Throughout the semester we have talked about the different challenges that the immigrant and refugee children face went entering a new country. We first discussed this issue after watching the film The Mexican Laborer. Pedro's children had to assimilate not only to the new culture in the United States, but into their new classrooms. Many children immigrants/refugees, just like Pedro's children, have challenges like learning the new language, building  a new social network, adapting to the new education system and simply feeling welcomed. 

The three stories in this collection, two written articles and one from the radio, speak about how nonprofit organizations such as the "Internationals Network for Public Schools" work with immigrant kids to provide them with an education. Many of the children that these organizations work with have been in the U.S. for four years or less, many come from detention camps, have been separated from one or both of their parents, and many are poor children living in shelters or even on the streets. These life experiences inevitably have a negative psychological effect on these children. The schools described in these articles talk about the ways they are trying to combat these negative outcomes. They help the children feel welcomed by having every class be a language class, they "engage students in learning through work that interests them, giving them a compelling reason to learn English." This way students work together, motivate and support one another to learn the language quicker. Another idea that was used by Acacia WoodsChan at Castlemont High School in Oakland, California to help immigrant children feel welcomed in the classroom was encouraging students to teach each other little bits of their native languages. Those speaking Mam or Arabic taught those speaking Spanish and vice versa. This is a beautiful way for immigrant children to feel welcomed and accepted. These children began to gain confidence to reach out to one another and begin to create social circles regardless of the cultural lines.

After reading these articles I feel more optimistic for the future of this country and their acceptance of immigrants and refugees, especially children.  I think the ideas that these schools have for helping children feel welcomed are fascinating and they seem to work. I think it's important for school officials to be aware of the growing population of children who come from countries with completely different cultures, languages, customs, and traditions. No matter what their legal status is, I believe everyone deserves an education especially because these children can better our country in the future. 

In regards to the context of reception, all three of the stories are welcoming of these immigrant and refugee children into their schools and communities. They aim to make the children feel confident, involved and accepted rather than isolated. I believe all the solutions that were talked about in these articles are effective and very relevant in today's world. I think these solutions would be most accepted in a continuous gateways, like New York or Chicago, where the immigrant population is already high. They are continuing to welcome immigrant and refugees into their community so it would be easier for these children to feel welcomed.

Extra Credit: I shared my collection with my older brother. He said he felt that there is more that educational institutions can do to help the children feel welcomed. He believed these solutions are a good place to begin, but that more should be done to fully incorporate these children and their backgrounds into the classroom. Immigrant children and refugees have often times gone through things we can never imagine going through and the pain they hold inside of them is something that is difficult to find a solution to. Perhaps they will never feel welcomed because they don't believe this is their home and that is something my brother thinks is important to consider. He says although there is still much more that needs to be done, it's interesting to read stories written from a solutions perspective because often times in the news it is all negative. His perspective did not change because we both have a lot of personal history regarding this topic that has shaped our perspective more than these articles can, but he says he does feel more hopeful for the future as well. 

My brother's perceptive did surprise me. Reading these articles did not have a huge impact on him because he thinks that the issue with immigrant children is greater than simply sharing languages with one another. I do understand why he thinks this way, as I stated earlier, he has a lot of personal experiences with this topic which has shaped his perspective. Overall, I think this assignment was really interesting and fun. It feels nice to read articles that offer solutions rather than simply stating all the issues .