Director of STEM (7-12) & Health and Human Performance (K-12); Vice President / Age 39
Appleton Area School District (AASD)/United Hmong American Association
Thai Xiong says he is living the American Dream, having been born in the refugee camps of Thailand as his family fled the Vietnam War. He’s now “able to offer experiences to my children that I was not exposed to growing up in poverty,” Xiong says.
Xiong, who has a doctorate in education, credits mentors for helping direct his pathway to education and community leadership. “It only takes a moment in time for someone to say you are good enough and this is what you should be doing in the future,” he says.
His family is a key influence as well. “Being highly educated in the western culture is only being half of a man in the Hmong culture,” Xiong says. “The other half is knowing who you are, where you came from and how to carry on your family’s culture.”
As an educator, Xiong supports equity in education and elevating underserved communities; he has provided opportunities for Hmong students in academic support, cultural enrichment, mentoring and leadership. He has also built a robust and certified science program of engineering, biomedical and computer science for middle and high school.
In Northeast Wisconsin, “districts have struggled to hire and retain staff that reflect their schools’ diversity,” he says. “It is important to make everyone feel comfortable and connected at home, at school, in the workplace and in the community.”
