Where I am, and Where I Want To Go...

In light of the recent travel ban implemented via executive order under the current presidential administration, targeting primarily Muslim countries, I have been reflecting on the importance of educating myself on the unique struggles on refugee populations in order to be a better advocate. I have grown up and live in an immigrant community, and have been caught up in immigrant rights work for nearly a decade now, but as a future ESL teacher who will undoubtedly work with refugee students at some point, it is critical that I become more knowledgeable about the differences, similarities, and intricacies of their cultures. During my time as a youth organizer, I worked very closely with South Division High School, Wisconsin's largest bilingual school, where dozens of languages are spoken by students. Many are from various Asian and African countries, and while many were incredibly interested in getting involved in immigrant rights work, I struggled to connect with them linguistically and culturally which inevitably caused a rift in their ability to be involved. There are more refugees in the world today than at any other point in history, and the majority of those refugees are children. This fact is devastating. Our schools must be a safe haven for refugee children and their families in spite of the hateful political rhetoric that is elevated in the country today.  These children will rely on their public school teachers to provide them with the education that they were unable to receive in their home countries. 

UNHCR: Global Trends in 2015

I am aware that Milwaukee Public Schools has Newcomer Programs in place to support refugee and immigrant students who are English Language Learners. Support is also provided for teachers who will be working with the newcomer students through these programs, but I do not know what that support looks like. In my own experience I have met mostly Burmese and Somali refugee students, but surely there are many more from other countries. I would like to find resources that allow me to represent students' diverse cultures in lessons. This would also pave a path towards helping students realize the intersectionality of their experiences as immigrants, children of immigrants, and refugees in the ESL community. One topic I am also interested in learning more about is how post-traumatic stress disorder experienced by refugee youth affects academic performance, and how to take precautions to not trigger a student’s trauma.  

From I See The Sun in Myanmar (Burma) by Dedie King & Judith Inglese

List of relevant resources for further research:

1.     MPS International Newcomer Center: http://mps.milwaukee.k12.wi.us/en/Programs/International-Newcomer-Center.htm

2.     Educating Somali Students in Kansas by Emporia State University: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lne63CyiGw4

3.     Educating Burmese Students in Kansas by Emporia State University: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ-0oztWgwY

4.   How to Support Refugee Students in the ELL Classroom from Colorin Colorado:: http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/how-support-refugee-students-ell-classroom

Welcome!

My name is Francisca Eugenia Meráz, I go by Kika for short. I am in the first year of my Curriculum and Instruction Masters program at UW-Milwaukee, and I am also studying for my teaching license in English as a Second Language (ESL). I grew up bilingual (Spanish and English), went to MPS schools from k5 through 12th grade, and during my first few years of elementary school I was also an ESL student. I still live in the same neighborhood that I grew up in on the Southside of Milwaukee, and I have no desire to leave my hood, mi barrio. My professional goals in the short term are to reinvest what Milwaukee and its public schools gave me and become an ESL teacher at the high school level. Check out this link to view some brief summaries on MPS's Bilingual and Multicultural learning opportunities.