Catholic Schools Opposing Racism (COR)

COR SUPPER
Homecoming: The COR Play
February 28, 2006

The third COR event of the year was held at Queen of Peace High School in Burbank, IL on Tuesday, February 28, 2006. The focus of the evening was the play “Homecoming,” which was written from the real stories that students told at our first COR Supper of the year in September. The evening began with activities to introduce students to one another and then an opening prayer, led by Christie Billups, during which we sang “Amazing Grace” and prayed for open hearts to the immigrant, the newcomer, the stranger.

Students then went to the theater to watch the play “Homecoming,” performed by a cast of over 20 students. The play was set in a high school classroom in which a teacher leads a discussion about immigration; in that context, different characters tell their stories. A student learns from her mother about her parents’ flight to the United States when they were threatened by the repressive regime of their own country. A student finds her place at a new school when other students reach out to her. A boy who doesn’t quite fit in at home with his father and brothers because he doesn’t like sports finds acceptance when he joins a chorus and develops his love for singing. Students argue about the effect of immigration on the United States: one student thinks immigration should be restricted because there are too many Mexicans coming into the country, while another student pleas for compassion for immigrants by telling about immigrants who died trying to cross the border because “coyotes”—smugglers—took their money and then left them to die in the desert. Another student shares her tale of growing up homeless in Russia before being adopted by a family in the United States. Two students—one Polish, one Mexican—struggle to connect with their immigrant parents and families; after meeting their extended families and learning some of the customs of their culture, they find a way to claim their ethnic heritages and integrate their families’ stories into their own. The play was punctuated by ethnic dancing and several original songs, which were created from the words of the high school students’ stories.

After the play, the audience members discussed which stories touched them and made them think. Students identified with the experience of being new to a place and of feeling like an outsider because of their ethnic backgrounds. Students and teachers expressed the need for more people to see this play so that others can consider the issues of immigration, of welcoming the stranger, and of being the stranger or the newcomer.

After the play and discussion, students shared supper in mixed groups, allowing the students to practice getting to know “the stranger” in their supper groups.

The evening included students and faculty from 10 schools in the Archdiocese; there were nearly 100 participants.

The following schools were represented: De La Salle Institute (both campuses), Hales Franciscan, Marian Catholic, Marian Catholic High School, Notre Dame High School for Girls, Our Lady of Tepeyac High School, Queen of Peace High School, St. Ignatius College Prep, St. Laurence High School, St. Rita High School, and Trinity High School.