Walking through the halls of the Museum of Chinese in America (MoCA), no one could escape its impact. The history of Chinese in America is saturated with determination and deceit. A small group of DMAE student learned the stories of brave immigrants and oppressed workers and whether or not the student was a Chinese American learning about his heritage or one of a different ethnicity just delving into the culture, the impact of the struggle was understood.

“These stories seem pretty tough on the families’ parts, but my dad had went through the same thing with his family when they immigrated to the United States. So, it’s not surprising to me” sophomore Stefano Castro said.

It was the first time students from DMAE visited MoCA. Chinese teacher Qinying Colman wanted students to

The featured exhibit: was, “With a Single Step: Stories in the Making of America.” The wide range of information in the exhibit spanned from the stories of voyages to America by Chinese families to the origin of take out Chinese food.

experience the culture and history of the language they were learning about. The visit to the museum offered the chance to learn the history and the experience being in Chinatown in New York City provided an immersion into the culture.

“I wanted everyone to learn something new and have fun,” Ms. Coleman said.

The trip took place on Friday, Feb. 27, 2015, around the time of Chinese New Years. Approximately 30 DMAE sophomore and junior students from Mrs. Coleman’s classes went on the trip. It started with an excursion through the Chinatown neighborhood, where students tried new foods and bartered in shop, and ended with the museum tour. The featured exhibit: was, “With a Single Step: Stories in the Making of America.” The wide range of information in the exhibit spanned from the stories of voyages to America by Chinese families to the origin of take out Chinese food. At the end of the tour, students participated in folding origami with origami paper provided by MoCA.

Students who attended the trip were excited during the  tour through the museum, but Ms. Coleman might have been the most excited of all.  She hopes to take student on  this trip every year.

“Hopefully, there will be more chances for trips like these in the future for my Chinese classes,” she said.