Finding THE POWER OF STORIES IN MASHPEE
By Addison Wood
A new group of MMHS students and teachers are working to combine interviewing and photography to tell the stories of immigrants who have journeyed to Mashpee.
Mrs. Purdy, Mrs. Reynolds, and a group of students from the Human Rights Club have partnered with Mrs. Troyanos’ Photography Club, and are exploring the power of stories through what they are calling “The Immigration Project.”
The goal of the project is to capture the stories of immigrants, and to open our eyes to the cultures and experiences of new Americans. The project strives to discover and share the stories of the people who surround us, and ourselves.
A new group of MMHS students and teachers are working to combine interviewing and photography to tell the stories of immigrants who have journeyed to Mashpee.
Mrs. Purdy, Mrs. Reynolds, and a group of students from the Human Rights Club have partnered with Mrs. Troyanos’ Photography Club, and are exploring the power of stories through what they are calling “The Immigration Project.”
The goal of the project is to capture the stories of immigrants, and to open our eyes to the cultures and experiences of new Americans. The project strives to discover and share the stories of the people who surround us, and ourselves.
Many students have expressed their surprise in hearing their own families’ stories of coming to America. It goes to show how little of someone’s story you know if you don’t ask.
As Mrs. Purdy explained, “We don’t know people's stories unless we share them, and this project allows for that to happen.”
Headway has been made on the project this year, and what started as Julia Medeiros’ senior project four years ago has turned into a legacy project. Her original goal for the project was to educate students on the journey families take to get citizenship in the U.S. and to celebrate their accomplishments.
This school year, The Immigration Project has begun to succeed in its long-term objective of “illustrating the resilience and determination of new Americans,” as Mrs. Purdy described it. Multiple interviews have been conducted and contributors to the project have begun meeting with Dr. Becky Field. The school Human Rights Club has also applied for a grant from The Massachusetts Cultural Council to help fund the project.
Becky Field is an award winning social documentarian and author from New Hampshire. Similarly to The Immigration Project, Dr. Field strives to use photography and interviewing to show the beauty of diversity and the importance of hearing people’s stories. Dr. Field has compiled many stories from immigrants in her books Finding Home (2020) and Different Roots Common Dreams (2015) where her documentation of immigrants’ stories shows the vitality of different cultures in our community.
In the first training, Dr. Fields expressed how, “People have different cultures but the same dreams.” The overarching goal of her work seems to be showing the beauty in the similarities and the differences we all share.
The project first made progress on Diversity Day 2019, which introduced the idea of interviewing students on their immigration stories. The project was then taken on by Haleema Shafi in 2020. It’s growth was stunted during 2020 due to Covid, but it has been revived this year with the collaboration of a leadership team of writing and photography students who will continue to grow the program, as well as with the help of the Mashpee Inclusion and Diversity Committee.
Marie Stevenson, who approached the Human Rights Club as chairman of the Mashpee Inclusion and Diversity Committee (MIDC), has also contributed to the success of the project this year, according to Mrs. Purdy. Both MIDC and the Human Rights Club share the goal of embracing Mashpee’s cultural diversity, which is why Stevenson approached them to collaborate on The Immigration Project.
The project only continues to develop under the wing of MIDC and Becky Field. The Human Rights Club is expected to conduct more interviews and recruit more students to the legacy project this year. As for the students, teachers, and clubs involved in The Immigration Project are committed to seizing this opportunity to make all residents and students of Mashpee feel welcomed and supported. The Human Rights Club expects a stronger community to foster as a result of honoring our school’s diversity.
As Mrs. Purdy explained, “We don’t know people's stories unless we share them, and this project allows for that to happen.”
Headway has been made on the project this year, and what started as Julia Medeiros’ senior project four years ago has turned into a legacy project. Her original goal for the project was to educate students on the journey families take to get citizenship in the U.S. and to celebrate their accomplishments.
This school year, The Immigration Project has begun to succeed in its long-term objective of “illustrating the resilience and determination of new Americans,” as Mrs. Purdy described it. Multiple interviews have been conducted and contributors to the project have begun meeting with Dr. Becky Field. The school Human Rights Club has also applied for a grant from The Massachusetts Cultural Council to help fund the project.
Becky Field is an award winning social documentarian and author from New Hampshire. Similarly to The Immigration Project, Dr. Field strives to use photography and interviewing to show the beauty of diversity and the importance of hearing people’s stories. Dr. Field has compiled many stories from immigrants in her books Finding Home (2020) and Different Roots Common Dreams (2015) where her documentation of immigrants’ stories shows the vitality of different cultures in our community.
In the first training, Dr. Fields expressed how, “People have different cultures but the same dreams.” The overarching goal of her work seems to be showing the beauty in the similarities and the differences we all share.
The project first made progress on Diversity Day 2019, which introduced the idea of interviewing students on their immigration stories. The project was then taken on by Haleema Shafi in 2020. It’s growth was stunted during 2020 due to Covid, but it has been revived this year with the collaboration of a leadership team of writing and photography students who will continue to grow the program, as well as with the help of the Mashpee Inclusion and Diversity Committee.
Marie Stevenson, who approached the Human Rights Club as chairman of the Mashpee Inclusion and Diversity Committee (MIDC), has also contributed to the success of the project this year, according to Mrs. Purdy. Both MIDC and the Human Rights Club share the goal of embracing Mashpee’s cultural diversity, which is why Stevenson approached them to collaborate on The Immigration Project.
The project only continues to develop under the wing of MIDC and Becky Field. The Human Rights Club is expected to conduct more interviews and recruit more students to the legacy project this year. As for the students, teachers, and clubs involved in The Immigration Project are committed to seizing this opportunity to make all residents and students of Mashpee feel welcomed and supported. The Human Rights Club expects a stronger community to foster as a result of honoring our school’s diversity.