Phoenix High School Book Group creates understanding

For the second year, Phoenix High School will offer a book group opportunity to some of its students. The decision was made after the success of last year's trial run as described below. The five students arose from their seats to show respect to Leesai Yang as he walked into the classroom at Phoenix High School in Lincoln. As part of the first book group offered, the students had recently read about Yang. The son of Hmong refugees, Yang's family struggled to put food on the table, navigate American culture and interact with law enforcement. Three of Yang's brothers were gang members when he was growing up and he recalled how he served as an interpreter during the frequent and chaotic police visits. Yang said he will never forget his parents' anguish about their sons' criminal activities. "I saw the police in our home, not speaking our language and all the confusion because of it and thought, 'Maybe I could grow up to be one of them,'" Yang said. That's exactly what Yang did. He became a Sacramento County deputy sheriff and has received awards for his nonprofit work to mentor and support Southeast Asian youth. He is director of the East Bay Asian Youth Center (EBAYC) in Sacramento. "What made you stay away from gangs and go into law enforcement?" one student asked. "I was 14 when my father was diagnosed with cancer and he kept telling me to make something of myself," Yang explained. "When he died, I decided to stop skipping school and getting bad grades and started doing what he wanted." Prior to Yang's visit, the students met with Parysa Ghazizadeh, a law school student and daughter of Iranian immigrants. Like Yang, she was born in the United States. Her challenges of facing rude remarks about being of the Muslim faith especially touched a nerve for three of the middle and high school students, who were siblings and children of Afghani parents. Ghazizadeh recalled a visit to a gas station where another customer told her to "go back home" when he spied a necklace in Arabic around her neck. She explained that she didn't let prejudice keep her from reaching her goals, an important lesson for the students who were enrolled in the ATLAS Learning Academy. During the discussion phase, one of the Afghani high school students shared that a classmate unexpectedly slapped him in the face because of his heritage. The lessons also hit home for the white students in the book group. When they read about several people struggling to "fit in," the students said they could identify. They were also able to learn from each other when some of the book's stories mentioned the dream of being "white" because some of the children of immigrants thought that would have made their lives so much easier in America. The Afghani siblings learned from their two white classmates that being "white" has not made their lives easier just because of their skin color. Several of the students have faced their own adversity during their young lives including bullying from classmates, family breakups, the challenge of having a safe and permanent home, and staying on the right education track. One student explained how she was cruelly picked on at one school because of her blond hair and green eyes. An Afghani student shared a story that his father had passed down to him and his older brother and younger sister. The father spoke about the importance of their family and how much stronger they are together. The lesson was demonstrated with sticks. His father used one stick and showed how easily it broke. Next, he used five sticks to represent each member of the family and demonstrated the difficulty in snapping the sticks when they were held together. When the six-week book club ended, one student commented that the experience helped him better relate to his classmates and to see the world differently. Another said that it made him prouder of who he is and his family's cultural background. California lawmakers continue to work on legislation requiring an ethnic studies graduation requirement for high school students but it is years away from adoption. Students of color make up 76 percent of the population in the state's public schools, according to edsource.org. Judie Fertig Panneton wrote "Proud Americans: Growing Up As Children of Immigrants" and is a child of Holocaust survivors. She led the book discussion and writing at Phoenix High School's Atlas Learning Academy, mentioned in this article.