Park Center Senior High School; Brooklyn Park, MN, USA
We all have built snowmen, constructed forts, gone sledding, made snow angels and even caught snowflakes on our tongues at least once in our lives. We look out the frosty windows every winter and see a sleeping city wrapped in a white blanket like a little baby. But can any of you imagine calling winter "winter" without any snow?! ELL students new to PC for the 2007-2008 school year have lived their winters without snow for most of their lives. Most having been in the United States for only about four to six months, this past winter was their first time seeing and experiencing snow. Coming all the way from the other side of the world, Toe Appleton, Isha Dolley, Yarleh Youla and Sianeh Boakai are all from Liberia; we also have An Nguyen from Vietnam, Feysel Mohamed from Oroma and Assata Kamara from Guinea.
Back home, these students were used to the nice warm weather it had. Coming to Minnesota was a huge transition for them; they had to face an unfamiliar freezing, below-zero temperature. Even though it would get chilly in their countries, it could never compare to the cold here in the Twin Cities. This meant they weren't used to that skin-biting feeling when stepping outside. Although this was difficult for the students and their families, adjusting to the coldness was eased with the help of the Maple Grove Rotary. For the past three years, Rotary has provided hats and gloves to the ELL department to distribute out to new students. This year, 500 sets of hats and gloves were donated and in addition to that, Mrs. Faye Goodwin and Ms. Beth Kassube bestowed the students with jackets. The ELL students said that all of the donations they received was a huge help for them and also for their families. Now more than halfway through the winter, they are getting used to the frigid weather.
When these students saw the first snowfall, they were intrigued by it although they believed it was too cold. When An first saw snow, she said it reminded her of diamonds. In the eyes of Yarleh, she saw white sand. Assata just thought it looked like ice, no big deal.
During winter break, these winter newbies stayed inside most of the time, which they hated. This being because at this time of year back in their own countries, they were able to walk to their friends’ house after school, plant crops, etc. Even though they like the snow, they aren't planning to play in it anytime soon. For Feysel, shoveling was the only kind of "playing in the snow" he did which he didn't enjoy very much. But when informed about the nice and hot summer weather, these students have somewhat of a clue on what they want to do when summer arrives. Some of the activities they'd like to do is play soccer and football, plant, travel out of state and just go around and hang out.
-Michelle Pham, PCSH Webteam