About Us
Meet Our Team and Learn About the Herstory/History of Bayani ng Kabataan
Our Mission
Bayani ng Kabataan (BNK) -The Filipino American Cultural and Social Justice School aims to build a K-8 school for Filipino/a/x students to have a well-rounded education in language, culture, traditional values, history, social justice, and community building.
Our Story
The original Bayani ng Kabataan (BNK) was established in the late 1990s as an initiative of the Filipino Youth Coalition (FYC) San Jose, aimed at serving middle school, high school, and college students. Its formation responded to a significant gap in culturally relevant education, as Filipino community schools were exceedingly scarce across the United States. The BNK program drew inspiration from various models of culturally rooted education, including City Year’s Young Heroes program, the Black Panther Party’s Freedom Schools, and ethnic community schools established by Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Māori communities. Guided by these precedents, BNK developed a curriculum centered on Philippine and Filipino American history and culture, youth leadership development, community advocacy, critical consciousness, and collective identity formation. The program began in San José as FYC’s Saturday community school and, in 2021, revived and shifted to pilot a K–6 online program focusing on elementary aged children, continuing its commitment to culturally responsive education for Filipino youth.
Our Vision
Through a student-centered curriculum and approach, we hope to inspire our Filipina/o/x American youth to see the beauty in their culture and in themselves. It is our hope that students through our program become motivated and empowered to become future community leaders and world changers.
