Teaching the Language of Welcomeness

Louisiana has always been a state of diversity, since its very founding as a French colony in the 18th century. We boast a unique “melting pot” of cultures, whether they be Cajun, Creole, African-American, Hispanic, Asian or Native American. 

Yet, immigration has recently appeared in the news as a hot-button issue. People have become bitterly divided whether, and how, we should welcome immigrants into our country. Given this predicament and our need to promote racial harmony in our country, I would like to take time to reflect on my career experiences so far working with English-Second Language (ESL) students and what it has taught me about how to invite immigrants into our communities. 

When I finished my senior year at LSU in 2019 I was given a large class of students to student-teach. This class included several students who were immigrants, many of whom spoke a minimal amount of English. Very few translators were available, and my mentor-teacher and I scrambled to accommodate them into our very busy fifth-grade classroom. 

One child arrived very early in the semester, and I remember watching him sit with his class, silently eating lunch while his classmates talked around him. In a way, I could relate. 

After I was displaced by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, I hopped from school-to-school, and my own fifth-grade year in 2008 started with me sitting on an auditorium floor, scared and alone, with a bustling group of children talking around me. I had no friends, there was nobody I knew. Even though I spoke the same language as most of my classmates, it was only when I was approached by my now-best friend did I realize that I could belong in this new environment of Baton Rouge, far away from the smaller city of Chalmette. 

It was the language of friendship that invited me to join my class and to enjoy my time in school.

So with a warm smile, I sat by the new student in my ESL class at lunch and held a short conversation with him in Spanish. And I greeted him, as I greeted all my students, with a warm smile and a “good morning” when I saw him each day. When more immigrant children joined our class, they received the same “good morning.” 

Before I taught them English along with their classmates, I made sure to try and teach them something even more important as they came to school – friendship. Welcomeness. 

They could come to my class and know their teachers cared. With that same smile I encouraged them when they struggled, and I cheered them when they succeeded.

After graduation, I taught ESL students at the pre-kindergarten level, and I came to understand even more how important building trust is among teachers and immigrant students. Even if my students did not speak much English they recognized what all small children understand – playing with new friends, hugs and big smiles when they learned something new. 

Thus, I worked hard to build that environment for them, encouraging their curiosity and happiness whenever I could. Whether I read picture-books, gave hugs or cheered my congratulations when they built enormous block-towers or learned new words in English, all of these actions required devotion to building a classroom that included all children.

Indeed, compassion and welcomeness – a kind smile, a joyful attitude and a recognition that we are all God’s children seeking for a place to call home – are the foundations for a fruitful school experience and for a fruitful experience as a part of a new community. 

In this year dedicated to St. Joseph, let us remember that at one point St. Joseph was himself an immigrant. He was rejected in Egypt as a foreigner and then rejected in his homeland as a “nobody.” 

When Jesus was questioned for his authority, his detractors questioned, “Is this not the carpenter’s son?” (Mt 13:55). They did not even refer to St. Joseph by his name but by what was considered a lowly and unwanted status. Yet St. Joseph now holds a special place both in the heart of Jesus, his son on earth, and in the heart of the church, as the Patron of the Universal Church. 

Let us keep in mind that the immigrants we encounter of any age present an opportunity to invite to the Holy Family in a new way. 

When crossing the Louisiana state line from both Mississippi and Texas, there is a blue sign on the highway that says, “Bienvenue en Louisiane” – “Welcome to Louisiana” in French. Indeed, let us greet all immigrants this year with that spirit of welcomeness and love as we would greet the Holy Family should they enter among us. 
VERDIN is a teacher/tutor from Livingston.