![\"IMG_1684webtop\"](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/IMG_1684webtop.jpg\")
The students come from some of the most impoverished and violent parts of the world: Ethiopia, Yemen, Vietnam, Somalia, China, Sudan, Vietnam, Guatemala, Burma and others. In their first year at Crawford High School, they take classes through the New Arrival Center, a district program that gives them a crash course in the English language and American culture before they are placed in standard math, science and history classes with other students their age.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to tell the story of their arrival and travel and how they came to be here,\u201d said Lynn Susholtz, the North Park-based artist who led the art project with teachers at Crawford. \u201cIt\u2019s not well known in most of San Diego that we have so many new immigrants from all over the world. Part of the purpose is to raise the visibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each of the students used watercolor and felt-tipped pen to illustrate tags the size of index cards that hang by string from a clothesline along the caf\u00e9 walls. Resembling name tags or luggage tags, the display suggests the thought of Tibetan prayer flags. Students illustrated one side of the tags with images of their past, present and future. On the reverse they wrote about their memories, feelings and hopes.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany of the students who have been in the refugee camps have seen and gone through tremendous trauma,\u201d said Viraj Ward, one of three teachers at Crawford\u2019s New Arrivals Center.<\/p>\n
Indeed, a few of the tags depict soldiers holding weapons. Others depict wild animals, doctors, mosques and schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cImages are something they relate to even when language might be a barrier,\u201d Ward said.<\/p>\n
Some of the writing on the tags was done with help from translators, because most of the New Arrival Center students speak little English. Some students as old as 16 have never had any formal education, Ward said.<\/p>\n
Saida, a 14-year-old student from Kenya, knows that story well.<\/p>\n
\u201cGirls are not allowed to go to school because it is too dangerous,\u201d she wrote on the back of one of the tags she painted. \u201cSometimes people rape the girls. Some people do drugs. School is really expensive. Only the older children went to school and they would come home and teach us.\u201d<\/p>\n At the opening night of the exhibit, Saida practiced her English with Bread and Cie patrons. She said she was excited to see her story on display.<\/p>\n \u201cIt makes me very happy because I\u2019m here. I study. I\u2019m free,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Despite their limited English, some of the students speak multiple other languages. Najat, for example, is a refugee from Sudan who speaks Arabic, Swahili, Somali, Masalit and English. Still, she will have to take foreign language classes at Crawford in order to meet California high school graduation requirements.<\/p>\n Another student, Hector, painted one of his tags with a colorful parrot, which is one of the things he misses most about his home country of Honduras. One thing he doesn\u2019t miss is the hardship that resulted from flooding.<\/p>\n \u201cOur house would fill up with water and we would have to leave,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n Hector wrote that he is not sure what his future holds. He wants to be a good U.S. citizen and \u201cmaybe join the military.\u201d Other students dream of being doctors, math teachers and artists.<\/p>\n San Diego Unified School District Superintendent Cindy Marten described the project as \u201ccompletely inspiring.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think the whole city needs to come out here and see this,\u201d Marten said as she browsed the tags in the exhibit. \u201cChildren need to know that we care about them.\u201d<\/p>\n Marten, who was principal at Central Elementary School in City Heights before stepping up to lead the district, said the project serves as an excellent example of the district\u2019s mission to recognize and honor the distinct gifts and stories each student brings to the classroom.<\/p>\n In addition to giving students a chance to express themselves, the \u201cHello, My Name Is\u2026\u201d show is also a fundraiser. Anyone is welcome to take home one of the tags for a suggested donation of $10 or more. The money will be spent on new art supplies, field trips and other forms of academic enrichment for the students who took part in the project.<\/p>\n Bread & Cie never takes commission from the art that is sold from its walls, and owner Charles Kaufman pays to install the monthly exhibitions. The intent is to give underrepresented local artists a chance to shine, Kaufman said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the ideal of what we had intended and wanted to do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The students\u2019 art will be on display through March 2.<\/p>\n![\"Autobiographical](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/IMG_1667web.jpg\")