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I am not someone who was before.
All memories in my camera roll
Make me cry every time.
But here I am.
Adapting to a new lifestyle:
New language, people, school and life
Or should I use the word "survive"?
You're reading an excerpt from a poem that Polina Medianyk, a grade 10 student at Thomas A. Blakelock High School, wrote for the book created by a group of English Language Learners (ELL), detailing their experiences as newcomers to Canada. She wrote the poem in both English and Ukrainian.
Students in the school's English as a Second Language (ESL) program shared their memories from home and feelings in a project spearheaded by ESL teachers Katie Attwell, Sylvia Gonçalves, and Frana Barry.
Among the 50 participants in the project, only those who felt comfortable got their work in the form of poems, stories, or paragraphs published in the book, Finding Myself: Far Away From Home. Each student wrote it in English as well as their native language.
"I really enjoyed communicating with other students, many of whom I didn't know before. And when I read the stories of students from other countries with similar experiences, I realized that we're not alone," shared Medianyk, who moved to Canada from Ukraine last summer.
For starters, when newcomers to Halton District School Board (HDSB) indicate that English isn't their first language during registration, the Welcome Center does a language assessment to help determine if the students need support with language proficiency. Based on the results, many students are sent to a school with ESL support.
T.A. Blakelock HS has seen significant growth in the population of newcomer families in its catchment area.
Explaining a shift in how ESL is taught now, Atwell shared, "We want to make it more interactive and communicative and give them authentic situations where they're using the language and building the skills."
The project's idea came out of an HDSB professional development program when newcomer stories, who are split between cultures, were shared.
"And I thought this would be great for our students because their voice is so valuable, and it should be shared," Atwell recollected.
Publishing the book was part of a larger month-long project in which students were assigned different roles across various teams, such as publicity, presentation and podcasting.
About the ESL program, Atwell pointed out, "It creates a safe, a safe landing spot where we can help students build confidence in the language, confidence in the school system, and confidence in our school community and build some positive peer connections to help them be successful in whatever their future goals are."
"When I listened to the conversations of non-ELL students after the book launch, who came out in large numbers, I realized that we're opening up ELL perspectives to all students. That's the power of creating a safe and inclusive school," Kerry Sagar, vice-principal, said.
Since its launch on April 12, 71 copies have been sold. You can purchase it online here, with the proceeds from which will go to the T.A. Blakelock Angel Fund to support students with various needs.