I tried to write this memo in a way that it could be applied for either Fugees Family or Clarkson High School cross country team. I will settle on one of those routes next week after I talk to the coaches and see what type of access I could get.
Broad topic: The intersection between sports and refugee resettlement
Key questions to consider and how to answer them:
- What is it like to acclimate to a new country as a refugee child?
- Talk to high-school aged students and their families
- Ask athletic coaches how sports affect the process of a student adjusting to a new place
- What is it like to become a part of a public high school? Is it comforting to be at a high school that has a high population of refugees?
- How do refugee children get involved with sports?
- Do parents see it as something that will help them be part of the community? Is it the child that initiates the desire to play?
- What challenges arise if the sport the child plays is not a sport that was present in their home country?
- How much does it cost a family to pay for a kid to be involved with sports? Are refugee children ever kept from sports due to the financial burden?
- What is the team dynamic like and what messages does it send to the athletes and observers?
- How many different home countries are represented on the team?
- Are there ever language barriers?
- Were the coaches refugees or immigrants? How do they lead a diverse team of students adjusting to a new life?
- How do coaches and teammates help throughout the acclimating process in ways apart from sports?
- What makes the cross country team successful, especially since many might not have run cross country prior to moving to the U.S.?
- How did Clarkston become a hub for refugee resettlement?
- What are other similar refugee resettlement towns in the United States?
- What made Clarkston a good fit for immigrants?
Sources:
- Coaches
- Athletes
- Families
- Teachers who have knowledge of the adjusting process outside of sports
- Someone unaffiliated with the team or school who has knowledge of Clarkston’s history as a refugee resettlement town
Possible multimedia ideas:
- Maybe a graph that shows the demographic makeup of Clarkson High School
- Timeline or maps that show where the athletes come from and how and when they got to the U.S.