a woman standing in front of a door she decorated like a cherry blossom tree for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

To celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Clara Saeteurn, a social worker at Tillicum, created door décor at the school. She decorated the door like a cherry blossom tree as a depiction of friendship and peace. Saeteurn also included a few historical articles that she invited students and staff to read.

She said, as a social worker, that “social emotional learning goes beyond teaching students about emotional regulations and coping skills. It is also saying “I see you.” It’s teaching each student to see others as all of who they are – mental health, ethnicity, physical ability, and all. In seeing that person, they learn to treat others well.” Decorating the door was Saeteurn’s way of showing the students that she sees them and that representation matters.

The Bellevue School District acknowledges that we learn, work, live and gather on the Indigenous Land of the Coast Salish peoples, specifically the Duwamish and Snoqualmie Tribes. We thank these caretakers of this land, who have lived and continue to live here, since time immemorial.