It’s bittersweet to say that another summer has come and gone. We loved having students back in person for our summer programs, and while we are sad to see it come to an end, we are excited for all that is to come in the next school year! Read on to learn all about what the Refugee Education Center accomplished this summer and some of the exciting things that lay ahead in the new school year.

BRIDGES

The Refugee Education Center’s summer BRIDGES program was filled with learning and fun! We were pleased to serve 61 refugee children during the summer via BRIDGES, designed to primarily serve children who have yet to enter a US classroom or have little experience in the classroom.

During the summer, we provided a safe and welcoming environment for kids to prepare for their K-12 education and relieve anxiety prior to entering a classroom. In addition to students engaging in STEM education and going on field trips across the city, the program exposed kids to new topics, themes, and culture they will encounter in their new school, such as:

Classroom Expectations
Friends
Food
Our Bodies
Transportation (Bussing)
Our World
Jobs

Students shown here were learning all about bodies and capped off their week of learning by creating fun self self-portraits.

Project Faulu

After Labor Day, our K-12 services program, Project Faulu, kicks off for the 2021-2022 school year. Though our goals for serving hundreds of students have been thwarted by the COVID-19 Delta variant, the Kent County Health Department has cleared us to serve 25 students to start the school with in-person after-school tutoring at the Refugee Education Center in Kentwood. However, we will also host in-person small mentoring groups at Burton Middle School, Riverside Middle School, Westwood Middle School, and Union High School, where we hope to serve dozens of additional students. Our partnership with the Church of the Servant will continue, which hosts a satellite site for after-school tutoring and has plans to serve 10 students.

Each week students have workshop time. This is when students get to work on their individualized learning plans in Math and English. Students works with volunteer tutors during workshop time.

Graduate + Grow

It was an unusual year to restart our summer program for high-school-aged students, but our small cohort of Graduate + Grow students kept busy and made things work. The Graduate + Grow summer program focused on the next steps after high school for the nine students enrolled in the program. Planning and preparing for continuing education ran centrally through the program, where staff and volunteers hosted college visits, talked about career planning, and walked alongside students through the college application process. College visits to Grand Valley State University and Grand Rapids Community College highlighted the college experience, where students heard from guest speakers and explored high-demand career opportunities such as early childhood education and construction – all to help students prepare for their future.

Graduate and Grow students visited Grand Valley State University, got a tour, and spoke with current students about their experiences and plans for their future.

After a quick break, our team will pick back up the Graduate + Grow program for 40+ high school students during the 2021-2022 school year. In addition to continuing our one-on-one guidance with students who need individualized support on the topics below, the Refugee Education Center will also continue our monthly workshops during the school year, which will cover a variety of subjects, including:

Introduction to the process of applying for post-secondary education
Applying for and receiving financial aid
Mental health during a change in schooling
Study habits
Future planning and goal-setting

Refugee Navigators

Alongside these programs, our Refugee Navigators were also hard at work. Our team of Navigators, who are of refugee background, started the summer by helping families and students find and enroll in summer programs and education at the Refugee Education Center and local schools. Once summer was underway, Navigators shifted to connecting with schools, parents, and caregivers to help re-enroll their children in school for the coming year and prepare for the year ahead. Our team of Navigators worked with a number of families through crisis situations, supporting them through difficult situations and referring them to other community services as needed.

Hands Connected

Summer ended a strange year of early childhood education for our Hands Connected team. Still, seeing the students walk across our ceremonial stage and be honored for finishing the school year made it worth it. Throughout the school year, our educators served 84 children in our Hands Connected classrooms and virtually, ensuring children and parents had continued education and support during this difficult year.

As we look ahead to the 2021-2022 school year for our early childhood education program, 43 children have already enrolled in one of our classrooms, and we expect 40 more to fill the remaining classroom spots in the coming month.

Looking Ahead

Thanks to our donors and partners this last year, our team could pivot and adjust to socially distanced and online programming to continue our mission of supporting refugees in their journey to become fully participating members of the West Michigan community. As our program staff and partners prepare for the new school year, we look forward to all the new families, students, and activities that this year will bring. Like the last, this year will come with many changes for all students and families within our community as we begin to return to a new normal. For some students, this will be their first year in the classroom, and for others not, but many will be experiencing school in an entirely new way.

While we expected refugee resettlement to pick up in 2021, COVID and national resettlement infrastructure gaps contributed to a smaller number of refugees resettling in West Michigan. Despite this, Grand Rapids is a new home for many people of refugee backgrounds who once lived in other parts of the country. As the world opens in the coming months and as resettlement infrastructure is brought back to normal, the Refugee Education Center has been informed by our partners to expect hundreds of newly resettled refugees in the waning months of 2021 and 2022. We are eager for the opportunity to continue our mission of welcoming and supporting our new American neighbors in their journey.

If you would like to join us in welcoming and supporting newly resettled refugees in West Michigan this school year, we invite you to explore our volunteer opportunities and/or by donating to providing needed financial support that will aid our efforts in the coming year to create a thriving, multicultural West Michigan community where all have an opportunity to pursue a better future!

Looking Ahead: Back-to-School Programs and More