We’re Not Supposed To Have Favorites, Take Two

I live in a rural state with a very homogenous population. When I first learned that families from Venezuela would be enrolling students in my high school reading classes, I prepared myself with WIDA trainings and, since I’ve always learned about the world through reading, compiling a summer book list for myself. Top of the list was the fictional novel We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez.

When I first met Jesus, I recognized immediately that he epitomizes the phrase “Carpe diem.” He is full of energy and heart.

The first assignments I have newcomers complete are related to getting to know the school and getting to know my students. Before I can teach them any language or content, I ensure they are navigating the school community comfortably and prioritizing connection. They complete a checklist indicated what they may need within the school, and they draw a cartoon of 3 scenes from their lives. You can get those assignments on my One Teacher One Book Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Jesus was writing a story about his journey to the United States. He indicated that he had traveled by car, bus, train, boat, and foot. Then he blew me away by showing me a video of himself whistling, arms held out wide, standing on top of a freight train. Now, I had just read this scene from We Are Not From Here:

We watch as women reach down for their children, as men lift toddler and babies into waiting arms. There are pairs and trios of young people traveling together, and men who look much older than us, waling up and down the train figuring out where might be the best place to sit. Those on board sit on the beast’s back under the grueling sun. They cover their faces, the backs of their heads and necks from the sun. Others use cardboard pieces as sunshields. We watch them sweating and melting […]

Trees and ramshackle building blue by past the opening. More people on the train wake up, and now in the daylight, I see there are even more of us than I realized. Maybe more than a hundred. And that’s not counting the small children swallowed up by the crowd, who I don’t see but can hear crying and asking for food. Someone close to the opening yells that we mut be in Ixtepec, and after a while, he yells that we’re near the train yard. And industrial warehouses, ugly and solitary, come into view as we rumbe in and come to a gasping, lurching stop. Everyone from the boxcar begins climbing off the train. As they walk into the sunlight, I see them covered in the remnants of the dust and powder of whatever this train car carries. They look ashen. They look like corpses.

Here was a young man smiling broadly because his family was now safe in a new community.

In the midst of trauma and challenges, he also felt hope and exuberance.

Here I was, worried new students might get lost navigating the hallways of the large high school, concerned with making sure they learned how to enter their school ID number to get lunch, when in fact they have just navigated international borders.

Kids are resilient. Their ability to learn is wondrous.

Jesus taught me never to underestimate the experiences and abilities of the teens in my class, and to rejoice in the positive possibilities of the future.

Tomorrow Jesus will graduate from high school. He will wear the black & orange robes of our school colors, and he will also wear a stole around his neck customized with the flags of the United States and Venezuela. And guaranteed, he will be smiling broadly.

Here are some books I recommend to gain understanding of your newcomers:

The book that changed my perspective.

I saw Javier Zamora speak at the NCTE conference in Anaheim in 2023. Read his memoir of journeying to the U.S. as a 9-year-old child traveling solo. He was inspiring and humble in sharing his experiences. You can see him at the upcoming WIDA conference this fall, October 2025, in Seattle.

This book is on my TBR list for this summer.