The Quetzalli Stories
Susan Zimmerman Orozco
Author
Writing about Invisible Americans
(photo by Saqueó Pérez)
The Quetzalli Stories
Susan Zimmerman Orozco
Author
Writing about Invisible Americans
(photo by Saqueó Pérez)
Maryland Writers Conference - 2024 - Baltimore, MD
Border Kids in the Land of the Brave
Five Reasons You Should Be A Writer - Substack
Five Reasons You Should Be A Writer - Substack
Five Reasons You Should Be A Writer - Substack
Five Reasons You Should Be A Writer - Substack
Five Reasons You Should Be A Writer - Substack
A Fading Tree, Once Majestic
Five Reasons You Should Be A Writer - Substack
A Fading Tree, Once Majestic
By Darlyn Brewer Hoffstot
Photographs by Kristian Thacker
New York Times, 10/16/2024
About Us
Writing
"Border Kids in the Land of the Brave" by Susan Zimmerman Orozco
Coming 2025... Xiomara
After a lifetime teaching English to young immigrant students and writing or editing articles about public education, I retired to pursue my dream, writing fiction. In my work I try to honor the lives of the bravest people I know, my immigrant students, many of whom have suffered unimaginable hardships to arrive in my classrooms. Their st
After a lifetime teaching English to young immigrant students and writing or editing articles about public education, I retired to pursue my dream, writing fiction. In my work I try to honor the lives of the bravest people I know, my immigrant students, many of whom have suffered unimaginable hardships to arrive in my classrooms. Their stories are testimonies to the courage and perseverance of our immigrant communities nationwide. I've also chosen to explore another hidden population, our nation's older adults. Being, looking, and staying young is the great American quest. Older women are especially afflicted; elder men can be wise and and venerable, but older women are crones with bat-wing upper arms and droopy boobs. And where are we in literature, except as quirky sneaker-wearing detectives in Agatha Christie mysteries? Do older women not love, lust, and enjoy day drinking at wineries like their younger selves? Only in rom-coms with Meryl Streep or Diane Keaton, apparently. Two populations, both invisible and mis-understood.
Coming 2025... Xiomara
"Border Kids in the Land of the Brave" by Susan Zimmerman Orozco
Coming 2025... Xiomara
Coming in six months, “The Hate You Give” meets “American Dirt,” one teen’s struggle to overcome the institutionalized violence against women in Central America, home to one of the highest rates of femicide in the world. In a poor barrio of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, a savage attack killing her aunt and sister leaves young Xiomara vulnerab
Coming in six months, “The Hate You Give” meets “American Dirt,” one teen’s struggle to overcome the institutionalized violence against women in Central America, home to one of the highest rates of femicide in the world. In a poor barrio of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, a savage attack killing her aunt and sister leaves young Xiomara vulnerable and alone. She has no money but she is determined to flee to the United States to find her mother where she hopes to get an education and finally escape the legacy of poverty and violence that characterized her childhood. Her only option is to ride the feared La Bestia train through Mexico, fighting off gangs, bandits, and assaults on women that will put her life at risk. The solidarity she finds with other women on the journey (including a meddlesome Mayan goddess) helps her find the confidence and empowerment she need to survive and reach her destination. Eventually she finds that her destiny is far bigger than the simple desires of a 15 year old teen from a poor neighborhood in Central America.
Based on an earlier article published in the ASCD magazine "Educational Leadership." https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/border-kids-in-the-home-of-the-brave
"Border Kids in the Land of the Brave" by Susan Zimmerman Orozco
"Border Kids in the Land of the Brave" by Susan Zimmerman Orozco
"Border Kids in the Land of the Brave" by Susan Zimmerman Orozco
When 8-year-old Nelson Rivera arrived at Mills-Parole Elementary School in Annapolis, Maryland, this fall, he spent the first day of class crying. Later in the year, at ease and among friends in the classroom, Nelson was able to explain the story behind his tears:
I was crying because of the color of the school, the walls; it's the same co
When 8-year-old Nelson Rivera arrived at Mills-Parole Elementary School in Annapolis, Maryland, this fall, he spent the first day of class crying. Later in the year, at ease and among friends in the classroom, Nelson was able to explain the story behind his tears:
I was crying because of the color of the school, the walls; it's the same color as the cell where I was in jail. I was afraid they were going to lock me up again and never let me out.
More and more educators have been scrambling to educate the wave of unaccompanied minors like Nelson who have flowed across the United States' southwest border. Many of these "border kids" are being resettled in areas as far-flung as New Hampshire and South Carolina, where services for English language learners (ELLs) may be minimal or new. In addition to speaking little or no English, these children have often been traumatized by their immigration journeys; and because of gang violence, war, and poverty in their homelands, they often arrive with little formal education.
Known in the literature as Students with Interrupted Formal Education (SIFEs), these students come to school with substantial gaps in their education that seriously hinder their ability to catch up with their grade-level peers. Some did not attend school for years at a time in their home country; some attended schools of poor quality. A growing number of teenage arrivals have never attended school at all. Few U.S. school districts have the background or resources to address the needs of students with such enormous academic, social, and emotional challenges.
As a consultant working with schools to meet the needs of these students, I have seen a variety of school districts whose previously adequate ELL resources have suddenly been challenged with the influx of students from Central America. One such district is Anne Arundel County Public Schools, a largely suburban district in Maryland with about 75,000 students.
Even though the district's English Language Acquisition office is small (the central-office staff consists of a coordinator and two instructional specialists), the district was successful in exiting more than 850 of 3,084 students from ELL status to English-proficient status in the spring of 2014, almost twice the state department of education target. But when a wave of almost 1,000 new ELLs rolled in over the summer, it seriously strained the district's resources. As the school year wore on, the students continued to come.
As I talked to the educators and students of Anne Arundel County schools as well as other Maryland districts feeling the impact of the wave of unaccompanied minors last fall, it became clear that both teachers and pupils have responded to their new, often-overwhelming circumstances with a positive, can-do attitude. Teachers are willing to do what it takes to develop and share best practices to support these students. And students are willing to take the risk of walking into a new school not knowing the language, the culture, or a friendly face. Both groups are clear on what is important to secure the academic future of these vulnerable youngsters.
To conntinue:
https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/border-kids-in-the-home-of-the-brave
Now in Print!
Now in Print!
"Border Kids in the Land of the Brave" by Susan Zimmerman Orozco
Hear My Words - A young immigrant teen must find the courage to save her brother from the gang that killed her best friend.
When Gabriela Rodriguez arrived in Silver Creek, Maryland, from her native Honduras in the cold, rainy days of November, her new school was just as grey and unfriendly as the weather. Unable to speak English, Gabi
Hear My Words - A young immigrant teen must find the courage to save her brother from the gang that killed her best friend.
When Gabriela Rodriguez arrived in Silver Creek, Maryland, from her native Honduras in the cold, rainy days of November, her new school was just as grey and unfriendly as the weather. Unable to speak English, Gabi felt alone and invisible until Jazmin, a student from El Salvador, took her under her wing. Four months later Jazmin was dead, murdered by the same gang that was trying to recruit Gabi’s little brother. Torn between loyalties to Jazmin and to her own family, Gabi hadn’t had the words to prevent the death of her best friend. Somehow, some way, she had to speak up to save her brother
Retired English teacher Susan Zimmerman Orozco could not shake the memory of a student who was brutally murdered by a well-known gang. When the pandemic forced her indoors, she decided at the age of 68 to write her first novel to memorialize her slain student and to honor the hundreds of immigrant students she has taught. .
Quetzalli
Now in Print!
Quetzalli
Quetzal is an Aztec word in the Nahuatl language that refers to the resplendent green and blue bird with a sweeping iridescent tail. The quetzal is a native of Central America. The name “Quetzalli” often means "beautiful” or "precious." I chose The Quetzalli Stories as the title of my website to honor the many beautiful young immigrants f
Quetzal is an Aztec word in the Nahuatl language that refers to the resplendent green and blue bird with a sweeping iridescent tail. The quetzal is a native of Central America. The name “Quetzalli” often means "beautiful” or "precious." I chose The Quetzalli Stories as the title of my website to honor the many beautiful young immigrants from Central America and Mexico who have inspired me in more than 30 years in public education.
Quetzalli
Now in Print!
Quetzalli
Quetzal is an Aztec word in the Nahuatl language that refers to the resplendent green and blue bird with a sweeping iridescent tail. The quetzal is a native of Central America. The name “Quetzalli” often means "beautiful” or "precious." I chose The Quetzalli Stories as the title of my website to honor the many beautiful young immigrants f
Quetzal is an Aztec word in the Nahuatl language that refers to the resplendent green and blue bird with a sweeping iridescent tail. The quetzal is a native of Central America. The name “Quetzalli” often means "beautiful” or "precious." I chose The Quetzalli Stories as the title of my website to honor the many beautiful young immigrants from Central America and Mexico who have inspired me in more than 30 years in public education.
Quetzalli
JBack to Basics: Rhetorical Forms for Jumpstarting Works of Non-Fiction
Quetzalli
Quetzal is an Aztec word in the Nahuatl language that refers to the resplendent green and blue bird with a sweeping iridescent tail. The quetzal is a native of Central America. The name “Quetzalli” often means "beautiful” or "precious." I chose The Quetzalli Stories as the title of my website to honor the many beautiful young immigrants f
Quetzal is an Aztec word in the Nahuatl language that refers to the resplendent green and blue bird with a sweeping iridescent tail. The quetzal is a native of Central America. The name “Quetzalli” often means "beautiful” or "precious." I chose The Quetzalli Stories as the title of my website to honor the many beautiful young immigrants from Central America and Mexico who have inspired me in more than 30 years in public education.
Hello!
JBack to Basics: Rhetorical Forms for Jumpstarting Works of Non-Fiction
Quetzalli
Susan Zimmerman Orozco was a teacher and a public school administrator in public schools for more than 30 years. She also taught English in Mexico for ten years at the binational center in Mexico City and at the University of Monterey. She has advanced degrees in linguistics and education. She taught taught graduate courses in EDL educ
Susan Zimmerman Orozco was a teacher and a public school administrator in public schools for more than 30 years. She also taught English in Mexico for ten years at the binational center in Mexico City and at the University of Monterey. She has advanced degrees in linguistics and education. She taught taught graduate courses in EDL education at the University of the Americas, Mexico, and Johns Hopkins University. Her undergraduate education was in Literature and Creative Writing at Carnegie Mellon University.
Additionally, she writes and edits articles about educating English learners in publications such as Educational Leadership and The Principal. She currently works with the English Learner Portal as a consultant.
Susan has cats, four of them. Four cats is three cats too many.
JBack to Basics: Rhetorical Forms for Jumpstarting Works of Non-Fiction
JBack to Basics: Rhetorical Forms for Jumpstarting Works of Non-Fiction
JBack to Basics: Rhetorical Forms for Jumpstarting Works of Non-Fiction
Maryland Writers Association Conference
2024, Baltimore, MD
Rhetorical Forms to Jump Start Works of Non-Fiction
Rhetorical Forms to Jump Start Works of Non-Fiction
JBack to Basics: Rhetorical Forms for Jumpstarting Works of Non-Fiction
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