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826 Boston Teams With BINcA to Publish Book of Student Essays
Immigrant Student Authors Release New Book Like the Sun in Dark Spaces: Narratives Across Generations and Continents
Every student at Boston International Newcomers Academy (BINcA), a high school in Dorchester specifically designed to serve a diverse student body of Boston Public Schools’ (BPS) English Language Learners, has arrived in this country in the last four years. While navigating the challenges of graduating from high school, many students are learning English as a second, third, or fourth language. Who better, then, to write the book on success?
Like the Sun in Dark Spaces, the latest addition to the 826 Boston library, is a poignant collection of narratives written by more than 70 twelfth graders who graduate next month from one of the city’s most unique learning environments.
Jessica Drench, 826 Boston’s executive director and a former classroom teacher, said about the book, “It has always been our mission to provide a platform for our students’ voices. We are honored to publish a collection that is written by the graduating class of BINcA, and that so powerfully outlines their vision for their futures.”
“We are so proud of the graduating class of BINcA, and this impressive collection of brave stories. We are a stronger district for these powerful voices,” said Boston Public Schools Superintendent Tommy Chang. “Our students are developing strong skills in expression and articulation that will continue to serve them well in college, career, and life.”
Danielle Legros Georges, Poet Laureate of the City of Boston, wrote in the book’s foreword, “We learn from these pieces what it means to leave an entire life behind in one country, a life sweetened by the pungent aromas of particular food and particular ways of being. We learn what it is to have to remake a life in a new country. We learn of the sacrifices parents make for children, and the choices one must make for oneself.”
Kristin Russo and Jessica Jusczyk taught the twelfth graders in the book and wrote: “At the beginning of this process, many students felt like they didn’t have anything to write. By the end, they knew that not only did they have something to write, but that their words and ideas mattered...They also conducted intimate interviews and unearthed family stories. They are now the keepers of their family histories: the stories of immigrants and where they landed, and the stories of those they left behind where they started.”
The project was supported by the Boston Cultural Council and Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation, as well as a special memorial donation from the friends and family of Caitlin Warde.
Like the Sun in Dark Spaces is 826 Boston’s third book project with Boston International Newcomers Academy. The strong partnership will result in a new collaboration next year: 826 Boston’s fourth in-school Writers’ Room will be hosted at Boston International. Writers’ Rooms are fully-staffed programs that serve every student enrolled in a school. Modeled on the university writing center, the programs are a way for 826 Boston to deliver writing programs to whole classes and individual students during the day, and to offer creative extracurricular activities, such as slam poetry teams and journalism clubs, during after-school hours. 826 Boston will open two new Writers’ Rooms in the coming school year, and operate at least six Writers’ Rooms by 2021.
To find out more about 826 Boston or get involved as one of the organization’s 700 volunteers, visit www.826boston.org.
Some quotes from the book follow:
“This is how I imagine success: orgullo; taking pride in doing something that will bring someone else joy or inspiration.”
—Alex (Dominican Republic)
“She stopped working to live ; she started living to work. The sunrise was her best friend for years; they woke up together. She blended vegetable soup in the pot to bring home. Mama cleaned and cooked for three houses, but only owned one.”
—Jossara (Cape Verde)
“On Sundays he feels successful. This is what it means to my father to be successful: to have your family together, to know that at any moment, no matter what, they will be with us, giving us support and not letting us give up.”
—Naiara (Brazil)
“We come from five continents, and all of us speak at least two languages...We have all had to learn English throughout our high school years, which was difficult at varying levels for us all, but once mastered, made us want to dance for joy.”
—The student editorial board