Since its debut through the Stark County, Ohio, One Book, One Community program, Growing Season has been embraced by the community for its human approach to the national immigration debate and for its value as a teaching tool. Dozens of presentations and speaking engagements were scheduled through schools, church groups, and civic organizations.
Perhaps one of the most tangible and eloquent testimonies we received on the impact of the project came in a series of thank-you letters, excerpts of which were published in the Canton Repository newspapers. Written by adult students in an English as a Second Language class sponsored by Canton City Schools and taught by Pat Dolezal, these letters formally thanked the three community members who donated the books to the class. The class was comprised of about 15 students, many of them Hispanic, but not all. It was exciting to see, through these letters, how the message of Growing Season transcended ethnic origins and spoke to the struggles and achievements of any immigrant experience. These letters, written by those who themselves are immigrants, eloquently testify to the power of the first-person narratives and photographs in Growing Season to dispel harmful stereotypes and to unite an entire community.
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