LINDEN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

LINDEN PUBLIC SCHOOLS, NJ — In a world too often shaped by misunderstanding, 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐡-𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 McManus Middle School is helping to change the narrative—one thoughtful question, one powerful conversation at a time.

Their statewide project, “𝐍𝐨 𝐇𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞,” became a lived experience during a transformative visit on March 24 to Linden Public Schools’ Multilingual Learners Welcome Center, where empathy met action, and ideas sparked inspiration.

𝐋𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚 𝐑𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝟎-𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲. 𝐄𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐞𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

Students engaged in an in-depth, candid Q&A session with 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞 𝐎𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧, 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, for over an hour. Orelien responded to each question with warmth and enthusiasm, often weaving in her personal story—arriving in the U.S. as a young Haitian girl who spoke no English and her decades-long journey teaching and leading ESL programs in Linden.

“I remember how scared I was,” Orelien told the students. “That experience fuels my passion. I want every child who walks through our doors to feel like they belong.”

𝐀 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐑𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠

The “No Hate in the Garden State” project began with a simple but powerful question: Who am I? Through a personal “I Am” poem and identity reflection project, students celebrated what makes them unique, setting the foundation for deeper conversations around culture, bias, and empathy.

“We start by discovering ourselves,” Ribeca explained. “Then we learn about others—and realize how much we have in common.”

Their class—composed of students who speak four to five different languages—has transformed into a cultural showcase filled with displays of traditions, holidays, and global customs. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟑𝟎 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐲 𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬, 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭.

𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐃𝐫. 𝐀𝐭𝐢𝐲𝐚 𝐘. 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐬, who visited the students’ classroom on February 25, praised their leadership, encouraging them to “roar for unity” and reminding them that “your smile invites people in, and when you open your heart, you dismantle prejudice and build bridges.”

𝐀 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧

At the Welcome Center, students witnessed their project in action.

Opened in Fall 2024, the Welcome Center has quickly become a lifeline for multilingual families across Linden’s 7,000-student district, which represents more than 30 countries and over 39 languages.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐬:

• 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭

• 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬, 𝐒𝐞𝐞𝐬𝐚𝐰, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐃𝐨𝐣𝐨

• 𝐌𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

• 𝐉𝐨𝐛 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

• 𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞

• 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

“You can’t just tell families to be partners in education—you have to show them how and give them the tools to do it,” said Orelien. “That’s what we do every day.”

Students learned how the Center helps parents navigate systems, access essential services, and gain confidence in advocating for their children. Orelien also shared that the district recently hired a full-time coordinator to survey family needs and tailor support accordingly.

𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞

The visit left a lasting impact. The students didn’t just talk about empathy—they lived it. Their thoughtful questions and reflective discussions proved that change doesn’t only come from adults—it often begins with youth who are willing to listen, learn, and lead.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨, “𝐓𝐞𝐧 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬, 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞,” rang true throughout the visit. From walking to the Welcome Center together to participating in the district’s Diversity Celebration, the students demonstrated how unity and understanding can become a way of life.

Orelien was so moved by their work that she plans to include their project in her upcoming presentations at Global TESOL and other educational conferences.

“𝐖𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧," 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝. “𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞.”