Dear parents of 5th grade students,
What a blessing it has been for me to work alongside you in your child’s growth and learning. As you know, this year in History, our driving question is “How can we receive the sojourner (foreigner) to Charleston and help them feel welcome?”
This month, students have been learning about Southeast Asian countries, their culture, worldview, government, language, foods, and traditions. They have been working hard to create a presentation in Canva to share with the rest of the class. To end this unit, the class will go on a Field Study trip on Tuesday, March 19 called “A Day in the Life of a Refugee.” We will be doing several things that a refugee might do and experience.
The field study will start from 8:35 to 9:30am with a culture training class led by Hannah Brown, who has a great deal of experience working and serving refugees here in Charleston.
Students, teachers, and chaperones will leave CBA on the school bus and be dropped off at the Route 10 CARTA bus stop between Durant and Rivers Ave.
This northbound bus will take us to our next activity, a language lesson at Northwood Baptist Church. Students will receive a language lesson in Swahili, similar to how a refugee would. Students will experience how it feels to listen to a language they do not understand but need to learn, just like a refugee needs to do when they arrive in Charleston and need to learn English.
Just before noon, the CBA school bus will pick us up at Northwood Baptist Church and take us to Pho Bowl, a Vietnamese restaurant, for our next cultural experience. Students will use a Vietnamese-language menu with pictures to place their order and experience what it feels like to eat food that tastes very different from the food they are used to eating.
After lunch, we will ride the CBA school bus back to school. As they travel along Rivers Avenue, students will be given a “Life of a Refugee Questionnaire” to help them reflect on their experiences. They will also need to look for places along Rivers Avenue that are from other cultures.
We will end our field experience back at CBA at 1:15-1:30pm for a time of debriefing and reflection with Mrs. Hannah Brown.
I am excited for this opportunity to help our students grow in empathy and to experience just a little bit of how it might feel for a refugee who comes to Charleston so they can continue thinking about how they can help receive a sojourner or foreigner to Charleston and make them feel welcome. Thank you for partnering with us as we continue to help our students become World Changers who are Creative Thinkers, Confident Communicators, and Courageous Leaders!
Inspiring world changers together,
Mr. Jonathan Sierra
Please read and fill out the information below. | |||||||||
When? | 3/19/24 | ||||||||
Time of Departure: | 9:30am | ||||||||
Time of Return: | 1:30pm | ||||||||
Where? | CARTA Bus – Rivers Ave Northwood Baptist Church – 2200 Greenridge Rd, North Charleston, SC 29406 Pho Bowl restaurant – 142 St James Ave # D, Goose Creek, SC 29445 | ||||||||
Transportation: | The students will use the CBA bus and the CARTA bus for transportation. | ||||||||
Cost? | TOTAL DUE | ||||||||
$ 25.00 | |||||||||
Payment should be made via Venmo @charlestonbilingualacademy. Payment must be received prior to the day of the trip. |