Identifying Options for Our Students

By N. Peter Antone

With the school year about to begin, the Chaldean News decided to explore the issue of whether our Chaldean kids are making the best of the opportunities offered to them in school. To assist us in this endeavor, we sought the opinion of two prominent educators.

One is Crystal Jabiro, a certified teacher at West Bloomfield Middle School who possesses a master’s degree and is working toward obtaining her Doctorate Degree in Education. Crystal is focusing on issues related to Chaldean and Assyrian students—exploring education gaps, diversity, and social justice. The other educator, Andrew Najor, is a Teacher-of-the-Year award winner at Key’s Grace Academy in Madison Heights.

Both educators emphasized the importance of parents’ involvement in their kids’ student careers. Many schools offer an abundance of opportunities, such as after-school tutoring, career pathways, college application assistance, after-school activities, sports, and student clubs, among others.

Our Chaldean kids might not be aware of all these options available to them or might not have thought of getting involved in any of them. Parental involvement could not only help make kids aware of the available opportunities, it could also encourage them to be more involved in and to take advantage of these opportunities.

Schools are meant to prepare our kids for the future once they graduate. While America is already a melting pot of many different cultures, our society is becoming more diverse in terms of national background, culture, and race, and is becoming more accepting of non-traditional sexual orientations and gender identities.

It will be important for our kids to be able to communicate, work, and interact with such diverse groups of individuals. Schools offer an opportunity for such interaction and enable our kids to understand others who might be different from them. Parents could encourage their kids to be more involved and to interact with others and should resist the temptation to have their kids befriend only other Chaldeans.

While it is natural for our kids to befriend other Chaldeans due to shared culture, it is important for both parents and kids to avoid isolating themselves from others who might be different from them.

Both educators with whom we spoke explained that many Chaldean parents are not as involved in their kids’ schools as they can or should be. Mr. Najor explained that many Chaldean kids in his school are excelling in their involvement in such activities as student council, and after school clubs. Still, others need the continuous support, involvement, and encouragement of their parents. It is a topic worth discussing.