Russell Siima began kindergarten in a Montgomery County, Md., public school while his immigrant parents dropped him off and encouraged him to be brave. The classroom featured colorful posters, smart boards, cozy reading corners with books and swivel chairs, and individual cubbies for supplies. The parents hoped their child would feel welcome and love his teacher. The parent recalled being sent at age four to live with an uncle in a neighboring county to begin education at a church school housed in a long rectangular room with a dirt floor, iron sheet roofing, no ceiling, and wooden shutters instead of glass; rain often forced pauses.
His classroom has colorful posters, smart boards and cozy reading corners filled with books and comfy swivel chairs. Each child has a cubby with their name on it for storing the school supplies tucked into their backpacks. Like every parent, I hope my child likes no, make that loves their teacher. That they feel welcome in school and enjoy their first step to the many years of learning ahead.
When I was 4, my mother sent me to another county in rural southwestern Uganda to live with my uncle's family, where school options were better to begin my education in what we called "church school." Used for Sunday mass, the building itself was a long, rectangular room with a dirt floor, iron sheet roofing, no ceiling and wooden shutters instead of glass windows.
On my first day at church school, my cousin Mary and her older brother walked with me the mile or so to school and dropped me off. My mother had brought me to stay with my maternal uncle's family in a neighboring county, where school options were better. In my home county, the nearest "church school" was about 9 miles away too great a distance for a child to walk.
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