“The Richness Within” is an interactive exchange between three multicultural schools in The Netherlands and three multicultural schools in the United States. This blog is has been published to explore some issues around identity. The primary form of exchange will be in the Learning Circle; but we welcome comments in this blog from people from all over the world. Your contributions will enrichen our understanding of others and ourselves.
Baccalaureate School for Global Education
Class Letter
From TRW2 BSGE -> The Learning Circle 
Our Class
We are a 9th Grade English class (Language A). Students are 14 to 15 years old. There are 12 boys and 16 girls. We follow an A/B day schedule. On A-Days we have English, Algebra, Technology, Lunch, Advisory, Humanities. On B-Days we have Language B (Spanish, Chinese, or French), Biology, Algebra, Lunch, Advisory and Physical Education. One day a week, we have an elective in place of our Algebra class. Our periods are 70 minutes long except for lunch and advisory. The school day starts at 8:00 a.m. and ends at 2:10.
What Our Students Shared
Asia shared:
“I am African-American and Puerto Rican” I used to live in the projects in the South Bronx. There would be fights every night. I could never go to sleep. I had to stay up all night until they stopped to fall asleep. My favorite subjects are dance and math. My favorite colors are red, blue, black and white, the colors of the American and Puerto Rican flags. My favorite song is: “Ain’t No Way You Won’t Love Me” by Chris Brown. I love sad songs and reading poetry.”
Christina shared:
“I want people to know that our school is made up of different people, ethnicities, personalities, and everyone is their own person. We as individuals like to be known and treated as individuals.”
Dylan shared:
“I am one of the many people in the BSGE whole. I like to spread my ideas of peace because I think if we can keep peace it may help the world see that harmony is superior to war. BSGE in turn keeps me whole as well, because I would not get the type of education I get at BSGE anywhere else. I have met so many different people at the Baccalaureate school that I would not have met elsewhere; and they have shaped who I am am today. The Baccalaureate school seems to be a piece of my identity; in fact, BSGE has made me a different person than who I would have been anywhere else. And I believe, a better person.”
Elies shared:
“Even though I was born in the United States, I say I am Colombian, Spanish, Lebanese and Greek. My mother is Colombian and Spanish while my father is Lebanese and Greek. I think it’s a very interesting mix and not a common one. Because I have fair skin, people tend to confuse me for whole Caucasian but I am only one fourth. But when people ask em of my race, I tend to just say Latino. I guess it’s because I celebrate more Latin traditions. BSGE has many students from so many different places and aspects of life. And with the variety of people, it’s hard not to feel proud of your culture. Since coming to this school, I have also felt most comfortable with my father’s heritage. Now I start including all my heritages and races in my introductions. The most important thing for me is that people respect me for me and not for what I am. But, since coming to this school, I have been more comfortable in my own skin than I ever have been. Actually, I now feel culturally in place in this school.”
Erin shared:
“I would like people to know where I am from, like my nationality. I would want them to know why I care so deeply about my religion and nationality. The reason being is because my people have been through hard times and I want people to realize that these experiences shaped my life. The first way that I categorize myself is as a Jew. The first day of school I was surrounded by people who spoke different languages, looked different, dressed different and acted different than I do. I realized that I was not just a student, I was part of a group of people. Besides being Jewish, I think of myself as being part of a female group. I believe that since I am a female, I have a different outlook on the world. Being part of the female population is important to me because as a female I get to experience things that men cannot. Even though i have only been at BSGE for six months, I believe that I am already changing as a person. BSGE has taught me that you cannot just look at yourself as a student but you are part of something larger. Being in a multicultural school has taught me that you cannot judge a book by its cover. In junior high school, there were a prominent amount of African Americans in my school and I was teased a lot. Instead, at BSGE, I no longer feel secluded because no one judges you on your exterior.”
Gaganroop shared:
“BSGE is a school where people come from all over the world. BSGE is a one of the schools from the United States which has IB
diploma. In BSGE teachers are very helpful to make you understand what IB diploma is and how it works. In our school we have a period called advisory where we have to read for 30 minuets. By doing reading in advisory, we all get to improve ourselves. Day by day we are improving by reading and by understanding what IB is. BSGE is not big like other schools are; it is a small school. But teachers hearts are not small. Teachers are so great in this school.They are always here to help us. Some people they don’t know much English and teachers help them to understand everything. Those students take after school classes so the teachers can help them with their problems or anything they need.”
George shared:
I am a quirky, energetic, understanding, spontaneous, and caring fourteen year old Bukharin that loves living life. I am a Bukharin Jew (tribe of Israelis, descendants of Babylonians). I am immensely proud of my heritage; I think it really defines who I am am and how I act. Another way I can identify myself is the kind of activities I engage in; I’m always listening to music and hanging out with friends and Photo-Shopping things. I also rock climb and swim. I tend to be more interested in independent media (Indie films and music). I like movies and TV shows and music that most people don’t. For example, I am a rabid fan of the singer Daphne Rubin-Vega and the TV show Ugly Betty, which not a lot of people my age like. I am also into art and photography. This interest makes me more unique which is another word I can use to identify myself.
Gregory shared:
I am of mixed descent: I am half Irish and half Italian. It helps me fit in with many others at BSGE who share the same ethnicity as me, helping me to find my identity with them. I like foods such as spaghetti, baked ziti, lasagna, meatballs, corn beef, potatoes and my other things from my culture. I am a third generation American, and my grandfathers and mothers immigrated here way back in the 1940s and 1950s. This helps me to identify with myself, as I’m not of a recent batch of immigrates. I am a male, which helps me to connect with others of my gender and my opposite gender. This is an important aspect of myself because if I were a female, I would be a very different person than I am right now. At the Baccalaureate School for Global Education, I find myself fitting in with others who are like me, but also those who are not. That helps me to find a place where I belong, but it does not limit me.”
Kalil shared:
I refer to myself as an African-American because I was born in America but my ancestors originated from Africa. I believe this is a part of the greater multicultural context of this school. I believe me being African-American makes up a piece of the pie of the multicultural environment in my school. In my old school, I wasn’t introduced to new cultures, foods, ethnic backgrounds and more. The population in that school was build of different ethnic backgrounds of black people–some Spanish, Indian and Chinese people–but not much. So, coming to BSGE has broadened my horizons and introduce me to new things that I never believed I would be experiencing until later in my life. I’m thankful for being able to be open to these new and interesting things at my school. None of my family members have had an experience like this.”
Marlenis shared:
“I am from the Dominican Republic. My whole family is Dominican. I was born there, and immigrated here when I was 6 years old. We just came here for a better life. I am Spanish, so I speak Spanish and English. My favorite color is pink and my favorite number is 4. I don’t know why, I just do. I love writing in my diary. All my thoughts and feelings are let out on that piece of paper, and nobody will know. It’s good to keep a place for your secrets. I am a new student at BSGE. My previous school was I.S. 73. It was also a multicultural school because it was in Queens. I had a lot of friends. I still haven’t adjusted to this school. Everything is really different. Since we are all different, we learn a little about each other every day, and that’s why I like living in Queens. My neighborhood is also multicultural. ‘Everyone there is from a different ethnicity, and I prefer it that way.
Melissa shared:
“I want others to know that our school is made of people who are of different cultures and levels. Not everyone from our school is a perfect student. When we enter our school we learn how to become better students. I identify myself as several things. One of those things I consider is a Catholic. My points of view on some issues are that same ones as the Catholic church. “
Nomita shared:
“All of us in this school/class live in New York city, or in a larger scope we live in America (aka the U.S. of A.), where we are introduced and exposed to a lot of diversity among people. When we walk out onto a street or walk into a store or even turn on the television, we see many different people of different colors (no offense to anyone- it’s the way that many people differentiate in this country), races, ethnicity, religion, culture, philosophy, psychology, etc. We see people who are stereotypical, who are narrow minded, who are just too open and broad minded, lazy people, hard working people, so basically there is no one plain and normal person. Everyone here has their own differences that may be prominent, but not always. There is always someone else within every person. It’s an advantage to be around so many different people, but it also is a loss since we may lose touch with our roots and then we experience too much of racism and prejudice.”
Oussama shared:
I’m from Morocco. I have been here one year and six months. It is a little bit hard for me to speak and practice English. I am very interested in reading books, doing math and studying technology. I speak four languages: Arabic (fluently), English, French and Spanish. I celebrate Ramadan. I like listening to music–Arabic, French and English–playing baseball, basketball, swimming and especially football. I also like to play games on the computer and do research on the Web. In the future I want to be an architect to build the highest building in the world. That’s why I am working very hard to complete my mission and my parents can be so happy for me.”
Stefani shared:
“I want others to know that we are a school of diversity. This group of students are all from different backgrounds and we are very different. That is why we think it is important for us to be identified as individuals. I want others to know that I was born in Bulgaria and that I came to the U.S.A. in the third grade. I think that because of this I am the way I am and that these things identify me as me.”
Steve shared:
“My nationality is Mexican and Italian. My ethnicity would be Latino/Hispanic. My first language is English and Spanish is my second language. All of this is part of the greater multicultural context of this school because I fit in. I fit in because I am different; I can co-exist with others who are different too. I can learn how others live and what they believe in, and/or what their customs are. “
Tayyab shared:
“Our school is small yet it contains a lot of knowledge. Our classes are 70 minutes long. The teachers like to help you understand the lesson and make sure you are not falling behind. Our subjects are science (biology, physics, chemistry, meteorology etc.), math, english, Spanish, Chinese, physical education, dance, and global studies. We learn about what is going on with the world and how we can relate it to ourselves and the world. Our class environment is very good students are not cruel to one another and everyone gets along. My ethnicity is being Pakistani/Filipino. My religion is Islam. These categories have shaped who I am today and always will. Being Pakistani/Filipino we have the tendency to help family and friends with things we think they need help with even if they don’t want it. As a Muslim, I try to keep my best to be a good person. I try to help people in need of tutoring. I try my best not to use any profanity. I try to do the right things and stay away from the bad.”
Theresa shared:
“I want others to know all about our school’s diversity and about who we are as a whole, not just our students but us all together. I am a girl from an all-Italian family, but speak none of the language. My main and only language is English. My friends are a great part of my life, as most teen think. Family is not always number one to me, but I still love them. My family is kind of weird. Very big, since we are Italian, but still weird. I find out all the time that I have new family, and it is really cool. I think of it as a never-ending family. Always adding new and different ways of life. Different backgrounds from different families, bringing in new foods and language,s and living in different places. Which is kind of how BSGE is–all kinds of different people who you can consider family sometimes.”
Background Information
BSGE (Baccalaureate School for Global Education) is a small public school that serves 425 students from the 7th through 12th grades (ages 11 to 18) who live in New York City’s borough of Queens–the most multi-cultural borough of New York City. We look like the United Nations.
We are authorized by IBO to offer both the IB and MYP programs. Everyone at BSGE is a candidate for the IB (International Baccalaureate) diploma. Of course not everyone actually gets the IB diploma, but we all take IB classes in the 11th and 12th grades and sit for the international exams. That is different from most IB schools in North America. (Our Mission Statement.) In North America, the IB is a program is usually found at an expensive private school or an elite program within a larger public school. Our school is different. It was founded on the principle that all students should have an opportunity for an elite education. Students are expected to take their job seriously and work hard, but no one pays tuition to attend. Our Interim Acting Principal, Kelly Johnson often says: “I believe in a public eduction for all, but that does not mean free. Students must pay by doing good work.” We are a relatively new school, only 5 years old. In those five years we have sent students abroad to: China, Denmark, Jordan, Senegal, and the Netherlands and have hosted exchange students from France, Jordan and Denmark.
Clubs and Activities
After-school activities include: yearbook, Unwanted Times, creative writing, newspaper, podcastng, MOUSE Squad, debate team, helping hands, Youth Can, math club, sports, music, robotics, and others.
