Global Friends for Life

What do Falcons and Catholic Charities Fort Worth refugees have in common? They’re Global Friends. As part of a service learning project,FWCD sixth graders have the opportunity to meet new friends from different parts of the world who have come to the United States as refugees. Led by Middle School Geography Teachers Tara Westbrook and Shari Lincoln, a partnership between the School and Catholic Charities has become a staple in the lives of young Falcons. A perk? It aligns with their English and geography curricula, which include studies about refugees.

Global Friends was started three years ago when FWCD needed a new service learning partner. Westbrook got the idea of working with Catholic Charities from Head of Middle School Stephen Blan. After reaching out and meeting in person with case workers to think of ideas for programming, a plan was put into action. As Westbrook says, the first year was a little bumpy, but they learned from it, and now it’s one of the favorite activities sixth graders can participate in. 

Once a month, FWCD students and children with Catholic Charities get together for some sort of activity. With the language barrier, Westbrook tries to plan activities that involve less  speaking and more universal understanding, like sports, art and music. It may take some time, but, eventually, the students start to open up and figure out a way to speak to each other. If anything, they can always laugh together. As Westbrook says, “We all smile in the same language.” 

As they meeting children from countries like Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Syria, Ukraine and Sudan, Westbrook and Lincoln love seeing the sixth graders  connect with the refugees, and they can tell who has a sibling at home based on how they interact with them, especially since they range from age 5 to 12.

“You can tell they're big siblings or at least have siblings,” said Westbrook. “They're super empathetic.”

Being empathic is one of the character traits emphasized in sixth grade, Lincoln shared. Seeing how the refugees have very little personal items, Lincoln said it “allows our kids to see that, you know, we are really blessed here [in the U.S.]and very grateful.”

Among all the lessons naturally learned at Global Friends, the kids truly  enjoy being there, interacting and connecting with their new friends.. As Westbrook and Lincoln shared, each month, there’s a waitlist for who gets to go from FWCD. They prioritize based on who hasn’t had the opportunity and then go from there. They even have former students who ask about Global Friends from time to time. 

We may not know what the future holds for the refugee partnership, but Westbrook and Lincoln, along with all of the students who have been a part of the program, have loved every minute of it. And the best part is the kids just get to simply be kids.