PROM 2026

Celebrating Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage Month

By Roxanne Moraga

Staff Writer

The month of May is Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month. The creation of this celebration began in Congress. Originally, it started as “Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week” during the first ten days in May of 1979. Continuing into the next decade, presidents passed proclamations for “Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week” annually. In 1992, Congress expanded the observance to the full month of May. The month of May was selected because it marks the first Japanese migration to the United States, which was on May 7, 1843. May was also chosen because it commemorates the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. Many of the workers on the railroad were Chinese immigrants. 

The theme for AANHPI Heritage Month 2026 is: “Power in Unity: Strengthening Communities Together.” This theme emphasizes the power of unity, telling our stories, and strengthening our communities. This year’s AANHPI artwork is an image of a bridge, which symbolizes the connection and unity in the AANHPI community. 

There are many people of AANHPI heritage who have made history. Larry Itliong was an important natural activist during the farm labor movement. He was born in the Philippines and traveled around the United States to coordinate strikes and labor unions. Itliong was most well known for organizing the Delano Grape Strike in 1965, which eventually led to the United Farm Workers (UFW) agricultural labor union. Fred Korematsu resisted the Japanese internment camps during World War II. Korematsu refused to go to the internment camp, which his family was forcibly taken to. Korematsu was arrested for refusing. In 1983, Korematsu’s conviction was revoked, and he received the Presidential Medal of Honor in 1998 for his activism. Duke Kahanamoku was a Hawaiian swimmer who was a five-time Olympic medalist. In addition, he also helped make surfing a popular sport. Anna May Wong was the first Asian American to become a movie star. Tammy Duckworth was the second Asian American to be in the United States Senate. Kalpana Chawla was the first Indian-American astronaut. 

There are many influential AANHPI people today. Some music artists include: Olivia Rodrigo, Laufey, beabadoobee, Saweetie, H.E.R., Bruno Mars, Nicole Scherzinger, James Iha from the Smashing Pumpkins, Mike Shinoda and Joe Hahn from Linkin Park, and Chi Cheng and Chino Moreno from Deftones. Some famous AANHPI authors include Jenny Han (who wrote The Summer I Turned Pretty) and Amy Tan (who wrote The Joy Luck Club). There are many famous AANHPI actors and actresses such as: Michelle Yeoh, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Momoa, Jackie Chan, Keanu Reeves, Awkwafina, and Ken Jeong. 

To celebrate AANHPI Heritage Month, you can support local Asian-owned businesses, attend festivals that celebrate AANHPI culture, go to museums that have exhibits that commemorate AANHPI culture, watch movies/TV shows about AANHPI history or that have AANHPI actors/actresses in it, read books written by Asian/Pacific Islander authors, listen to AANHPI music, or try Asian/Pacific Islander food and cuisine.

Formula 1 Circuit: May

By Erick Santiago

Staff Writer

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the final article of the school year. As the school year draws to a close, I wanted to take a brief moment to reflect on this year in The Circuit—and what another great year it's been. As always, it has been a great experience being around newspaper sponsors Mrs. Brady and Mrs. Scott and Circuit staff members and friends like James, Shelby, and Elena (who all happen to be seniors who I will very dearly miss!) There were many great memories made throughout the year, like going to the SWSC Newspaper Conference and eating at Cane’s afterwards. Even though, at times, writing these articles could be a lot of work, it was all well worth it, especially because of how much I felt like I belonged here. For that, I wanted to thank everyone here at The Circuit, and of course all of you, our readers, for giving our articles purpose. That being said, I wanted to congratulate all of our readers for making it through another school year, and seniors for making it through high school and graduating. Congratulations! Although, just because the school year is over, doesn’t mean that the Formula 1 season is over! There is plenty of action to be had on track, so allow me to guide you through the rest of May’s races, my personal favorite summer races, and more! 

Miami Race Recap & Montreal This month played host to arguably the most eventful Miami Grand Prix in the circuit’s history! There is just so much to cover from such a spectacular race, but I’ll do my best to keep it brief. The race opened in a stunning three way battle for the lead (competition that was not expected, especially during a year of significant regulation changes) between Kimi Antonelli, Lando Norris, and Charles Leclerc after the latter (Leclerc) stormed into the lead following a lock-up from both Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen. Verstappen ended up spinning only about a corner later, and somehow did not get hit by the numerous drivers behind! Then on laps five and six absolute chaos ensued, with Isack Hadjar tapping the wall and spinning out of control heading into the barriers, and Liam Lawson losing his engine mid battle into the final hairpin breaking zone causing him to hit Pierre Gasly, sending him flying upside down and into the barrier, a scary incident indeed. That prompted the Safety Car out though few, if any, pit considering it was only lap six. However, later on in the race, many argue Ferrari pitted Leclerc too early, costing him the fight for the win and making him fight with George Russell, who he had never been fighting with, in the first place. After others pit later, Leclerc was left to fight for a podium with Oscar Piastri which was a close, hard-fought battle until Leclerc spun in the same corner Verstappen did at the beginning of the race! He had tapped the barrier, unlike Verstappen, and had suspension damage that he needed to nurse to the finish line, cutting corners in the process, and finishing 8th after the FIA penalized him for driving a car that was unsafe and after cutting so many corners. Spectacularly, Antonelli won, once again, with Lando Norris finishing close behind, and Oscar Piastri rounding out the podium. One must wonder, after three incredible back to back wins, can Antonelli continue his championship charge, or will his more experienced teammate, George Russell, start to catch-up and give him a real fight? You can find that out starting with the final race this month has in store for as at…Montreal, Canada. If you can remember, this was the first F1 race I ever attended at last year’s Canadian Grand Prix which I reported on in The Circuit this past November. Being one of the most scenic tracks, as regarded by fans, the Canadian Grand Prix held at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve is certainly one you wouldn’t want to miss out on. Positioned on its own island (in a river), a short train ride away from downtown Montreal (which, fun fact: is also on its own island) you can see why many regard the circuit among the most beautiful on the F1 calendar. The track has many slow speed corners, with two hairpins, turn two and turn ten and many, MANY, left-right or right-left chicanes. However, that also means a lot of overtaking zones since the slow speed corners are usually preceded by straights, making the drivers have room to be gutsy on the brakes to attempt overtakes. The track has also played host to many tense moments, especially in last year’s Canadian Grand Prix where I personally witnessed a crash into turn one between the two championship contenders, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri who also happened to be teammates. For all the reasons above, Montreal makes for pretty good racing, racing you should not want to miss out on! This year, it is also a Sprint Race Weekend, with the Sprint beginning May 23rd at 11:00 AM, and the race following on May 24th at 3 PM. 

That’s all for the racing action in May, so now I’ll highlight…F1 Summer Race Favorites Where to start? I’d say the most recent. That would be the prestigious and historic Monaco Grand Prix. The Monaco Grand Prix has been on the Formula 1 calendar ever since the sport’s founding in 1950. It is a very tight street circuit, rendering it virtually IMPOSSIBLE to pass during the race, making qualifying the most important session of the weekend. Since the circuit is so tight (and historic), the race is as prestigious as some other races you may have heard of like the Indy 500, or the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Qualifying is on June 6th at 9:00 AM and the race is the following day June 7th at 8:00 AM. Next would be the Austrian Grand Prix happening on the 28th of June at 8:00 AM in Spielburg, Austria. This is a fantastic track for racing and overtaking, as the track should be host to three overtake zones and all types of corners! (The Overtake mode has replaced DRS in these new, more electric F1 regulations allowing drivers to harvest and deploy more energy when within one second of the car in front at the Overtake detection line, placed wherever the FIA sees fit at each track). Whilst not very accident prone, if you’re a fan of fast, hard racing with nail-biting battles, this is most certainly the race to watch for you! The following week, F1 travels to another one of my favorite races; the British Grand Prix. The British Grand Prix happens in Silverstone, UK and it houses one of the most historic and high speed circuits; the Silverstone Circuit. This Grand Prix, like Monaco, has been on the Formula 1 calendar ever since the sport was founded in 1950. However, unlike Monaco, this circuit’s layout has evolved over the years to best suit the cars as they evolve. Now, like I said, the circuit has some of the most high speed corners on the calendar from Corpse corner (turn 9) to the Maggots and Becketts corner complex (turns 10-14). With two expected overtake zones, and the way the circuit was designed, this track is another GREAT track for fast, hard racing with overtakes aplenty to come. The race is on July 5th at 9:00 AM. Finally, this list concludes with another fast, historic track/race, the Belgian Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit. It’s located in Francorchamps, Belgium and has also been on the Formula 1 calendar since the sport’s founding in 1950. It is currently the longest track on the F1 calendar spanning 4.352 miles, however, back then, the track used to be 9.258 miles long which is over double the length it is today! For context, that is such a long track, that when public roadways were used to complete the track, it spanned the length of three different towns! Most of the circuit’s corners are high-speed, with the most notable eau rouge-raidillon corners, which include an ever-so-slight left corner (eau rouge) before a longer right-hand corner that skyrockets upward, in terms of elevation (raidillon). With two expected overtake zones providing for some more exhilarating racing action, you sure wouldn’t want to miss the Belgian Grand Prix on July 19th at 8:00 AM. That’s all for this month, thank you all, again, for an amazing year. See you all again in September! 

GOOD LUCK TO THE CLASS OF 2026!