5, 10, or 15 years?
Armed with a camera and a list of riddles, the Youth Leadership Project students burst out of the SEACA office on a scavenger hunt through Chinatown. Each team of four to five students rushed to locate historical landmarks and other significant sites for points. Once they discovered the answer, each group had to strike a pose and have their picture taken as evidence.
After an hour, the first team returned to the office, huffing and puffing from the race to beat the clock (and the other teams). They were closely followed by two other teams in similar, out of breath states. The groups: Team Edgar, Team Chill, and Team Power Rangers presented their photos and what they learned about the history and culture of places that many visits every day but did now know much about Chung King Road art galleries, Castelar Middle School, Saigon Plaza, and Chavez Ravine Road.
The activity reminded students and staff that the history of our communities is not in some far off place in the distant past, but can be right in front of us and is constantly made, remade, and reinterpreted.
Special thanks to Sharon Sekhon & the Studio for Southern California History (http://socalstudio.org) for sharing their research and making the scavenger hunt possible.
