How can we help immigrant students?

There is no doubt that immigrant students face struggles when coming to a new country. Not only are they immersed into American culture, but they also have to adjust to a new school setting, which can be a huge change for regular citizen's in the United States.

To help our new students adjust to this "culture shock", there are many resources we can use in our schools and community to help these students adjust to a normal life in the US.
As a school we can have reinforcements put in place to help immigrants students adjust to the new culture. This can be done almost as a 'buddy system'. A new immigrant can be paired with a student who may have immigrated from the same country, or the area surrounding the country. This student can help the newly immigrant student with any question he/she may have about this new environment, help with language understanding, and get them adjusted to the school in general. In the video, a Russian immigrant student shared that he was in the Russian club. Clubs that are geared towards different ethnic groups are a great opportunity for students to get to know some other students in the building who are new to country as well, or have been in the United States for a few years now. Having these kinds of clubs in schools provides a great social outlet for these students, and a chance to still get to be immersed in their own culture, easing any feelings of homesickness that these students may have.

As a community, we for one should make these new immigrants feel comfortable in their new environment. Having an accepting community is one of the ways we can do that. We can also try to hold events in the community that are geared towards celebrating and appreciating the cultures of these new immigrants.

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