Living History

By William Scott

Every year, my classroom undergoes a transformation during the last few weeks of school. Students come to class smiling, their shoulders held high with pride. It's all because of their final assignment: conducting oral histories on the theme of immigration and migration.

Aaron, Ignacio, Amber, Zoyla, and Jesus--students I've struggled to motivate all year long--join the ranks of the enthused. They tote typed transcripts of interviews they've done with members of their families and communities: mothers, grandfathers, classmates, neighbors, teachers, and cousins. They take an active part in class discussions about why people leave their homes in other countries or regions of the United States. And when it comes time to write down the stories of the people they've interviewed, their pursed lips are testament to their aspirations for perfection.

The stories my students document are rich with painful partings, oppression, hard work, joy, and, above all, hope--elements that make for heart-wrenching reading. Their final written proj-ects are moving, but it's discovering the stories that has the greatest effect on the students. My heart pounds when a wide-eyed student bursts into my classroom before school to tell me that her grandmother moved from Louisiana with three children and only $30. And I am speechless as I flip through a comic book that Martin Navarrete has written about his father's emigration from Mexico. The drawings are vivid and the story so well told that I know he must have been working on the book...