By Lillian Reiner
WKTV Contributor
greer@wktv.org
East Kentwood senior Ahmed Elkhwad came to the United States in 2023 at 17 years old after a civil war broke out in Sudan.
Elkhwad’s credits from his school in Sudan were not recognized at East Kentwood and he was forced to start over as a sophomore, speaking very little English. Despite these setbacks, he went on to become the president of multiple clubs, team captain of the robotics team, and a member of both the water polo and swim team.
“Not everyone comes here as a baby, or their parents came here,” Elkhwad said. “It’s OK if you came to the United States as a 16- or 17-year-old. I want them to see that even somebody like them can succeed in such a system.”
Elkhwad was part of a major event called Composite Community on May 13 at the Grand Rapids Public Museum. East Kentwood High School students demonstrated how Frederick Douglass’ vision of a composite nation has come to fruition here in West Michigan.
Students from Matt Vriesman’s AP U.S. History and AP African American Studies classes spent the past several months speaking with family members and compiling old photographs and stories of how their families ended up in Grand Rapids. They shared their families immigration stories from countries all over the world, including Thailand, Sudan, Mexico, and Bosnia, at an event called “Composite Community.”
For EK junior Kris Hmung, this project brought him closer to his family, and taught him things about his history that he was not aware of.
Hmung and his parents immigrated to the United States in 2010, when he was only 2 years old.
“There were a lot of gaps and missing pieces that I just couldn’t puzzle myself, but with my parents and my grandma still with me right now, I was able to sit down with them and learn everything,” Hmung said. “I knew that my parents were refugees, but I didn’t know that they needed to cross the Thailand border, and I didn’t know that my dad went to jail in Thailand because of it.”
Hmung plans to take what he learned about his heritage and preserve it for future generations.
Embracing your Identity
Composite community was an extension of an event hosted last year commemorating the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, this time allowing students from many different countries to share their story.
Kentwood Public Schools is proud to be the most diverse school district in Michigan and the sixth most diverse in the nation, with students from 105 countries that speak 117 different languages.
“Just like Frederick Douglass said, the strength of our community at East Kentwood is our diversity and the way that we all come together to celebrate each student’s individuality and different heritage,” Vriesman said.
Art teacher Le Tran shared that exploring and understanding their roots is an important part of students’ identity and has a profound impact on mental health.
People who are more aware of their own cultural history are more likely to consider themselves beautiful,” Vriesman said.
Each student shared their plans for higher education, and it was evident how much their future careers have been shaped by their familial struggles. Senior Hiwathiya Mulal has aspirations to join Congress in hopes of representing this community that her family has come to call home.
Long-Standing Partnership
“As an institution that’s all about sharing the stories of the public, it made perfect sense for us to partner with East Kentwood for this event,” said Rob Schuitema, Director of Public Programs at the museum. “Our goal is to give a platform to anyone that’s sharing their stories that connect back to this community.”
Each of the 50 participating student’s projects will go into museum and city archives, which can be accessed online or in person at The Community Archives and Research Center.
