Our Teacher and Community Grants Recipients Inspire Us

The American Immigration Council is pleased to present the outcomes of our 2014-2015 Teacher and Community Grants. The grant program is an initiative to provide educators and community organizers with the resources they need to implement a successful immigration curriculum or an immigration-themed project. Grants are awarded on a bi-annual basis. The deadline for the next grant is June 29, 2015, so it’s not too late to apply by clicking here.

This year’s grant recipients epitomize both facets of our program in that they offer an easily reproducible Common Core aligned curriculum for teaching about immigration in the classroom as well as fulfilling a civic need for immigrants in the local community through the completion of a student-driven, student-led service project. The awardees are teachers Kerri Fenton and Debra Moreau from Joseph A. DePaolo Middle School, Southington, CT and Delia Lancaster from Saint Joseph Catholic School, Palm Bay, FL. We want to share their work with you to inspire similarly creative, engaging, and rigorous learning on immigration in your own classrooms and communities.

Educate, Celebrate, and Empower: This one-week immigration community outreach project and lesson plan developed by Kerri Fenton and Debra Moreau meets three objectives: 1) to educate students on the experiences of the immigrant population; 2) to celebrate and welcome immigrant students; and 3) to empower all students to implement a social justice project.   

Through research, interviews, reflection, and project-based learning, students wrestle with these essential questions over the course of the project: How do immigrants contribute to our school community? How can we create a welcoming school climate for individuals and their families of diverse backgrounds? What are commonalities and distinctions of immigration experiences?

One student wrote empathetically in response to what she learned that “the guest speakers [featured in this project] opened my mind to how hard it is for immigrants to come to a new country (learning the language, adapting to new culture and ways of life).”  

To view the lesson plan, please click here. Schools are encouraged throughout the year to discuss the diverse contributions of immigrants within their own communities. Some ideas are provided at the end of the lesson plan. Adaptations and extensions are encouraged.  

To read the students’ book review of Shaun Tan’s The Arrival we published, please click here.

Students creating "Welcoming Brochures" using Google Docs

Health First, Protections for Migrant Workers: This video and service-project created by Delia Lancaster brings awareness and assistance to those persons who perform the “unseen” and risky jobs of bringing fresh fruits and vegetables to our tables. As teacher Delia Lancaster says, “What began as a grant funding a simple video project, turned into a significant fundraising and service project, after our students learned of the extreme conditions faced by farm workers who live and work within twenty miles from our own comfortable homes.”  As the students researched, learned, and questioned the community that served them just 20 miles away, they became more invested and engaged to “do something.”  

Projects like these can happen organically, when students, teachers, and community members recognize an unmet need and feel compelled to act. This is the heart of social justice and service-learning in action. Take a cue from these students, Ms. Lancaster, and the Saint Joseph Catholic School community for a model of an immigrant-based, service-learning project by learning more about what ended up being a year-long project here.

To watch a short video of their first semester where students interviewed community members and created a news broadcast, please click here.

To watch a follow-up video of their second semester where students initiated and completed a fundraising drive for badly-needed toiletry items, please click here. 

As a result of their health care drive, students collected 258 hair care products, 507 dental care products, 475 body care products, 22 bottles of sunscreen 146 sticks of deodorant, 20 wide-brimmed hats, 30 pairs of sunglasses, and an assortment of baby products.

Top Photo Adults Pictured from Left to Right: Delia Lancaster, Art Teacher & Enrichment Facilitator, Saint Joseph Catholic School; Colette Heid, Communications Director, Treasure Coast Community Health; Moses Santos, Outreach Director, Treasure Coast Community Health; Claudia Stokes, Principal, Saint Joseph Catholic School

Treasure Coast Community Health Center is a non-profit organization that provides medical, dental and mental health services for people who could otherwise not afford those services. You can visit their website at www.tcchinc.org

Our lesson, Interpreting the Impact of Cesar Chavez’s Early Years, is primary-source, Common-Core aligned lesson that asks students to analyze how Chavez’s own words and early life experiences led to his later achievements that features the news broadcast produced by Saint Joseph Academy students and is an excellent model for social justice in action today.

We invite book reviews written by teachers or students and we offer free lesson plans, resources, and grants to #teachimmigration. Stay connected! Follow us on twitter @ThnkImmigration
 

How Immigrant Students Strengthen American Schools

-- Contributed by Eileen Gale Kugler

Photo by WoodleyWonderWorks

A high school chemistry teacher engaged his students in a discussion of the relationship of science and society, which quickly evolved into safety testing and animal rights. A student in the back shyly raised his hand. “What are ‘animal rights’?” he asked. Recently emigrating from an African country to escape starvation, his deep connection to animals was based in their vital role of providing food and clothing. The rest of the class thoughtfully quieted. Many had never considered what it might be like if they didn’t come home to a well-stocked refrigerator, complete with vegetarian options. The teacher knew this was a moment of awareness that he couldn’t have taught alone. His students were thinking critically beyond their own frame of reference, inspired by a peer.

A kindergartener told a visitor that her friend would not be in class that day. Her classmate was visiting his grandparents in Korea. This young student could even show you where Korea is on the map in the front of the room. Her world view, at five, was that her friends might have family who were not born in the same place as hers, who ate different foods, who sometimes used words she didn’t understand. She couldn’t wait for her friend to come back to see what new things he would bring for show-and-tell from far-away Korea.

A young mother worried that her son would be teased at school. In first grade, he wore a baseball cap to cover his bald head, the result of the disease alopecia areata. But his head became itchy and he soon took the cap off. What happened that year and the rest of his time at this school? Nothing. Because at this school, there was no such thing as being “different” – some students sang songs in Spanish, some had freckles that came out when they played in the sun, some wound their long hair in turbans, and some had no hair. That’s just life.

Yes, this is life in schools with immigrant students. There are enrichments on so many levels because of the diversity of experiences and background knowledge. A middle school world history teacher put the academic enhancements this way: “I know I have to be extra prepared for what I teach every day because the students bring such a range of perspectives and insights to discussions,” adding, “That’s why I love teaching in this school.”

The many contributions of immigrant students go largely unnoticed. Our society values schools based on their high average test scores or the predominance of middle-class students (strongly linked together), ignoring the unique benefits of schools rich with immigrant students of every economic level. Many American-born parents with the luxury of choosing a school seek places where there are others with backgrounds like their own child, rather than seeing the value – academic as well as social – in schools with immigrant students.

Immigrant students and their families contribute to the learning of every one who is a part of that school. I know this first-hand from the experiences of my family as our children went to one of the most ethnically and economically diverse public high schools in the country, in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. They are now well-educated broad-minded adults, engaged in the world around them. And my husband and I learned so much from the immigrant families, like resilience and commitment, all the while enjoying the opportunity to share in family celebrations from a quinceañera, a joyous coming-of-age for a 15-year old Latina, to a Seik wedding with the groom riding in on a white horse.

And I know the benefits that immigrants bring to a school from my work strengthening school culture around the world over the past decade. With diverse perspectives and insights, classroom discussions become more dynamic. Students learn to question more, to think more deeply, and to collaborate effectively with those who are different from themselves. They become better problem-solvers, understanding that there is more than one "right” perspective. 

Stereotypes break down and evaporate in these schools. At a high school basketball game, a mother wondered out loud why the star player was a little off. Her daughter rolled her eyes, saying, “Mom, don’t you know it is Ramadan and she fasted all day?”

But this enriched learning environment doesn’t take place in every multicultural school. Only when immigrant students feel truly connected to school will they engage in their learning and share their own wisdom. It takes hard work from the school leadership and the entire school community to create a culture of equity where every student, and every family, feels authentically welcomed and valued. As one experienced principal said to me, “When we saw an influx of immigrant students to our school, we thought all we had to do was welcome them with open arms. But we soon learned that is not enough.”

Instead of focusing on test-taking skills and fact drills to diminish the achievement gap, schools need to first pay attention to building a culture that says every student of every background has value. It requires some challenging introspection about how the school and the classrooms operate, beyond the curriculum and instructional methods.

Tough questions need to be asked. Do the “traditions” of the school mean we do it the way it has always been done and newcomers must just fit in? Are English Language Learners isolated in a corner of the school with little integration into school life? Are immigrants viewed as people who need simply to be taught the American way, with no one listening to the lessons that they can teach the rest? Are well-meaning teachers lowering expectations for immigrant students out of pity because they focus on what they may lack?

Creating a culture of equity is important to American society because of the inherent unfairness of providing some students a meaningful education and some not. But it is more than that. It is about valuing the innate ability of every child, recognizing their strengths, and helping them thrive and contribute in school and in society at large. This benefits each of us, and the future of American society depends upon it.

Parents like me, whose children were part of strong multicultural schools, know that our families were given a gift. Yet we still fight the image that a multicultural school is not academically challenging, not a good place for every student.

“How can we get parents beyond these school walls to understand how special these schools are?” asked a parent at a community dialogue I led. By sharing the truth, I replied.

Let’s break down the myths and hail the values that immigrant students bring to our schools every day. We all need the lessons that they can teach us.

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Eileen Gale Kugler helps schools develop positive high-achieving culture that values every student and family. She is author of the award-winning “Debunking the Middle-class Myth: Why Diverse Schools are Good for All Kids” and Executive Editor of the global resource, Innovative Voices in Education: Engaging Diverse Communities. She can be reached at EKugler@EmbraceDiverseSchools. Follow her on Twitter at @embracediversiT

Want to read more? Click here to purchase Innovative Voices in Education: Engaging Diverse Communities and read our book review of this important resource. 

Join our free summer book club! Combat summer reading loss and learn about immigration with high school students, parents, and administrators with our guidance. Click here for details to sign up by Friday, June 5, 2015.

Stay connected with us via our education blog and our website for related resources and lessons to #teachimmigration. Follow us on Twitter at @ThnkImmigration.