What is an All-School Read? What does opt-in mean? Our entire school community, staff and students, will have the opportunity to read Green Card Youth Voices and participate in guided discussions and activities.
School Library Journal aptly captures one of our guiding ideas behind offering the book to the whole community: “Teachers and librarians are often in a unique position within the community to develop long-term, supportive relationships with students and to create spaces in which they might find support, understanding, learning, and growth” (“Therapy by the Book”).
Participants will be able to keep their books to not only engage in our activities, but also to remind each other of the benefits of engaging with literature and the community, and to foster further learning and discussion.
You might recognize this type of programming from other educational institutions and communities. Here are just a few groups that have done things like this: Dane County/UW-Madison Go Big Read: Evicted and Just Mercy Edgewood College Common Reading: The New Jim Crow One School, One Read Community Read-a-thons
Students will not be required to read the book for any class or for a grade. Moreover, no specific grade level will be singled out as the students reading the book.
Why an All-School Read with this book?
Green Card Youth Voices: Immigration Stories from a Minneapolis High School encourages readers to engage with relevant issues surrounding immigration. With each story, the book not only prompts readers to feel connection, but also to build empathy through storytelling--acknowledging relevant issues means we acknowledge our society’s imperfections and struggles.
Again, School Library Journal deftly notes: “Reading a book with others creates a collective experience, a communal reference point….Encouraging students to identify with one another, find common ground, respect each other’s differences, and build friendships is all part of strengthening the support networks that enable them to be resilient” (“Therapy by the Book”).
Through these stories, readers can explore new cultures and make stronger connections with the diversity within our school and community. These stories offer perspectives that aren't often represented, build empathy through the telling of stories, and even develop ways to strengthen our own community.