Summer is here, and area schools have to let out but we're in the middle of this season of WYSO Youth Radio. We’ll hear stories from students across Dayton, Springfield, and beyond.
Teenagers want their voices heard, especially about issues they see in their communities. A teen-led group called BATS, or Bringing Awareness to Students, in Clark County, visited WYSO in February to create public service announcements (PSAs). Today, we will hear from BATS members and sisters Olympia and Penelope Derr. The Derrs encourage people in Springfield to be inclusive and compassionate toward Haitian immigrants who have moved to Springfield in the past ten years. First, we will listen to Olympia's PSA, and then the sisters will reflect on why she wrote it.
WYSO Youth Radio is produced for the ear and designed to be heard, not read. We strongly encourage you to listen to the audio by clicking on the blue "LISTEN" button above, which includes emotion and emphasis not on the page.
[News Anchor on TV: "growing fear in Springfield, Ohio"]
Olympia: What's going on in the news?
[Person on TV: Parents are coming to get their kids from school because they feel worried...]
Olympia: These people that they claim are monsters. They go to my school. They're not monsters. I know them. They are my friends. They're my classmates, and they're their brothers, sisters, and families.
My neighbors want to be safe. Is that so wrong? I love my neighbors. So should you.
Penelope Derr: Last year, we got a new student. She was Haitian, and nobody wanted to sit next to her. She couldn't talk to anybody. But me and my friends went and sat next to her and invited her to our lunch table. When I got home, I went onto a language learning app and selected Haitian Creole so I could learn and help her and talk to her. After I sat with that Haitian girl at lunch, a bunch of other people started sitting with us, too. There have been more Haitian people who came to our grade, so now more people sit with them.
Olympia Derr: When that happened, I thought, "Oh my God, she's so much cooler than me. I would've never thought of that." Obviously, that situation didn't come up when I was in fifth grade, but it probably would've gone right over my head.
I volunteer in Springfield at Clark Preschool. The other day, I was walking out of my preschool classroom and leaving the building. There was a man on the phone speaking what I think was Creole, and I made sure to smile and say good morning so he'd feel welcome in the community. I want to make sure people know that they're wanted and welcome where they are. Something little like that can make someone feel reassured.
About half the kids in my classroom are Haitian, and there's a universal language of playing. They all just play together — they don't care. I think we should pay attention to that and try to emulate it more.
I work with preschool kids, and they'll just say the truth out loud. Kids are probably less likely to fabricate something than an adult would be. I'm really nervous to see what happens, especially with the kids I work with. I'm a little bit terrified for them.
My preschool went on a field trip to the art museum, and parents came. This little girl's dad came, and he was trying really hard not to speak any Creole in front of everyone else in public, but I could hear it. He would whisper to her in Creole a couple of times. On one hand, I could see how much he loved her. On the other hand, it made me really sad because he didn't want to show that he was different. He wanted to hide those differences.
When she was upset that he was leaving later, she hid in the tunnels and was crying after we got back for recess. She said, "I want my dad." I told her, "You're going to see him when you get home. It'll be fine. The school day is almost halfway over already."
When I got back in my car, I thought about how these kids probably have birthright citizenship and were born here. But what if she goes home and her dad gets taken away? What if he's not there because of what's going on? That really freaked me out.
Special thanks to Beth Dixon from WellSpring and Cuyahoga County poet laureate Honey Bell-Bey for working with us on this project. WYSO Youth Radio is produced at the Eichelberger Center for Community Voices at WYSO. WYSO Youth Radio is made possible by supporters like you, the Ohio Arts Council, and the Virginia W. Kettering Foundation.
