Connecting Communities

By Meghan Shumway, Kennett High School Health & Physical Education Teacher

Today was an exhilarating day of connection, culture, and reflection. As an educator, you always hope to expand your horizons, but today reframed how I view my classroom and my students back home in Kennett.

Our day began with the incredible honor of meeting the board of the Association of Mam Christian Women for Development before we headed into a primary school (K-6) in a small village in the Western Highlands. The moment we arrived, we were swept up in pure joy. The students and teachers welcomed us with an enthusiastic, beautifully coordinated celebration filled with traditional dancing and even a pageant recreating the birth of Jesus.

After the warm welcome, it was time to jump into action. We split up and headed straight into the classrooms to teach the 200-plus students. We quickly embraced a teaching style we affectionately dubbed “organized chaos.”

We led interactive games and hands-on activities that got everyone moving and laughing. The students were incredibly eager to learn, hanging onto every word as we taught them some basic English vocabulary. In return, they became the teachers, helping us learn a few words in their indigenous language of Mam. Seeing their excitement and hunger for knowledge was a powerful reminder of why we enter this profession in the first place.

At the end of the school day, the Mam Christian women prepared a beautiful, delicious meal for us. We sat down and shared this food alongside the teachers, exchanging smiles and stories across cultures.

Before leaving, our group presented the school with a donation of educational supplies, a small token of gratitude for the immense hospitality they showed us.

While the day was filled with joy, it also brought a heavy, necessary realization. By the evening, my brain felt entirely exhausted. As a non-bilingual educator, spending hours trying to actively listen to, process, and comprehend Spanish left me completely drained.

This exhaustion gave me a critical window of insight into our students who migrate from regions like this to Kennett. On this trip, we are fortunate enough to have a dedicated interpreter helping us navigate the language barrier. Yet, the children who arrive in our American classrooms face far more challenging circumstances. They are expected to navigate an entire school day, absorb complex subjects, and fit into a new culture with little interpreting help.

Today gave us invaluable insight into the educational and cultural backgrounds of our migratory student population. More than that, it taught me a profound lesson in empathy. Experiencing just a fraction of the cognitive fatigue they feel every single day will undoubtedly change how I support, welcome, and teach them when I return to my own classroom.