Dallas ISD Program Celebrates Immigrant & Refugee Students’ Diversity – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Lee A. McShan Jr. Elementary School in the Vickery Meadow neighborhood of Dallas has a diverse student body.

“We have students from Burma and Congo, Eritrea, Somalia, Afghanistan and Malaysia,” said fourth grader Arianna Zeb. “A lot of the kids here at McShan are refugees and immigrants.”

So Zeb started a program called Voices of Vickery. It’s a year-long essay and photo project that encourages students to look back at where they came from and look forward to where they want to go.

“I’m so proud of these children and their resilience and curiosity because it is really difficult for families when they first move to America,” said Zeb. “Their different backgrounds really bring so much to our school and our community, and I wanted the students to have the opportunity to share this with other people.”

Fifth grader Ruksana is a refugee who was born in Bangladesh and moved from Burma to Dallas. She was part of Voice of Vickery last year as a fourth grade student.

“I think it’s interesting because some other people are from other countries and their languages ​​are cool to learn; and their food, their culture, their dance, their music are interesting,” she said.

“We can all make connections with one another,” said Zeb. “I think it is important that children realize this at a young age.”

For the past two years, Voices of Vickery has received a $ 2,400 Innovative Teaching Scholarship from the Junior League of Dallas.

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Dallas ISD Program Celebrates Immigrant & Refugee Students’ Diversity