Elly Fishman has reported several stories related to Chicago’s migrant crisis. Recently, she went looking for a project that brought hope and joy into the conversation. She immediately thought of Sullivan High School.
Fishman is a freelance writer and the author of “Refugee High: Coming of Age in America,” which chronicles the 2017-18 school year at Sullivan, a high school in Rogers Park. It’s a unique environment, largely because its student body represents more than 40 countries.
“What brings everybody together is that everybody is a refugee in some way,” says Josh Zepeda, an English Language Learning social worker at Sullivan. “Everybody is fleeing something, whether it's the violence in their countries to violence in their communities.”
This fall, Zepeda helped three Venezuelan students start a band for the school’s annual Latinx Heritage assembly. In this episode, host Erin Allen talks to Fishman and Zepeda about how Sullivan is welcoming migrant students.
