Appreciating Our Heritage through Art
From Lynn Ryan, Teacher, Cromwell Elementary —
I teach K-2 English as a Second Language (ESL) at Cromwell Elementary, a Title I school on the south side of Memphis. As a part of Teach for America, I have to set specific academic and access goals, one of which is appreciating our home heritage.
My ESL students come from international backgrounds where their families usually speak another language. Because some students or family members may be undocumented, students have a fear of speaking their home language or acknowledging that they are different in any way from their peers. Seeing as being bilingual is a major asset in today’s global job market and seeing yourself represented in power structures is key to building self-identity, I try to encourage my students to value their differences.
When I saw the Orpheum Theater was offering free Title I tickets to their bilingual dance show Contra Tiempo, I saw this as the perfect opportunity to build my students self confidence and identity as Latinos. They are consistently the most well behaved students in the school and they work hard to learn English, yet they are still lacking in confidence. I raised money for the bus so the trip was free, and took my first and kindergarten classes to Contra Tiempo on February 19th.
Although one ESL friend lost his tooth on the bus and the large Orpheum seats swallowed them up, the trip was even better than I had imagined. You would have thought we flew them to the moon if you heard their excitement on the bus ride home. They not only got to see the city, but they also saw their home heritage represented in a proud, glorified manner on the Orpheum Stage. There was some nervous giggles when the narrator first spoke in Spanish, but after the show the consensus was the Spanish was their favorite part. One student that afternoon whispered to me, “I know Spanish.” It was a adorable and I acted like I never knew, but in the back of my mind I considered that access goal of appreciating our heritage met.
