I spoke with the head coach of the Clarkson High School cross country team, and after that, I feel confident that is the team I want to dive into as I tell the story about refugee resettlement in Clarkston, Georgia. It sounds like access is not going to be an issue. This is a coach who I’ve interviewed before for a previous story, and he said I would be welcome to come for any practices or meets I need. I’m also planning to reach out to the school’s principal to talk about what I’m doing and to make sure I won’t run into any issues. I also want to take some time exploring the Clarkston to get a feel for the community.
I gravitated toward a team at a public high school because it seems like the concept of refugees assimilating to a high school’s culture and routine can be used as a microcosm of immigrants coming into a new country.
I also think I need to find one or a few personal stories from athletes on the team to use in my story. Focusing on the lives of an athlete, his siblings and his parents will be an effective way to tell the story.
Below is my original story memo with changes and additions now that I have determined the route I hope to take.
Topic: The intersection between sports and refugee resettlement, using Clarkston High School’s cross country team as a lens
Key questions to consider and how to answer them:
- What is it like to immigrate 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? Based on the story I did last year, it sounded like most of these runners come to America with a lot of experience in soccer, but they’ve never heard of cross 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? Are there any costs to be a part of a public high school cross country team?
- 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 adjustment process in ways apart from sports?
- What lessons do the coaches hope to teach through sports?
- What makes the cross country team successful, especially since many might not have run cross country prior to moving to the U.S.?
- What struggles have the athletes faced? Xenophobia?
- 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 – Wesley Etienne, cross country head coach
- Athletes
- Families (Etienne said it might be hard to get parents. Most don’t speak English. But he said older siblings could work as good sources too.)
- Teachers who have knowledge of the adjusting process outside of sports
- Dr. Michelle Jones, Clarkston High School principal
- 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.