Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1491904
Fearful of being deported, Teresa's mother did not send the girls to school. They lived in their uncle's ranch. All the girls were in one room, while her parents were in another. Then one day her dad and uncle got into a fist fight over unpaid rent. The conflict was too much to handle at the ranch, so Teresa and her family stayed in a car. Teresa remembered how difficult it was to stay in a car and attend school at the same time. Luck- ily, her parents moved them into an apartment. Even though it was infested with roaches. After about a month, Teresa and her family moved to Sanger, California. Her parents and brother harvested fields. Since the family was paid by the bags of fruit they filled, the sisters helped after school even though they struggled in school. It wasn't until the family purchased their first house in Fresno that Teresa began to transform into a butterfly. Teresa met a young girl named Maira. Maira would talk a lot to her when they played outside. Teresa practiced English with Maira and pretty soon Teresa flourished like a but- terfly escaping a cocoon. When her parents needed to understand bills or medical bills, Teresa translated English to Spanish. When her parents went to school or the hospital, Teresa translated the doctor or teacher's speech to Spanish. The experience and knowledge enhanced Teresa's experience in school and at home. Teresa soared through the sky! "Carrying Stories resonated with me in such a big way," says Patterson, an FTA member. "eir stories are treasures." Interest in the project has grown over its three years, with Santos welcoming double the students in 2021 thanks in part to a $2,800 CTA IFT (Institute for Teaching) grant. This year, there are 120 students participating in Carrying Stories, with students writing historical fiction about essential workers who were impacted and had their education transformed. e work is scheduled for presentation in April. "What does it mean to be essential and who helped us when we needed," Santos says of this year's prompt. "It's important to see our students and meet them where they are. ere really is power in a story." Carrying Stories artwork at the front of Fresno High School. Marc Patterson 29 F E B R U A R Y / M A R C H 2 0 2 3