hello my name is diego valdez and i am
an immigrant don’t worry I’m 10 I’m not
gonna get into politics but I’m here to
talk about being kind to others you see
when I was four years old my family and
I had to move from Mexico to the US
because of my dad’s job I was very sad
knowing I would have no friends I would
have to go to a new school and most
importantly I’d have to learn a new
language I argued I cried I yelled but
that didn’t stop us from moving on top
of that we moved in December so that
meant we went from Monterrey Mexico a
hundred degree weather to Milwaukee
Wisconsin ten degree weather time went
by fast and suddenly I found myself in a
new school where I couldn’t talk to the
other kids or even my teacher can you
imagine how that feels standing in a
room where you had no idea of what was
happening but I’m not the only kid that
suffers these changes in fact according
to the Census Bureau since 2014 more
than 1.5 million immigrants arrived in
the US every year think about that that
means a lot of families coming from
places us Latin America Asia Middle East
or Europe to start a new life and send
their kids to school I am definitely not
alone so how can we help all these kids
feel better right at the start of one of
the scariest moments they will ever
experience what can schools do that will
help with the process of those kids
integrating into the new school
community
how about we create a program a program
there is always used in a case like this
this is my idea of a program with four
steps that schools should implement step
one know about them what if the teacher
helps us to learn more about where the
kid is coming from maybe even a few
basic words in their language let’s
think about an example Rohan is a new
boy in class that just arrived from
India the teacher prepared a small
lesson about India and even taught us
three basic words in Hindi namaste hello
Danya Bard Thank You mera naam Diego
Hind my name is Jo this idea may even
help us to improve our geography
knowledge which we’re not very good at
according to the last nation’s report
card from 2014 nearly three quarters of
eighth graders tested below proficient
in geography so talk about a win-win
situation step 2 identify a buddy since
there are so many immigrants in our
country the chances hide at your school
there’s at least one kid that can speak
the same language or comes from the same
country as them he or she could help the
kid around the school and help them
understand what’s going on since they
probably don’t speak English take me for
instance
back in Milwaukee Wisconsin and my other
school storm is elementary a noodle from
Spain arrived the teachers asked me to
help show her around and help her help
her understand what’s going on
but if you don’t have a case like this I
am sure we can find a kid that is
willing to spend some free time hanging
out and helping them there’s always
someone willing to take the challenge
step 3 navigate in their shoes so just
don’t you think it’d be easier to help
someone if you knew how they felt I
think if you got a little taste of what
they’re experiencing you know more of
what they’re feeling
maybe an exercising class could help the
teacher could have signed the class a
letter or maybe a test where all the
words would be in a different language
like Chinese or Arabic all the kids
would feel confused and frustrated and
that would be exactly what the new kids
who once President Barack Obama said
empathy is the ability to see the world
through those who are different from us
and I think that might be the ingredient
helped solve some of the global issues
we have step 4
develop the start of some friendships
how would you feel no one played with
you it with you or hang out with you
you’d feel very uncomfortable wouldn’t
you all these kids moving from one place
to another start off alone and feeling
they will always be alone but what can
we do to help them we need to find a way
to plant some seeds of friendship with
the other kids in the class for a few
days that you can could have signed the
kid on projects alternating with all the
kids in the class that would open up two
opportunities to hang out with kids at
lunch recess or maybe even outside of
school I am a very lucky kid throughout
the years I have met people who have
helped me adapt very quickly today I
speak full in English I have great
friends and teachers who have helped me
enjoy my new life I have my parents and
my brother who never gave up on me
and this year I proudly became a citizen
of the United States of America
just imagine if we constantly repeat
these steps with every kid that moves to
the United States we’d help all of them
to adapt quicker but we’d also help
ourselves and our country unite and
become a better place to live
thank you [Applause]
an immigrant don’t worry I’m 10 I’m not
gonna get into politics but I’m here to
talk about being kind to others you see
when I was four years old my family and
I had to move from Mexico to the US
because of my dad’s job I was very sad
knowing I would have no friends I would
have to go to a new school and most
importantly I’d have to learn a new
language I argued I cried I yelled but
that didn’t stop us from moving on top
of that we moved in December so that
meant we went from Monterrey Mexico a
hundred degree weather to Milwaukee
Wisconsin ten degree weather time went
by fast and suddenly I found myself in a
new school where I couldn’t talk to the
other kids or even my teacher can you
imagine how that feels standing in a
room where you had no idea of what was
happening but I’m not the only kid that
suffers these changes in fact according
to the Census Bureau since 2014 more
than 1.5 million immigrants arrived in
the US every year think about that that
means a lot of families coming from
places us Latin America Asia Middle East
or Europe to start a new life and send
their kids to school I am definitely not
alone so how can we help all these kids
feel better right at the start of one of
the scariest moments they will ever
experience what can schools do that will
help with the process of those kids
integrating into the new school
community
how about we create a program a program
there is always used in a case like this
this is my idea of a program with four
steps that schools should implement step
one know about them what if the teacher
helps us to learn more about where the
kid is coming from maybe even a few
basic words in their language let’s
think about an example Rohan is a new
boy in class that just arrived from
India the teacher prepared a small
lesson about India and even taught us
three basic words in Hindi namaste hello
Danya Bard Thank You mera naam Diego
Hind my name is Jo this idea may even
help us to improve our geography
knowledge which we’re not very good at
according to the last nation’s report
card from 2014 nearly three quarters of
eighth graders tested below proficient
in geography so talk about a win-win
situation step 2 identify a buddy since
there are so many immigrants in our
country the chances hide at your school
there’s at least one kid that can speak
the same language or comes from the same
country as them he or she could help the
kid around the school and help them
understand what’s going on since they
probably don’t speak English take me for
instance
back in Milwaukee Wisconsin and my other
school storm is elementary a noodle from
Spain arrived the teachers asked me to
help show her around and help her help
her understand what’s going on
but if you don’t have a case like this I
am sure we can find a kid that is
willing to spend some free time hanging
out and helping them there’s always
someone willing to take the challenge
step 3 navigate in their shoes so just
don’t you think it’d be easier to help
someone if you knew how they felt I
think if you got a little taste of what
they’re experiencing you know more of
what they’re feeling
maybe an exercising class could help the
teacher could have signed the class a
letter or maybe a test where all the
words would be in a different language
like Chinese or Arabic all the kids
would feel confused and frustrated and
that would be exactly what the new kids
who once President Barack Obama said
empathy is the ability to see the world
through those who are different from us
and I think that might be the ingredient
helped solve some of the global issues
we have step 4
develop the start of some friendships
how would you feel no one played with
you it with you or hang out with you
you’d feel very uncomfortable wouldn’t
you all these kids moving from one place
to another start off alone and feeling
they will always be alone but what can
we do to help them we need to find a way
to plant some seeds of friendship with
the other kids in the class for a few
days that you can could have signed the
kid on projects alternating with all the
kids in the class that would open up two
opportunities to hang out with kids at
lunch recess or maybe even outside of
school I am a very lucky kid throughout
the years I have met people who have
helped me adapt very quickly today I
speak full in English I have great
friends and teachers who have helped me
enjoy my new life I have my parents and
my brother who never gave up on me
and this year I proudly became a citizen
of the United States of America
just imagine if we constantly repeat
these steps with every kid that moves to
the United States we’d help all of them
to adapt quicker but we’d also help
ourselves and our country unite and
become a better place to live
thank you [Applause]
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