Zahra Rahimi, an Alexandria City High graduate whose family fled Afghanistan in 2019, helped start a club for Afghan students and a community tutoring program for peers learning English among other accomplishments.
By Karina Elwood (Washington Post) June 9, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. EDT
Zahra Rahimi has lived out many dreams in the past five years.
The first time she rode her bicycle outside in Virginia — something she couldn’t do in her home country of Afghanistan, which her family fled five years ago. The day last fall when she and other young female leaders were honored at the White House. The moment she was accepted into William & Mary — her top choice — with a full scholarship.
And this month, as she sat in her cap and gown, a rainbow of cords draped around her neck, alongside more than 800 graduates of Alexandria City High School.
“I never thought I would even be able to finish school, especially when I was in Afghanistan,” said Zahra, 17. “I never saw any of these opportunities coming to me, but right now it feels like a miracle, like I’m in a dream.”
In her five years in Virginia, Zahra became a standout student. She helped start a club for Afghan students at the high school and a community tutoring program for peers learning English, became the first student representative from the International Academy to sit on the School Board, and was recognized by the Virginia House of Delegates.
“She just continues to show up. She shows up and gets involved,” saidAlexandria City School Board Chair Michelle Rief. “And I think as she’s done that, she’s realized how much of an impact she can make as a student.”
Zahra and her family arrived in Richmond in the fall of 2019, then cameto Alexandria. The oldest of six children, Zahra said her father decided to move the family from Afghanistanfor safety and better education opportunities. In Virginia, she connected with uncles and cousins she had not seen in years, but she still missed her grandparents and other relativesback in Afghanistan.
During the 2020-2021 school year, 69 Afghan students enrolled in Alexandria City Public Schools for the first time.
In August 2021, more than 85,000 Afghan nationals arrived in the United States as part of the massive U.S. evacuation when the Taliban took control of Kabul. Thousands landed in Alexandria, and their children enrolled in the public school system.
The school district’s Afghan population boomed: More than 400 students enrolled during the 2021-2022 school year.
Students learning English as a second language, especially older ones, often struggle in school. In Virginia, English learners score the lowest on the state’s standardized tests in every subject and have one of the highest high school dropout rates. School systems have limited resources to help students catch up, and even in the Alexandria district, with two International Academies designed for students who recently arrived from other countries, English learners can struggle.
Continue reading at https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2024/06/09/zahra-rahimi-alexandria-student-tutoring-program/
