Last week, fourth graders had the opportunity to meet people who have immigrated to the United States. On Tuesday, Wilson Suero visited our class. Students reflected on his visit by writing news articles. Below, please find two examples written by Shoshi and Tess. Then on Thursday, Maria visited us and shared her story. Again students processed her story by writing about it, this time in the form of thank you letters. We share with you letters from Madiba and Rubie. We are looking forward to meeting more people who have moved to the United States from other countries as we continue to build our understanding of the world, the country, and the city we live in.

Where’s Wilson?

By: Shoshi Fine

Wilson Suero is an immigrant from Dominican Republic who bravely came to America in the year 2000 by a plane to the wonderful land of New York for better job opportunities.

Wilson used to play in a waterfall in Dominican Republic. He would jump off the top of the waterfall and plunge in. The top of the waterfall was 7-8 feet high in the air. “Were you scared of the waterfall?” said an LREI student. “It was very deep and there were some small water snakes so I was a little scared,” replied Wilson.

Wilson worked at the waterfall when he was around 12 years old and some tourists would tip him to jump off the top of the waterfall. Wilson enjoyed jumping off the waterfall and really liked getting paid to do what he liked doing. “Did you play in the waterfall?” asked a LREI student. “Yes a lot, all the time. I rode down it and I would go to the top and jump off it. I worked there and I would get paid to ride down it,” Wilson replied.

Wilson was shy and wouldn’t look at Americans when he first came to America, but Wilson has now learned how nice America really is.

His first job was at a restaurant cleaning tables then at Little Red, then Elisabeth Irwin, and lastly, where he is now, Little Red.

“Why didn’t all of your family move to New York City?” asked another student.“ I was raised by my aunt,” Wilson explained. “My aunt took me as her own. It’s because of her that I was able to move to NYC.”

Of course Wilson loves and misses his family but he loves his life in America and doesn’t regret moving at all.

Adventures In America
By: Tess Taetle

“I miss my family, but it is nice here in New York,” said Wilson Suero, October 26, 2016, when he was interviewed by the fourth grade at LREI in New York City. Wilson immigrated from Dominican Republic to New York City on February 3rd 2000. Wilson took a plane to get to America. He was 22 years old when he came to America.

Wilson came to America for job opportunities and to get money for his family. Wilson said that his first job was waiting tables, then he did construction work, then he worked at LREI in the kitchen through a friend. “I found my current job working in the maintenance department.” Wilson said that he loves everything about New York City. He loves Queens. That is where he met his wife. He also loves sports and soccer. He loves the team Barcelona.

Wilson came from the Dominican Republic and misses his whole family, including his mother and brothers and Aunt. Wilson was raised by his aunt, who took him in as her own. It was because of Wilson’s aunt that he was able to come to New York. His aunt gave Wilson the chance to live a better life. He also has seven siblings and two children in Romana.

Wilson moved to New York for job opportunities and to earn money for his family back home. There are a lot of job opportunities for people in New York who are Hispanic and bilingual, according to Wilson. He has learned English little by little. When the fourth grade asked if he regretted moving he said, “No, not at all.” He said, “I had the opportunity to come and would have done it at an earlier age.” He said he “remains polite” even though he doesn’t know what most people are saying. He was told to be shy and not look people in the eye.

Wilson traveled to the United States by plane. It took a few hours. He came to the United States with his stepdad and brother. He likes to visit now whenever he has a break. “I take every chance to go back,” Wilson said. He misses the Dominican Republic because he grew up there. He also lost his father at a young age when he lived there. He grew up in the countryside and he said his misses the green areas and he loves the animals there.

October 29, 2015

Dear Maria Weiss,

Thank you for coming to our classroom. I can see you are a very active and energetic person and you always have something to say. We all enjoyed your visit and the arepas you brought were delicious.

We understand you had a bit of adjusting to do when you came to New York, like learning a new language and hearing the sound of the loud and sometimes obnoxious people. I am sorry that you had the terrifying experience of the attack on the World Trade Center in New York. I love that you like to go to Central Park, that’s my favorite park too!

I learned it has also been hard for you in Colombia too with all the wars. I am still wondering how old were you when you first started learning English and how old were you when you started not liking it?

Hope you get this,

Madiba

Dear Maria,

Thank you for visiting. I learned so much about how in Colombia you have one of the biggest rainforests, I’ve also learned people are burning down the rainforest and I’ve learned that there’s a boulder the size of the Empire State Building!

My favorite parts were when we got to eat the arepas, another one of my favorite parts was when you told us about your first slice of pizza experience, and when you shared your worst year in N.Y.C.

These are some other things I enjoyed:

When you told us about in Colombia you learned English but you didn’t like to speak it because it was hard for you to pronounce the words,

When you told us N.Y.C was different than you thought it was going to be,

When you told us they didn’t have a halloween parade when you first moved to New York City,

When you told us your father said take a break from college and go to the US to learn more English,

When you told us in the 1980s there were a lot of people going against government in Colombia and they started fighting the government. Then they made their own military, so it was bad for the country,

When you told us your sister was a fashion designer and she gave you a job when you first got to the US and you made $100 a week,

and

How you have two children, Shayna and Jose Luis.

Thank you for coming!

Sincerely,
Rubie