Participation Type
Paper
Session Title
Session 1.02 Literature
Presentation #1 Title
From Haiti to West Virginia: A New Voice in Appalachia
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Preface: Beginning his third year in a new country, a Haitian adolescent is now a West Virginia teen. His journey and experiences with a new country, state, city, culture, and language present challenges and celebrations as his unique voice joins the many others in Appalachia telling their stories. Being sixteen is tough. There are ups and downs; valleys to rest in and mountains to climb. But being sixteen and beginning your third year in a new home with new parents poses its unique set of challenges. Add to that, that this new home is thousands of miles away from where you once lived, and also consider that your new parents speak a language other than yours. Kameron's story is amazing, captivating, and still in the works. Exploring middle school hallways, learning locker combinations, making friends, attending class, going to soccer practice...all in a day's work for a teenager. But Kameron has navigated and continues to navigate these daily adolescent activities with a quiet sense of dignity, humility, and courage while attending ESL lessons and tutoring sessions. His progress, attitude, and perceptions about his new life are now told in a new voice. A voice once speaking Creole now shares in English. His is now an Appalacian voice, and like so many others, has many stories to tell.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Susan Malinoski, a former elementary school teacher, is the Assistant Principal for Student Affairs at Charleston Catholic High School in Charleston, WV. She is currently pursuing her EDD in Curriculum and Instruction and resides in Charleston with her husband, their three children, and many cats and dogs.
From Haiti to West Virginia: A New Voice in Appalachia
Preface: Beginning his third year in a new country, a Haitian adolescent is now a West Virginia teen. His journey and experiences with a new country, state, city, culture, and language present challenges and celebrations as his unique voice joins the many others in Appalachia telling their stories. Being sixteen is tough. There are ups and downs; valleys to rest in and mountains to climb. But being sixteen and beginning your third year in a new home with new parents poses its unique set of challenges. Add to that, that this new home is thousands of miles away from where you once lived, and also consider that your new parents speak a language other than yours. Kameron's story is amazing, captivating, and still in the works. Exploring middle school hallways, learning locker combinations, making friends, attending class, going to soccer practice...all in a day's work for a teenager. But Kameron has navigated and continues to navigate these daily adolescent activities with a quiet sense of dignity, humility, and courage while attending ESL lessons and tutoring sessions. His progress, attitude, and perceptions about his new life are now told in a new voice. A voice once speaking Creole now shares in English. His is now an Appalacian voice, and like so many others, has many stories to tell.
