Social Studies teacher Stacy Filocco assigned her AP Government class a project called “Why America?” on the first day of school, and they have now come due.

When asked what the project is, Filocco responded, “The project entails interviewing someone in your family who knows about your family’s experience of immigrating to the United States.”

The class as a whole brainstormed specific base questions they would all ask their family members such as: Where did your family come from? What were their jobs before and after immigration? How old were they? Did they have any family in the U.S. already? Did they struggle financially when getting here? These questions were designed to generate some interesting conversation, but students were expected to add their own inquiries depending on what they discovered.

Senior, Lara Lontoc, comments, “My parents came over straight from the Phillipines, straight out of college with just $100 and a suitcase. There was a little bit of stress because they had jobs set up, but they still had to go meet their employer and find out what exactly they were doing.”

Tess Jakubiec, a senior at AHN, shares a funny anecdote about her family’s immigration:

https://soundcloud.com/chonanline/tess-2-why-america

This is the first year the seniors have done the Why America project, and if all goes well Filocco might continue it with the classes to follow. Overall, the seniors of the AP Government classes seem to be having fun uncovering the histories and pasts of their families.