April 30, 2012 issue
International students changing makeup of high schools
By Sheldon C. Good Mennonite World ReviewAfter a 12-year-old boy’s parents divorced, they argued over who should get custody of him. Unable to agree, they decided to rent an apartment for him near where they lived in Taiwan. So the boy lived alone, surviving on McDonald’s food and hungering for a better life.
Brian Yankah, junior from Germany, and Elise Kelly, senior from Salem, Ore., and student body president, work during Western Mennonite School’s fall service day on Sept. 28. — Photo by Abbie Friesen/Western Mennonite School
After learning about Western Mennonite School in Salem, Ore., the boy’s parents enrolled him in eighth grade there.
“He came to us as a very angry boy; he was really struggling,” said Robby Gilliam, campus pastor and international program director, who told the boy’s story and thought it best to not give his name.
In 2011 the boy graduated from high school at Western. Gilliam said the experience changed the young man’s life. He now attends San Francisco Chinese Mennonite Church.
“He is doing well and has been extremely thankful,” he said.
Western has 237 students in grades 6-12, including 24 international students from nine countries. Most are from Asia — specifically China — though some are from Africa and Europe.
In fact, Mennonite high schools across the U.S. and Canada are increasingly diverse. International students, mostly from East Asia, are changing the makeup of the schools and creating new intercultural learning opportunities. Many of the schools see the growth as more than simply a way to increase enrollment, but as a core part of their mission.
Mennonite Education Agency does not have explicit data on international high school students. However, MEA research shows that 25 percent of pre-kindergarten to grade 12 students enrolled in 2011 were racial-ethnic, which includes international students. In 2004, 7.8 percent were racial-ethnic students.
Western has received international students for more than 40 years, though the current program is in its 10th year. This fall the school is expecting 40 international students, nearly double the current number, with growth coming from Thailand, Vietnam, Mexico and Ireland.
“We’re being flooded with applications, because [the families] have heard good things about the education we’ve been offering,” Gilliam said.
Comments
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In 1969 in my senior year at Lancaster Mennonite High School there were several international students. One was Anishnaabe from northern Ontario. I wonder now why Mennonite schools don't make more of an effort to extend the excellent quality educational opportunities they offer, to Native students across the continent. Surely it would be the least we could do for living on what is essentially rent-free land appropriated by past generations and presently part of the on-going colonization efforts of the dominant society. Mennonites have a history of being oppressed peoples, so should surely have some sensitivity to what needs to be done for true reconciliation - especially at "home".
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I wonder why the HIGH AIM Mennonite high school program was shut down, cut off, without warning or explanation. Bet no one even knows what I'm talking about. Any takers?
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I was told High Aim ended due to lack of funding.
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