A Bronx Tale
TC Students Help Some of City’s Newest Residents Compete in a New School and a New Country

Since the fall of 2005, the group has spent each Saturday together as part of a TC EdZone pilot program designed to help them compete equally in their new school. On Saturday, May 6, the group celebrated their accomplishments over the past school year.

Gillian Kasirye, a Teachers College doctoral student in the anthropology and education program, proposed the idea of a Saturday session while doing fieldwork at Bronx International High School. Three years ago, New York City Schools established the school for newly immigrated students. Nearly three quarters of the students are Hispanic and the others are African. Many of the African children have lived in war-torn areas and may have had less than five years of formal education. Still, as 15-year-olds, they begin in ninth grade and are expected to perform at the same level as their native-born peers.

Under the leadership of Dr. Dawn Arno, director of the TC EdZone, TC students prepared a curriculum of social studies, visual arts, computer technology and math for the students. The students were divided into two groups, those who were advanced in math and those still struggling with English. Both groups spent an hour in social studies and then computer lab and an hour-and-a-half in either math or visual arts. After a half-hour lunch, the students resumed with a final hour of studio time. Students did not receive specific English instruction, learning the language instead through immersion and interpreting for each other when necessary.

For ninth-grader Fatamouta, the computer time was invaluable because she had not used them in her native Guinea. But her real joy was art. In the U.S. for only six months, Fatamouta still needs the help of an interpreter, Bronx IHS teacher Moussa Sane. But she and her classmate Oumou found that following English instructions helped improve their English some.

The high school students used drawing, painting and collage to communicate about experiences in their native countries and to trace their journeys to New York City. The group also visited the Museum of Modern Art to view an exhibition featuring works by artists born in Islamic countries and to discuss Jasper John’s “Flag,” a painting whose subject is open to continual and personal interpretation based on the viewer’s experiences.

“She’s never had ideas like that before,” says Moctar of his daughter Oumou’s artwork. “She talks to me about it every day and rushes me to get up on Saturday mornings. She loves it."

Others also reported a positive impact. “The program helps be do my homework,” says Fanta from Guinea. “This helps me go to school without being late.” Julia from the Dominican Republic says, “I was able to relate the work with what I was doing in school."

TC student SeugOh Paek, who taught social studies each Saturday, identified strongly with the high school students, having lived in the United States for only four years herself. “I still remember how nervous I was when I had to talk with people in English, and how I felt when I couldn’t explain my feelings and thoughts in English. I remember how much confidence I lost in myself,” Paek says. “I really wanted to cheer them up, encourage them and help them be proud of themselves.

Kimberly Chandler, also a TC student who taught social studies, says she valued the opportunity to learn about the students’ home countries, languages and cultures as much as the teaching experience. “I came into the TC EdZone Saturday program thinking that they would be learning from me, however, I learned much more by teaching them.

Saber, a 15-year-old boy who came to New York from Bangladesh two years ago, already signed up for next year’s program if it is being continued. “The math classes helped me remember the stuff I had learned in my country.

Bronx IHS Principal Norma Vega attended nearly every Saturday and witnessed an increase in the students’ confidence and ability. “This program gives them the opportunity to see what the possibilities are.”