Before we get into that book, is there a relationship between your three books or a a thread that connects them . Guest absolutely. My first bookbo was about undocumented students growing up, thumbs had immigrated from mexico and what happened when young people were coming of age in d this country and didnt hae legal status. My second book was about Women Veterans serving in iraq andme afghanistan and then tried tond come back home. Thats a little bit like immigration because you returning to your home country but its hardso to come back. Its a big transition as well in this case im looking at refugee teenagers coming to this country trying to learn english in the english language acquisition classroom and struggling to figure out high school in america even though theyre struggling to learn english. I think theres a shred therefore sure. Host what is the high school that you chose . Guest i put myself in a classroom at South High School in denver,ti colorado, and that school has expertise welcoming refugees and immigrants. The school is about onethird foreignborn, twothirds american. Its just an Incredible School because they have paraprofessionals who speak every language under the sun and they have, theyve been doing this for two decades. That expertise welcoming refugees and asylumseekers and immigrants. Host what are other demographics of south . Is it a magnet school, a Public School . Guest its a Public High School and its Neighborhood High School but its also dedicated for kids who school he has been interrupted. A lot of the foreignborn kids have been through war and a coming from warch zones. So their schooling has been interrupted by conflicts and that i do sometimes leave their home country. The great thing that they do there is theyav really have integrated the school so that the foreignborn kids in the americanborn kids become friends and if youre on the Student Senate together. The kids are incredibly well integrated, and they are learning a lot from one another which is great to see. Host this is not necessary a book about policy. This is a book about people and its 22 kids. How how did you choose them . Guest i put myself in a very beginner level english language classroom, and the 22 kids who arrived that youre just turned out to be a perfect map of the global refugee crisis because of the country like the congo that is in huge numbers of refugees here, that classroom got four kids from the congo. A country like burma also producing a lot of refugees, they sent to students to the room. A country like iraq, another country were seeing a lot of refugees from, they sent to students to the room. You can get to know people and really understand the crisis not as a big thing that seems overwhelming, but in a human way at a human scale. The kids were finally and hilarious and friendly and delighted to be here. They were h very thankful. They wanted to become friends with one another and flirt with one another but they didnt have a common language. That was pretty funny to see. Their attempt. Host what was day one like with kids who spoke nearly 22 languages . Guest sell day one was really poignant because the kids were so scared and overwhelmed at the room was just totally silent. But by the end of the year, the trajectory was learned at such a fast curve that by the end of the year the room was filled with sound and noise and happiness, and the kids were flirting with one another and making friends and having sleepovers at each others home. The kids were giving each other highfives. One young man asked another girl to marry him, so they would do it all the things that teenagers do by the end of the year. Host what was their integration with the americanborn students like . Guest so the teacher noticed the kids were having trouble fitting in and figure out america. He actually found a mentor for each of the students progress of the rent and invited those mentors to come att lunch with his kids. So you saw a very high achieving pair of iraqis twins who were in the advanced placement classes, and havear lunch with the newly arrived students from iraq. And you suck you to spoke swahili and researchsw in rotc, and have lunch with the kids who just got there from the congo who spoke swahili. So there was a lot of integration time to facilitate in this expert way by the teacher and the Guidance Counselors to help the kids make friends, andnd a great. Amazingly, the newcomers as the called in the School Started serving on the y Student Senate, started playing soccer. One of the kids even in his first year began running on the track team and winning a lot of medals. So he became a hero in the high school. He was from arbor three or so all the students were on snapchat bragging about him and the battles he was Winning Ticket was exciting to see the kids succeed in this kind of way. Host did they spent all day, Eddie Williams was the teacher, correct . Guest nyes. Host did they spent all day with this one classroom or did the integrate into other classrooms as well . Guest because they were newly arrived today at three class periods with Eddie Williams teaching the english. Then they had signs and math and art and jim. But Eddie Williams was an explainer teacher. His background, his dad is anglo but his mom is licking and he is fluent in english and spanish that he knows what its like to learn a new language. His mommy been in english language acquisition classes yourself as a a child. He was sensitive to what that experience was like and you really want his kids to feel at home in his room. Host helen thorpe, how did you get access to south . Guest i showed up right before School Started the principal said i read your first book, just like us. I know youre very sensitive if youre welcome to spendnd as muh time as you want in any room in this high school. And so that was amazing but i think probably the first book paved the way. Host did the parents have issues with you being there . Guest so i sent a letter home to all the parents. They invited me to their homes. I actually quickly begin sharing meals. The iraqis family cook me middle eastern feast. They like to eat sitting on the floor so we did that together. The congolese family provided gnome and i had meals with them. They had a habit of you eat out of one bowl. Its a congolese tradition. They put one bowl with three spoons innd it. We would all share from the same bowl. They explained to me this was a way of being hospitable, but also tradition in the culture its a way to make sure you are not poisoned. Because if you are sharingro frm one bowl you cant put poison in. Kind of an oldfashioned habit. It sounds sort of funny and outlandish but i appreciated they were teaching me about the customs and sharing food the way that they would at home. Host were there are cultural problems in the school with all these new students coming in . Guest one thing i saw happen, some countries have a history of conflict so a rich area and ethiopia can be complex. Some poetry in an ethiopian students had a little bit of an argument when they were supposed be on staget, together during culture fest. Fast. They couldnt agree about that because some the conflicts they were having in their home country but no, for the most part the students actually got along tremendously well. They figured out they were sharing the circumstance of emigrating to this country of what that experience was like. They had more in common than they did that divide them. Host who were some of the students, one or two, that you spent a little extra time with or gravitated toward . Guest i was immediately struck by two boys from the congo, sullivan and methuselah. They showed up and the learning curve was so fast, fast the innuendos. Methuselah started coming over to me and putting down his homework and for the me. He figured out i was this underutilized resource in his classroom and he could get coaching from me. I was happy to do that. I spent a lot of time with her family and ultimately traveled to the congo to understand better the journey via taken, why they had to leave the congo, what refugee settlement they went to, which i visited, and in what the journey was like you. I spent a lot of time with it, i got to know those boys really well. Host the United States is about people but theres a policy aspect. Whats the status of these 22 students today . Guest the 22 students for the most part they are refugees. They arrived with refugee status, but in all cases they have left friends or family at home, in their own countries for the countries where they had been living. They are wishing that more people could come to this country as refugees. They are hoping in the future the United States well admit a greater number of refugees. Host how did you end up in denver . Guest i moved to denver for love. I moved to denver to get married, and denver has been a great home. I got to launch my doctor this week at theot Tattered Cover bookstore. I got a really want outpouring of support, which is wonderful to see. Host for six years you had a second job. Guest i did. I was a first lady of colorado when my then husband was serving as the governor. He still the governor but i am host john j hickenlooper. Guest it was a joy, an incredible experience. Host didl that help you get into South High School, do you think . Did. Est it probably it help me get used to public life and the public stage. Im probably better public speaking as a result also. Host helen thorpe, when it comes to current immigration policy, current discussions and National Discussion where having on immigration, did the states Pay Attention to that . Guest they paid attention a lot. They were confused by our election schedule when we were having primaries. They kept thinking that the general election happen and i had to explain to them, no, we have a long press here. They were very sophisticated in their understanding of their own treatment in immediate and refugees were maybe misperceived or misunderstood. They really wanted to explain their stories. They wanted to say we are very happy to be here. We have no animosity towards americans in our own country like in iraq. Those families have helped americans during the invasion. They really wanted people to know that. Host what they did not like about the states . Guest the only thing they didnt like him sometimes they were cold. I can denver it was snowing. They were not used to that. They had never worn make a winter coat before. That was the number one complaint. Host did all 22 graduate . Guest they are still in high school but are thriving and in mainstream classes. I watched solomon and melissa methuselah start reading to kill a mockingbird. Host do you following on you plan on staying in touch . Guest with their bonded over the expense of the challenge learning english. Host helen thorpe newest book isll called the newcomers finding refuge, friendship, and hope in an american f classroom thank you. Guest thank you. [applause] good afternoon. On behalf of south motors, miamidade calls and, of course, the Miami Book Fair we are very pleased to have you here. South motors is a pelvic country that it been around for over six years with aom commitment to treating every customer like family. Another commitment the family made from the very beginning was a commitment to get back to the community through events such as this. It is our p