Hannah Halpern, co-leader of the DCAESJ elementary working group, and Megan Burleigh welcomed Teaching Central America advisor Jeannette Noltenius and her colleague Flori Berrocal to their classes at Hearst ES (DCPS).

First, Noltenius introduced herself and a bit about the work she does with the organization she founded and serves as president of, Casa de la Cultura El Salvador. 

Noltenius then gifted the classes a set of Mario Bencastro’s A Train Called Hope/Un Tren Llamado Esperanza and led the third graders through a reading of the book. Noltenius’ aim was to help the students unpack why people migrate the way they do — often on a long and dangerous journey on a train nicknamed La Bestia (the beast). 

Halpern and Burleigh welcomed a few different guest speakers on the topic of Central America that week, some of them caregivers to the students in their class, and Noltenius and Berrocal were the culminating guests.

Find more stories from Teach Central America Week 2022.