News
February 15, 2017Brown School Eighth Grade Class Visits The United Nations To Learn about Refugees and the Issues They Face
Brown School, an independent nursery through grade eight school located in Schenectady, NY, recently participated in an educational day at the United Nations where they learned first hand about a topic that is currently making headlines around the world – refugees.
Brown School English Teacher Donna Langley-Peck is a member of Delta Kappa Gamma Society an organization that helps educators connect to The Committee on Teaching About the United Nations (CTAUN). This Committee focuses on an important assignment – teaching children about a world made increasingly interdependent by globalization. Through CTAUN Head of Brown School Patti Vitale decided to bring their eighth grade students to the United Nations to learn about the topic of refugees.
The students and teachers heard from a number of speakers including advocates for refugees and refugees themselves. As part of the day they heard from a panel of five younger refugees who shared their life stories. “When exposing our students to these types of experiences there will always be differences in opinion. However, it’s important to have these conversations and to really listen to the viewpoints of others. The best problem solving involves listening to those around you and that’s a lesson we strive to teach our students.”
For the students who attended, the lessons learned were powerful ones. Here are some quotes from the students:
“Just hearing the refugees speeches was powerful. It made me feel more grateful. Not for material things but for the ability to do things like wash our hands,” said eighth grader Rosie Versaci.
“Perhaps if we welcome people with hostility they will be hostile. However, if we welcome them humanely they will add to our community,” said Juliette Syta.
“I learned a great deal about the vetting process of refugees. It’s very involved and can take months if not years,” said Gianni Lomonoco.
“I would like to know more about why other wealthy countries in our world are not doing their part to help refugees,” said Ziekki Oluyede.
“I think that America’s safety should be our priority over all other problems,’ said Luke Pezzano.
“Refugees are humans. We are all individual people and not just a group with a label. Being at the UN and hearing the stories was important,” said Lia Richter.
Vitale, Langley-Peck and other educators plan to continue having these conversations. One of the refugee speakers was from Utica and Vitale plans to reach out to her to see if she will talk more with the students about refugees. They are specifically interested in how refugees can integrate and help the communities where they live.
