Thursday, June 16, 2011
At least 60 students from international backgrounds will collect diplomas along with the rest of the Class of 2011.
Among them will be Yessi Gar-Elnabi, 18, who remembers that “hi” was the extent of his English when he arrived in Burlington six years ago from the Sudan, via an Egyptian refugee camp where his family had fled to escape civil war in their home country. The frightened boy is gone, replaced with an articulate, college-bound student who will study psychology at Johnson State College in the fall. He organized the party and invited other immigrant and refugee students from Burlington High School to recognize their progress and the graduation — a special milestone for refugee families who in many cases had little chance at education in Africa.
“I’m trying to celebrate, like, success with this community,” Gar-Elnabi said. “So I thought it would be a good idea to throw a party, have everyone come.”
He also wanted to acknowledge King Street’s role in helping him and other refugee students, and to bring together students originally from Sudan, Somalia, Congo and other African countries one more time before graduation sends them on separate paths. “We’re trying to sustain our culture,” he said. “A lot of people, when they come here, they change, they forget their languages.”
The occasion was a happy one for the soon-to-be graduates, several of whom talked of excitement, bittersweet good-byes and jitters about the next step. Hani Musa, 18, said graduation will be like a dream come true for her after arriving here with her Somali family from a refugee camp in Kenya in 2005. After she collects her high school diploma, she’s heading to Southern Vermont College in Bennington in the fall to study nursing. No one else in her family has attended college.
“My mom is so excited,” she said.
The party was a moment of inspiration for students in line to graduate next year. Among them: Mamie Biosa, 18, a junior at BHS who is originally from Congo and lived in Tanzania before coming to Burlington in 2004. “Since we came here, our dream was to get the education. It paid off,” she said.
King Street serves about 500 children and families annually. Programs include a Head Start pre-school, an after-school program for elementary and middle-school students and the Castle Camp summer program that operates all day, five days a week when school lets out.
The Teen Futures program draws middle and high school students to the center five nights a week for help with homework, college applications and job ideas. A job club allows teens to run a popular fresh lemonade stand downtown during the summer.
Some 50 percent to 80 percent of the center’s young patrons, depending on the program, are African refugees from countries including Somalia, Sudan, Burundi and Congo. Many of these youths and their families arrived in Burlington over the past six years under the auspices of the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program.
Ten years ago, the children at King Street were mostly white, English-speaking youngsters from low-income families with deep roots in the neighborhood. Now the neighborhood is home to many immigrant and refugee families, and those are the ones taking advantage of King Street these days. The demographics have definitely shifted, said Vicky Smith, executive director of King Street. “We just try to make it work so that everybody feels welcome,” Smith said.
The party celebrated the impressive strides some refugee students have made. But that’s not the whole the story. Smith and other social-service directors in Burlington spoke at a recent city School Board meeting about immigrant and refugee students who are struggling academically and in some cases graduating despite low proficiency in reading and writing. King Street is working to design programming for high school graduates because of the strong connection the center has with many refugee students.
And though programs are important, so are people, Smith said, to stand in as mentors for youths who need a steady, reliable individual to guide them through life’s stages and tasks, from completing a science fair project to applying to college and for a job.
“The hand-holding is really critical, and we have felt particularly over the last two to three years that really become more urgent here,” Smith said.
Several Burlington teachers attended the party to congratulate students, as did Burlington High School principal Amy Mellencamp. She said it can take six to 10 years for students to embrace a new language fully, and this is a factor in outcomes. Many English language learners at the high school are going on to college, she said, while some seek jobs after graduation.
For students who haven’t graduated, the high school offers a range of support including summer-school courses in math and English. King Street has been an important partner with the school district, she said.
Many of the teens at the party have been coming to King Street since they first arrived in the states, and it’s been a second home. Gar-Elnabi has spent hours doing homework at the center with help from staff and volunteers. He’s grateful to King Street for helping him learn to focus and work independently, he said.
Gar-Elnabi summed up the challenge for graduating seniors: “It’s going to be up to you now. ... Now you’ve got to take that responsibility. I think I’m ready.”