Using a sharp, shrill sound from an iPad to tell middle school students it’s time to move on to the next activity might seem like a no-brainer — but not when the youth are from war-torn countries where the noise is similar to one that signals bombs going off.
So when Jennifer LaChonce, an English Learner/bilingual Arabic teacher at Finley Junior High School in Chicago Ridge, heard from a student that the sound was jarring, she let the girl choose a different one.
Her students share many of the traumatic experiences and difficulties in adjusting to life in the United States that youth from refugee situations do, even if they are not. But they don’t get the governmental help refugees do in settling in, LaChonce said.
“Along with the civil unrest, moving and COVID, their schooling has been interrupted. They want to learn but haven’t had access to quality schooling,” she said.
“As a team school, we really try to help them with the different academic subjects they are missing but also overcoming all the emotional struggles of moving to a new place after civil unrest.”
Her work helping youth with refugee and similar experiences doesn’t stop there.
At Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, LaChonce, an adjunct professor of English language teaching methods, brings in anecdotes about her younger students.
“When I teach the evening class at Trinity, it’s not just what’s in the textbook,” said LaChonce, an Oak Forest resident who lived and taught in Jordan for years. “I share with them something as simple as Simon Says and using physical activity and interactive ways to get students excited about learning … and I can tell them humorous stories about things middle-school students do and what’s been effective and not.”
That’s her way of trying to get future teachers to take a wider view and consider the field.
“I want to inspire education students at Trinity to want to do this kind of work,” she said.
She is also studying for her doctoral degree in Interdisciplinary Leadership concentrated in Higher Education at Governors State University.
LaChonce will be working in a refugee center in Lebanon this summer, conducting workshops with elementary school children, orphans and Syrian refugees to help them process some of the difficult things they’ve endured and manage their future.
She’s also on the board of The Welcome Network, a nonprofit that helps people resettle.
Her passion dates back to her time at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, when she was working on an undergraduate degree and studying Spanish. She requested an international student as a roommate and got one from Palestine.
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“That really inspired me to consider the people of the Middle East,” said LaChonce, who is fluent in Arabic. “I grew up with a lot of benefits I want to pass on to people who are vulnerable.”
When Vivian Botros emigrated from Egypt and had a temporary teaching license here, LaChonce helped her feel at home. Botros, who graduated with a degree from Trinity, was also in LaChonce’s class.
“She had a big influence on me,” said Botros. “She knew my struggles, she knew what I was going through, she had a good understanding of my frustration, She was able to walk me through.
“She has a very good heart, a heart that doesn’t get tired or give up.”
Botros has firsthand knowledge of what refugees endure after helping her father with his ministry aiding poor people in Cairo.
A former Finley teacher, Botros helped LaChonce land her job in Chicago Ridge. When Botros was ready to start her current job at Summit Hill School District 161 in Frankfort, she told the Finley principal in Chicago Ridge about LaChonce, paving the way.
LaChonce said she wished more people would recognize how much “newcomers” bring to this country.
“There’s a lot of fear about immigrants and refugees coming into our community,” LaChonce said. “I just want to focus on the contributions they make, their perseverance, just the beauty they bring to our community.”
Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.