'This is My Story Project' at Hampton Bays High School Showcases Migration Journeys

Each year for the past three years, the English as a Native Language (ENL) class at Hampton Bays High School has participated in a three-phase “This Is My Story” project over the course of the school year, where students share their migration stories.

The project began by accident when ENL teacher Alexa Toyas left plans for a substitute teacher while she was away. The students were tasked with using one of the 20 most common English verbs in the past tense to answer questions in a one-on-one interview with another student about their migration to the U.S. Questions included, “What did you bring with you to the U.S.?” with responses like, “I brought my backpack.” Each student then wrote a small paragraph about their partner’s migration story.

Upon returning to the classroom, Toyas found her students deeply engaged in the assignment. She observed one of her students from Guatemala explaining his migration story in Spanish to two classmates and realized the profound impact of the assignment.

“I realized that it was the first time that I had ever heard a migration story directly from a student, and everything that they had experienced in order to come here,” Toyas said. “I realized that they had so much more that they really wanted to say but they just couldn’t express it all in English. And I realized they had a lot to process and heal from but also a lot to teach the world and a lot to teach all of the educators that are responsible for providing them an equitable education.”

The project has evolved into a comprehensive three-phase initiative involving other school departments and local organizations. The first phase, led by the school’s bilingual social worker, Maira Zavala, has students sit in a community circle, sharing their stories. In the second phase, students delve into writing and editing their stories. And they complete an art curriculum developed by the high school art teacher, Keegan Bishop, illustrating the most powerful part of their journey, which was exhibited in the school hallway.

The final phase is a public presentation in late May where families and local organizations gather to hear voluntary students read their stories aloud. Toyas treasures these receptions, as they allow students to share aspects of themselves they have been told to hide.

“It’s really amazing to see the kids feel more comfortable sharing and opening up to others and it teaches them to form positive relationships,” Toyas said. “I get to watch them read their story in public and it’s just really amazing to see.”

The project’s theme changes annually, allowing the estimated 40 students in the ENL program to participate each year. This year, the project was titled “This Is My Story: Out of the Darkness,” and students created puzzle pieces and drew something that they identify with.

“It’s a metaphor about how we’re each unique, but then how we fit together as pieces of a puzzle,” Toyas explained. “So that’s really what the project is about … how I’m unique but how I can also relate to others and learn that I’m not alone.”

Each year, the project has grown, receiving a federal grant called Assistance in Arts Education from the U.S. Department of Ed. for the past two years. This grant has enabled the school to collaborate with local artists. Last year, a local artist created a floor-to-ceiling map for students to trace their migration journeys, and this year, students partnered with a film crew to make a documentary about the project to be shown at the start of each project cycle.

Next year’s project will be titled “This Is My Story: What It’s Like to Be Me” and will focus on students’ migration journeys and other childhood memories that shape who they are today.

As the project continues to grow and evolve, it remains a vital part of both the students’ and teachers’ relationships as they share and learn from each other.

“The connection I feel like this has allowed me to build with the kids is something that I never thought could ever come out of it,” Toyas said. “And we learned so much more about them when you ask them to write their story.”