You Are Welcome Here: Support for Immigrant Students in Dearborn, Michigan

You Are Welcome Here (#DearbornWelcome) is an award-winning 20-minute film from Colorín Colorado highlighting how the Dearborn, MI public school district is helping its immigrant students succeed. The film features Salina Elementary School and Salina Intermediate School in the South End of Dearborn which serve large populations of families from Yemen.

Extended interviews are available along with other videos and articles from Dearborn below. The film is also available with Arabic subtitles.

Awards and features

This project is also featured in the AFT's American Educator Spring 2020 edition.

Viewer note: The film includes references to traumatic topics such as violence and family separation.

Acknowledgements

This film was produced with the generous support of our founding partner, the American Federation of Teachers.

Featured Film

You Are Welcome Here: Supporting the Social and Emotional Health of Newcomer Immigrants

You Are Welcome Here (Arabic subtitles) هنا، أنتم بين أهلكم فأهلاً بكم!

Video extras

You Are Welcome Here: Preview

This preview of You Are Welcome Here was presented at AFT's TEACH 2019 conference.

A warm welcome for immigrant families in the front office

Norieah Ahmed, the Child Accounting Secretary at Salina Elementary School in Dearborn, MI, talks about her role in welcoming newcomer immigrant families to the school from the moment they walk in the door.

Looking at the whole child: Conversations with an award-winning social worker

Meet Dr. Rola Bazzi-Gates, a special education coordinator for Dearborn Public Schools and Michigan's 2016 Social Worker of the Year. Learn how her personal experience living through conflict helped prepare her to support students and families today.

Interviews with Featured Educators

Susan Stanley, Principal, Salina Elementary School

Susan Stanley is the principal of Salina Elementary School in Dearborn, Michigan. In this interview, she discusses the ways her school is helping to address student trauma and creating a welcoming environment for all families.

Diana Alqadhi, English Language Development Specialist, Salina Intermediate School

Diana Alqadhi is an English Language Development Specialist at Salina Intermediate School in Dearborn, MI. As part of her work, she teachers newcomer immigrants. In this interview, she talks about the importance of building relationships with students and identifying their strengths.

Related Resources

Getting to Know Our Families' Cultural and Social Assets: The View from Dearborn, MI

Nadra Shami currently serves as a Language and Literacy SIOP Trainer in Dearborn, MI. The daughter of immigrants, Nadra grew up in Dearborn and her first job was at the school she attended as a child. In this article written for Colorín Colorado, Nadra explains how Dearborn is supporting its English language learners and immigrant students by developing staff capacity to serve a diverse student population.

How Salina Elementary School Is Helping ELLs Succeed During COVID-19

In this series, learn how school leaders and staff at Salina Elementary, featured in our documentary above, have been supporting students, families, and each other through the COVID-19 pandemic.

How to Support Your Child's Social-Emotional Health

How to Support Your Child’s Social-Emotional Health: 8 Tips for Families Learn how families can support their children's social-emotional health and find support resources in their home languages. This tip sheet is also available in 16 languages, including Arabic.