English Language Perceivers

Arriving home from school in Honduras’s capital Tegucigalpa, 15-year-old Monica Casco had come back different than when she left; red choke bruises covered her neck. 

A 19-year-old boy in the same grade as Casco had just tried to sexually assault her while at school. However, Casco was determined to not let him touch her. Out of anger, he choked her to near faintness.

“I remember my aunt seeing me and the choke bruises and immediately crying,” Casco said. 

In June of 2022, Tegucigalpa was rated 88.59 (Very High) for the level of crime. The city also received a 89.13 (Very High) for violent crimes such as assault and armed robbery. Tegucigalpa is the second most dangerous city in Central America.

With crime and Honduras’s most dangerous gangs being Casco’s neighbors, the family decided it was time to leave in search of a better, safer life.

Hastings High School has a total of 51 English Language (EL) students from all over the world: Vietnam, Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala. The stories of the EL students range from “fixing papers” meaning determining the legality of their citizenship to escaping a violent, abusive environment. 

Junior Joshua Solis was born in Hastings. However, missing their entire family who were all back in Mexico, the Solis family decided to go back when Joshua was five. Then, when Jan (Joshua’s older brother) was 16, his parents decided to move him back to Hastings in hopes of Jan finding a job to provide for his brothers who planned on going back in the near future. Later Brandon, the second out of the three boys came back. And, four years ago, Joshua came back. 

The Solis family live in the capital of Mexico, which is Ciudad de Mexico (also known as El D.F). From Hastings, it is 1,727 miles, making it a 28-hour drive or a $1,000+ plane ticket during times of school break. The boys work to take care of themselves, but they also work to send extra money to their parents and little sister. Having little time due to work, school, soccer, and little money for a plane ticket (as extra goes to providing for their family) all of this make it impossible for the boys to go visit their parents.

“I haven’t seen my parents in 4 years, when I go home after soccer practice or school, no one’s home to greet me. Honestly, it affected me a lot; I feel lonely sometimes,” Solis said.

Similarly, junior Rosa Dominguez was born in the United States but had to go back to Mexico when she was three years old. She is from Chihuahua, Mexico, and arrived a little under three years ago. She recalls one normal day in Mexico; working and going to school, and the next day leaving to the north. Rosa moved here and is living with an uncle. At first, It had also been years since she had seen her family in Hastings, she didn’t really know them – almost like living with strangers. 

“My first days were very difficult. Truly, I wasn’t accustomed to life here and life without my parents. I remember every single day crying; I missed my life in Mexico. I missed my family,” Dominguez said. 

Learning more and more English, getting herself involved in extracurricular activities (playing soccer), and maintaining a job helped Isela adapt to her new life in the United States. 

Hard work made the crying go away. Isela is no longer only accustomed to life here, but she chooses to stay here.

“Six months after I came I had my papers fixed. I was told I could stay or leave; I decided to stay,” Dominguez said. 

Yoselin Hernandez along with her sister Nancy Hernandez arrived in November 2019 from Colon, Honduras. Now being 17 and 19, the siblings came alone at the ages of 14 and 16. 

 The sisters came because Nancy Hernandez had recently had a child. Nancy’s brother from the United States, who had been sending money to provide for the newborn, proposed the idea of her coming here to work in order for her to provide for her baby. With the baby’s father not being present, Nancy agreed. Yoselin came so her sister wouldn’t be alone.

“Honestly, I did not want to come. It was first supposed to be only my sister. She had recently had a baby and looked for jobs here in order to financially support her child while my mom would take care of the baby in Honduras. But, my mom said she wouldn’t be alone if I came with her,” Yoselin Hernandez said. 

Supporting oneself and a newborn can be a difficult challenge at the age of 16. Having to work, go to school, and financially support your sister and mom makes it even harder. 

Seeing how difficult it is, Yoselin praises her sister for all the effort she has given and continues to give.

“There was a time when I saw my sister as a depressed individual. Having a daughter in Honduras, working full time, and being a high school student really weighed down on her. Thank god that was just for a couple of months,” Yoselin Hernandez said. 

The Hernandez sisters work, along with going to school, in order to financially help their mom and baby back in Honduras. Nancy sends money to the baby while Yoselin sends money to her mom.

Through thick and thin, the sisters stuck together and helped each other. Mrs. Liposky, the EL teacher, applauds Yoselin for her ability to learn English quickly.

“Yosel spent a tremendous amount of time practicing English during her own time. She took advantage of several online learning opportunities and watched a lot of movies with the subtitles on,” Lipovsky said.

 Yoselin attributes it to wanting to help her sister because she knows she does not have as much time to learn English as she does.

A couple of weeks ago in early November, 18-year-old Bryan Cervantes arrived from Camaguey, Cuba’s third-largest city. Bryan, who is one of Cuba’s 2019 Greco wrestling champions, came in search of a better life and a better wrestling career; Bryan is living here with his father.

“In Cuba, there’s no food to properly diet for wrestlers. Here, you have everything and more. There’s fruit and vegetables and meat here, there wasn’t any of that for me back in Cuba, just too expensive,” said Cervantes.

The style of wrestling in Hastings High School wrestling is one named Folkstyle. Bryan has been wrestling Greco his entire career, so the adjustment has been quite the challenge. When receiving guidance and feedback from Wrestling Head Coach Mr, Nolan Laux, Cervantes uses Google Translate.

“I’ve been wrestling Greco style for seven years now. So doing folkstyle is just something I’m not used to. Mr. Nolan Laux is helping me learn it though. He’s a really good guy.” Cervantes said.

Though learning a new language, new culture, new people, and new style of wrestling is difficult for Cervantes, it is to him better than living in Camaguey.

“Everything here is so relaxed. I’ve noticed that you can go out at any time here. In Camaguey, you live in fear that you’ll get assaulted the second you go out. Too many bad things going on over there; you just can’t go out,” Cervantes said.

Coming to Hastings and receiving a proper education can be a breath of fresh air for EL students who come from harsh backgrounds. Though not all go through difficult times, on average, EL students face more real-life problems (violence, food insecurity, life or death situations) than the average Hastings High student. 

“A lot of EL students come from difficult backgrounds. One time, we were reading a novel that had a chapter about a drive-by shooting at the narrator’s home. One of the students in my class, a sophomore from Baghdad, Iraq, said, “Miss, the guns are not the problem. You can hide from the guns. The bombs…the bombs are the problem because you can’t see them coming,” Lipovsky said.

Mrs. Lipovsky has been teaching EL students at Hastings High for five years. Joshua Solis, Monica Casco, and sophomore Oscar Garcia all have said they love her for being patient, kind, and a happy teacher to be around.

“They are in charge of themselves, their responsibilities and their education without the support of immediate family. I am lucky to work with a gracious, respectful, hard-working group of students,” Lipovsky said.

Many of Liposky’s students plan to go to higher education, some are entrepreneurs and want to create their own businesses, and one wishes to serve in the United States Army. 

Monica Casco will graduate in May. She has her life after high school all laid out and is ready to take on new challenges in her new country.

“I’ve been speaking to a representative of the Army and plan on joining right after high school. After that, I want to study criminology and then medical forensics. I’m motivated and I know what I want to do,” Casco said.