A Prince William County teacher and her young students walk through the horrors of conflict in the Middle East together
December 17, 2024
December 17, 2024
By Cheryl Zapien
The Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times,” certainly applied to me this past school year. I teach English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) students and I primarily work with second- and third-graders. I truly love this age group. They are fun, loving, and at times, hysterically funny. The world is their oyster. After 20 years of teaching, most years are at least somewhat predictable, but last year…not so much.
As a rule, I’m transparent with my students. I share who I am, what I like, what my family is like, and some of my struggles. I believe that it’s good for students to see my truest and best self. Last year, however, was a challenge. Whatever your view, the events in Israel and Gaza following last October 7th have created enormous angst and great division. Everyone has an opinion, and often an extremely strong one. This was particularly true for me. I’m Jewish and have strong beliefs regarding the State of Israel.
Many of my students are Muslim and, naturally, their families shared their thoughts about what was happening. The children, being third-graders, shared their feelings—with each other and, indirectly, with me. One was quite brutally honest. It was difficult hearing their opinions. They felt very one-sided. I frequently wanted to say, “But there’s another viewpoint here…” Tempting as it was, I didn’t. I really wasn’t sure how to handle the situation. Nothing in my education or experience had prepared me for handling the cultural morass in which I found myself. Remember, not only did they have strong emotions; I did as well. Balancing those emotions was challenging, to say the least.
I racked my brain for ways to find middle ground. My young students were being exposed to some rough TV footage, which was troubling to them. Then one day, I brought them to my trailer, sat them down, and we talked. I said, “I’m sure we can all agree that it’s awful to see mommies and children and babies hurt.” I didn’t say who or where, but it opened a floodgate of conversation. The kids shared their thoughts, both Hispanic students as well as Muslim students. As it turned out, they were all troubled by the information they were exposed to. I had taken my first tentative step towards meeting my students where they were.
As the year moved forward, we settled into a routine. Near Ramadan in the spring, students began sharing how they’d fast this year. Like Jewish children, my Muslim students were beginning to take on the obligations of their faith. I encouraged them and told them I understood, as my culture did the same kind of thing. As we moved into Ramadan, they shared some of their experiences with me. I praised their efforts and tried to let them know that it was going to be okay.
One day during this period, one of my students came in wearing a Kufi. I asked about it because it looked a lot like a Jewish kippah or yarmulke. He told me all about it—and that’s when the magic happened. We totally went off script. The kids wanted to share about Ramadan and Eid. They told us their customs, their favorite foods, and how they pray. They even wanted to demonstrate what the prayer looked like. They were enormously endearing.
An idea popped into my head. I asked my students if they would like to read about Ramadan and Eid. They all loved the idea. All I have to say is, “Thank heaven for Diffit.” That little AI program made the activity possible. This was easily the absolute best group of lessons I have ever shared with students. We read, summarized, evaluated, and discussed the text. The discussions helped us work toward an understanding of positive Muslim values, and students shared much of their collective culture. At the same time, I was able to share mine with them where there was overlap between both Jewish and Muslim practices.
Naturally, my Hispanic students wanted their day in the sun, too. At the end of it all, we studied Passover and Easter, too. This was such an incredible bonding experience and I would love to do it again. Each child became our best expert about his or her culture. Through the experience of honoring each other, we were able to begin building bridges across an impossibly wide cultural divide.
As teachers, we need to be our best and truest selves. We cannot simply focus on our students as they are now, but as they will someday be. In time, some of them may be in positions that will affect the world. I would like it to be for good.
The only way I know to do this is to build bridges by honoring my students so that someday, when I am no longer there to guide them, they will remember that the “other” is not so very different from themselves. In this way, it is my deepest hope that they will choose unity and peace instead of strife, making the world a much, much better place.
Cheryl Zapien, a member of the Prince William Education Association, teaches at McAuliffe Elementary School.
Children and teens need reassurance when something goes terribly wrong. Be there for them. Encourage them to express their emotions through conversation, artwork, or writing. Here are some additional helpful ideas from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:
The average pay of Virginia public school teachers in 2023-24 was $65,830. That is $4,260 below the national average of $70,090.
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