Welcoming Refugees into Your Classroom

Originally published February 2016

By Meagan Gillmore

Adele Rezai recalls a few girls opening the windows of her classroom saying, “Let’s get the air of [those] kids out.” It happened quickly, as a class for students learning English was leaving and Rezai was preparing for her next—geography. In the 20 plus years she’s taught in Toronto, Rezai calls this one of the worst things she’s witnessed.

“My geography lesson in that session changed into talking about human geography,” Rezai says. She explained how those comments had “connected the smell with a certain group of students in our school.”

Meagan Gillmore

Meagan Gillmore is a freelance writer in Toronto, ON.