The Burlington Immigration Project
The Burlington Immigration Research & Service class worked with 4th and 5th grade students at Barnes Elementary School in Burlington's Old North End. Through working, playing, and developing relationships with these children, the VCS students used oral stories, photographs and community mapping to explore and celebrate the immigrant impact on a diverse neighborhood. Many of the immigrant students are refugees who came to Burlington through the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program, so the VCS students will research the crises and conflicts overseas that have lead to these refugee situations. The students also researched the challenges that refugees to the US face, including cultural change, separation from loved ones, and lack of acceptance by some Americans. In the end, we hope presented a portrait of Burlington's rich cultural diversity to the community at large, in hopes of increasing not only toleration, but also celebration.