http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepubli ... t0409.html

Teachers tie immigration issues into lessons
Recent debate offers chance for firsthand civics lessons

JJ Hensley
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 8, 2006 12:00 AM

Teachers are used to dealing with excited students at this time of year, but the enthusiasm this time has less to do with spring fever than it does with politics.

With that in mind, some teachers around the Valley have taken advantage of the sudden surge in interest in the political process, particularly when it comes to immigration, and have tweaked lesson plans to include discussions about the walkouts, protests and marches.

In Anna Neathery's fifth-grade class at Avalon Elementary School, a charter school in Apache Junction, pupil have talked at length about the immigration issue and related it to their unit on colonial America. Neathery said they discovered that immigration problems are not specific to this millennium.

"What they've learned is that if their ancestors hadn't come here by boat or walked here, they wouldn't be here," Neathery said. "It doesn't affect just the Hispanic children, it affects everybody involved. My kids have learned that immigration is not a new problem that we have, it's a longtime problem."

One of the problems now, said 11-year-old Preston Caldwell, is the life immigrants face once they arrive in this country.

"America is so full of people and there's not that many places to live," Preston said. "A lot of people that come don't have any place to live and might end up on the streets, which is bad for them."

Neathery has 30 students in her class, including five who are Hispanic and one Native American, along with mostly White faces. But Neathery said her pupils were sympathetic to the plight of immigrants, because they have learned that everyone is important.

"Everybody's a person, and everybody wants a better life," Preston said. "People should be allowed to try that, if they do it the right way."

For Neathery, the immigration protests turned into the right time to teach a valuable lesson.

"This is probably one of the best civics lessons I've ever had," she said.