Guest Blogger Lydia Breiseth is the manager of the bilingual English-Spanish website Colorín Colorado, whose mission is to provide educators and parents with information about teaching English language learners to read and succeed. Ms. Breiseth began her career teaching English to adults in Ecuador with the educational exchange program WorldTeach, and has subsequently taught English and Spanish in a variety of educational and family literacy programs to students of all ages. Prior to working at Colorín Colorado, Ms. Breiseth served as the Community Affairs Liaison at Telemundo Washington DC, managing outreach initiatives to the region’s Hispanic community.

As I read through the deluge of news reports and heartbreaking stories during the early aftermath of the Haiti earthquake, one particular report from Florida stood out:

Phones rang off the hook at Evans High, the Pine Hills school with a significant Haitian population that immediately set up a donations site after the earthquake.  More than 650 Evans students — about one-third of its student body — are Haitian.

“Central Florida pitches in to help Haiti”, Orlando Sentinel, 1/15/10

To think of such a huge percentage of a school’s population being affected by the earthquake is staggering; what really struck me, however, was that image of community members being so moved and concerned for the students in their school that they picked up the phone, called the school, and found out what they could do to help the students affected by the earthquake.

By offering support and donations to their local school, these community members made a powerful statement: we will care for all of the students in our schools – no matter who they are, and no matter where they are from.  It is an especially important message in these days of heated immigration debates and discussions about our obligations (or lack thereof) to children of immigrants in this country.

In subsequent days, I have seen other such stories from around the nation – not just Florida and New York, but Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin, and Maryland.  Communities have mobilized to support their Haitian families, and their commitment to their neighbors is a welcome glimmer during a period of tragedy and loss.

As the communities rally, educators now have a daunting task to build a support network for students affected by the earthquake, and continue discussion with other students who want to better understand what has happened in Haiti.  For ideas and resources that will help those efforts, take a look at the following articles from Colorín Colorado and Reading Rockets:

Helping Haitian Students Cope with the Earthquake
www.colorincolorado.org/article/35420

It Happened Over There: Understanding and Empathy Through Children’s Books
www.readingrockets.org/article/35419

By starting these important conversations with students and each other, we can address the challenges facing our neighbors and our own children – one discussion and phone call at a time.