Inclusion is such a vital part of creating a safe space for everyone. It goes much further than simply noticing someone; inclusion meets people where they are, regardless of race, gender, ability, ethnicity, or difference. One of our scholarship winners took this to heart and saw a great opportunity to make sure everyone felt included at his school.
Mason Below created the Bilingual Buddies program as a way to help newly immigrated students feel seen and supported. Mason just graduated from high school in Atlanta, Georgia, and will be attending Vanderbilt University as a Chancellor’s Scholar this fall, with the plan to double major in Human & Organizational Development and Latin American Studies. He loves to travel, read, learn new languages, go on long runs, and enjoys playing soccer. His favorite subject is Spanish, and he loves to eat a good plate of sushi– and also enjoys a bag of Doritos as a quick snack.
When Mason was in middle school, his family moved to Argentina, where he experienced first hand the difficulty of attending school in a place where the language and school traditions were unfamiliar. Upon his return to the states, he noticed many newly immigrated students were experiencing exactly what he had just been through. One night while at a school football game, he noticed many of the newly immigrated students weren’t in attendance. He said, “…These were students I saw every day in the hallways, but they weren’t participating in many of the activities that help students feel connected to our school community. Having attended school in another country and struggled through the experience of learning in a language I didn’t yet speak fluently, I understood how isolating that transition could be. I realized that while schools often provide academic support, there was no system helping students build the social connections and confidence that are equally important to success. That realization eventually became the foundation for Bilingual Buddies.”
Once he had the idea in his mind, he got to work making it a reality. He researched immigration trends in his area and talked with the school counselors, department leaders, school administration, and ESOL teachers to identify what exactly these new students were struggling with the most. Rather than launching a huge project right off the bat, he started small, with a trial run to see if it would be an effective idea. It turned out to be very effective, and continued to grow from there.
The basis of the project was simple: identify newly immigrated students who needed extra support, then pair them with a student volunteer who spoke their same language. Mason worked closely with school counselors and ESOL teachers to identify students who could serve as buddies, as well as students who had recently moved to the states and needed extra support. Counselors and teachers use a database that helps connect students to a buddy who can help them.
The program has been incredibly successful. Keeping the future in mind, Mason designed and built the program to continue on for years to come. The program already has a student who will take over the program for the next couple of years. He said, “I created volunteer training materials, communication systems, and a database that allows counselors and teachers to quickly connect students with the bilingual volunteers…. Today, Bilingual Buddies includes more than thirty volunteers representing twenty-one languages, creating a broader culture of support and inclusion throughout the school.”
One of Mason’s favorite success stories from the Bilingual Buddies program was about a student named Omid. Mason shared, “The most rewarding part was seeing students become more confident and engaged.I use this example a lot because it’s one of my favorite stories. One of the first students I worked with was Omid, who had recently arrived from Afghanistan. He was struggling academically and falling behind on assignments when I first met him. Although we didn’t have any volunteers who spoke Dari, his native language, we were able to pair him with a student who spoke Farsi, a closely related language. After being paired with a buddy, everything changed. His attendance improved, he caught up on assignments, and his confidence grew. Stories like his were echoed by feedback from teachers and counselors, who reported improvements in participation, communication, and student engagement.”
Mason said he learned that the best leaders start with listening. He learned to adjust as program needs changed when immigration rates started to decline, and found a way to continue helping the students who needed support. He is grateful for the connections he made and the friendships he gained through this program, and is excited that the program will continue to help students as they integrate into their new surroundings.
Wow! What an incredible project! I can only imagine the incredible impact this program has had, and will continue to have on both the newly immigrated students as well as the buddies they are paired with. Good work, Mason!
