While at times this year divisions within our country have been emphasized, an event on Wednesday at South High School was a timely reminder of how much we have in common across the extraordinarily diverse student body we are so lucky to have in Denver Public Schools. Award-winning author Helen Thorpe was revisiting a classroom of 22 immigrant and refugee teenagers at South -- the same students she wrote about in her new critically acclaimed book, "The Newcomers: Finding Refuge, Friendship, and Hope in an American Classroom."

"I was watching students arrive and feel so glad to have a safe home, sometimes for the first time in their lives," Thorpe shared of her experience getting to know the English Language Acquisition (ELA) students at South. "The reality of their lives here was so different from that of the political rhetoric unfolding at that time. ... Our national dialogue was getting so skewed, so much more polarized and not based in truth. I want to do whatever I can to fix that and represent families better."

 

DPS classrooms are enriched by more than 36,600 students who speak 194 different world languages. These students make up 42% of the total DPS student population. Our ELA programs support these culturally and linguistically diverse students so that they can participate equally and meaningfully in the classroom.

 

South High School is home to one of six Newcomer Centers in the district, designed for students who are new to the United States, some of whom have had little formal education in the war-torn countries from which they have come.  In these newcomer centers, students receive specialized English instruction with low student-adult ratios that prepare them for participation in the school.

 

Having met with some of these students at South and reading Helen's eloquent telling of their experiences, it's hard not to beam with pride at the courage and tenacity our students demonstrate. So many of them have overcome unimaginable odds in countries halfway across the world and are facing completely new situations each day with grace and a determination to learn and create a better life.

 

It's incredibly humbling and inspiring -- and incredibly American. Their stories are the stories of so many of our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents.

 

Edward Williams, the ELA teacher whose classroom Thorpe observed for her book, shared that, "In our day-to-day life, our classrooms seem really normal but, in fact, they are really special." Indeed, they are a place where our students can be safe, supported, encouraged and ultimately given the opportunity to thrive. And we are fortunate to learn from them.

 

"When Ms. Thorpe asked to write about me, I didn't know why anyone would want to," said 11th-grade student Methusella from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. "I see my story now in her book and I'm proud to share my refugee story."