Austin Asian American Cultural Center

In keeping with their holistic philosophies on health and education, teachers at the Magic Dragon School at the Austin Asian American Cultural Center incorporate wellness and balance into the diets and minds of children attending the school.

Founder and CEO Amy Wong Mok said the center is a place where east meets west. “It’s a place of exchange – every activity has an educational aspect. We want to do something for every age group,” she said. The center also provides free ESL, and language and citizenship classes, as well as hosting weekly dances and potlucks for older members of the community.

The school kitchen serves fresh fruits and seasonal vegetables alongside chicken, pork, beef or salmon, dumplings, homemade steamed buns, egg pancakes with herbs and always a warm soup at the start of each meal.  Mok sais, “The Cantonese believe that a warm soup at the beginning of a meal wakes up your stomach.”  Although the school chef serves Asian food four days a week, they allow macaroni and cheese with vegetables on Fridays. The school age kids also attend cooking classes. “We teach them the names of the knives. They will say, ‘Oh Ms. Amy, you’re using a cleaver.’ They know their tools. I’ve found that picky eaters try more things after the cooking classes,” Mok said.

The center also hosts a weekly farmers market on Wednesdays (except in July and August), where neighborhood residents line up to buy organic fruit and produce from Angel Valley Farm. The kids’ school also stocks up on the farm’s produce once a week. Mok says she doesn’t charge the farmers to use the property. “How much can I charge a farmer? Forget about it. They work hard, I love farmers,” she said. The students and teachers even maintain a garden where they grow melons, herbs and Chinese green beans. “I think it’s important for them to have green around them, not just concrete,” Mok said.

Mok moved to Austin in 1983, and started her career as a psychotherapist, where she said, “it was my job to help people see what they have, not what they don’t. To see all the blessings.” When she learned that 85 percent of brain development happens before the age of five, she was inspired to find a way to teach young children to be respectful, mindful and healthy individuals. “All the leaders I truly admire have a certain grace of character. I want to instill that in the children,” she said. “They care, are curious and creative. Those help to build confidence, then they can have courage to lead and take on things they are not familiar with.”

Of course, the kids must also have teachers who embody these same traits. Mok is responsible for 14 paychecks, and TexHealth Central Texas covers five of her employees. (The rest are covered by spousal insurance). “My employees say they are very happy with TexHealth. Health care is such an important safety net. You’re talking about equity and quality of life,” Mok said. “This isn’t entitlement, it’s what every citizen should expect.”