This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
My Students
My 8th graders are curious scholars who get excited about current events, nationally and globally. They are acutely aware of the socioeconomic challenges facing themselves and their families. My goal is to take their enthusiasm for learning and empower them to make a difference in their communities.
My students used the first week of school to write and share "I Am From" poems, reflecting on their personal histories and family backgrounds.
Through these poems, students shared the challenges they have faced in their lives: first hand-accounts of immigrating to America, losing grandparents and siblings, and taking on child-care and other domestic roles at an early age. But they also described the close connections they have to their families and the pride they take in their cultures.
Students recounted holiday traditions of making tamales en masse and Sundays spent playing with their cousins at backyard barbecues. Regardless of their background, all my students come to our small school for the same reason, to be nurtured in a warm environment and held to rigorous expectations for college and career readiness.
My Project
My students will all participate in a lesson to learn about Malala Yousafzai prior to taking our field trip to see "He Named Me Malala". They will learn about women's rights in other countries as well as Malala's specific involvement with the issue. Following their trip to see "He Named Me Malala", students will participate in a reflection activity.
A critical component of our school culture is a "community circle", where students meet with the same cohort of students and the same teacher twice a week to discuss social, academic, and personal topics in a candid setting. To reflect on the movie and apply it to their lives, students will share out ideas for problems they see in their community and ideas they have to address them. This will then become an ongoing project that culminates in the execution of a service project on Cesar Chavez Day.
Given the backgrounds of my students, I think it will be powerful for them to witness the success of a young girl overcoming great obstacles.
This trip will allow my students to see that circumstances do not have to dictate the outcomes of a person's life. They will be able to understand the impact that one person can have and become inspired to make changes in their own communities.
More than three‑quarters of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Darkjian and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
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