ĻӰԺ

NPR for North Texas
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

'Generation One': A Frisco Teen Embraces Her Muslim Roots

Mark Birnbaum
/
ĻӰԺ
Irum Ali decided to wear a hijab to Liberty High School in Frisco.

Growing up in a traditional immigrant family can be rewarding and challenging for kids born in the United States. Meet a Frisco high school student who’s managing to practice her religious faith and be a regular American teenager.

At Liberty High School in suburban Frisco, Irum Ali, an American-born teenager, has decided to wear a hijab. She wrestled with the decision for months.

Irum’s the focus of the in Generation One, 

“When I was considering starting, there were not many Muslims at my school,” . “I felt like people would judge me. So I went through a lot of internal [thoughts as to] whether I should do it or not.”

One in three Texas kids is either an immigrant or the child of immigrants. Over the past several weeks, ĻӰԺ has explored the challenges these children face and the ways North Texas schools are trying to weave them into the American tapestry.

These kids have to learn a new language, adapt to a different culture and try to fit into a community that may not embrace newcomers.

Here are earlier installments:

Chapter 7: In Fort Worth, A School Just For Immigrant Kids

There’s an innovative school in the Fort Worth school district with about 500 students. Not one of them has been in the U.S. more than a year or two. Most of the kids just spend a year at the Newcomer Academy before going to their local middle or high school. There are about a dozen or so newcomer programs in Texas and more than 60 in the country.

Chapter 6: Leaving Mom And Dad Behind In China For School In The U.S.

A decade ago, about 600 Chinese students attended high school in the United States. Today, there are more than 38,000. For many, it’s their first time away from home and their first time in new country. , Niuying Cao, a 10th grader who goes by Arron, who’s making the transition at International Leadership of Texas, a public charter high school in Garland.

Chapter 5: Helping Kids Learn English -- And Spanish, Too

North Texas schools have transformed the way they teach English – by teaching Spanish, too. At Bowie Elementary in Grand Prairie, Spanish-speaking kids are learning both languages as early as pre-kindergarten. 

Chapter 4: How Schools Can Help Immigrant Kids

Julian Vasquez Heilig has spent years studying how schools educate immigrants. He’s a professor at California State University, Sacramento. He previously worked at the University of Texas at Austin. He spoke with ĻӰԺ and , high-stakes testing, and a possible breakthrough in North Texas.

Chapter 3: She Escaped Violence For A Fresh Start in Texas

 introduces Dilcia M. Asencio Mazariegos, who left Guatemala in 2012 to get away from a violent family member. She attends Plano East Senior High School where she's enrolled in English as a Second Language classes. But she's also been juggling two jobs.

Chapter 2: Going From Spanish (Or Urdu Or Arabic) To English

 takes a look at how the Grapevine-Colleyville school district is responding to the dramatic demographic changes. In recent years, the number of students learning English — they’re called English language learners — has climbed 60 percent. 

The district partnered with the police department to create the Grapevine Community Outreach Center. And the district launched the Language Assessment Center over the summer.

Chapter 1: In A Land Of Strangers, Paving His Own Path

The first story features  Just two weeks after arriving from Africa, David enrolled at Conrad High School in Northeast Dallas. He started school in a new country where students speak a different language. It can be overwhelming. Now, a year and a half later, David is helping other refugee kids making the transition.

About the series

Each Tuesday in November and December 2014, stories aired on ĻӰԺ 90.1 FM. Explore the stories in , which features videos and anshowing where Texas’ foreign-born population comes from.

Generation One is part of .

Eric Aasen is ĻӰԺ’s managing editor. He helps lead the station's news department, including radio and digital reporters, producers and newscasters. He also oversees keranews.org, the station’s news website, and manages the station's digital news projects. He reports and writes stories for the website and contributes pieces to ĻӰԺ radio. He's discussed breaking news live on various public radio programs, including The Takeaway, Here & Now and Texas Standard, as well as radio and TV programs in New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
Stella M. Chávez is an investigative reporter for The Texas Newsroom, a collaboration between NPR and member stations around the state. She's based at in Dallas and is currently reporting on how state government is working with federal agencies on immigration enforcement and border security.