FACE TO FACE WITH THE WORLD

Allowing Interviews To Transport & Transform Us
How Our Radio Blog Work Began...

This blog was created in 2007 by TAMS eighth graders who left the safety of their desks behind and conducted a wide variety of interviews.

In 2007, we spoke with recent immigrants in an ESL classroom at Lyman Moore in Portland, invited adult immigrants to our high school podcast studio for longer interviews and visited the elderly at Wardwell where we taped fascinating conversations on a rainy day. We spoke to Shawna who escaped Cambodia during the brutal rule of the Khmer Rouge, Minh who left Vietnam with her family in a boat that was raided by pirates on her way to safety, and a retired medic who worked on a boat in Pearl Harbor and told the students about his grim experience fishing bodies out of the water.

In 2008, 8th graders began creating a variety of content for the First Ever TAMS Radio Collection. They hit the Main Street pavement the day after the elections to get the word on the street. They went to the mall to ask shoppers about how the economy was affecting their holiday shopping and finally we went to Barber Foods to interview 10 immigrants from around the world.

As a result of these conversations, we were able to travel around the world, reach back into history and consider dreams for the future. The students showed an enormous amount of courage as they reached out to strangers and honored their stories with intense listening and questions. They also enjoyed developing communication skills and working in a real world environment beyond the classroom walls.

Now that the eighth graders have graduated to the high school, this year we will continue to develop our podcast offerings with work from 9th, 10th, 11th & 12th graders.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Immigrant Interviews

Grade 8 2007-2008 Audio Profiles
Irmgard shook hands with Hitler when he visited her small town in Germany.
Now she realizes he "left the blackest mark on German History."
Listen to her life story and the lessons she learned.


Shawna survived the brutal take over of her country by the Khmer Rouge and immigrated to America with her family in the late 70s. She nows lives in Maine and helps other immigrant children and teens adjust to their new lives.


Minh escaped war in Vietnam in a boat and was raided by pirates twice before reaching the safety of a refugee camp and finally making her way with her family to America. She now lives in Maine and appreciates her life and work.



Jean Claude was born in France at the start of World War II and was hidden by his mother in a bucket when soldiers were fighting in his village. As a professor and world traveler, he has gained great perspective that he shares in this interview.

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