The Retreat, a nonprofit organization providing services for victims of domestic abuse, has hosted several events during April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The awareness-building campaign continues this week, with events specifically for teenagers and adults.

Today, the East Hampton Library will showcase an exhibition, “What Were You Wearing? A Survivor Art Installation,” which features clothing worn by victims of sexual assault at the time of the attack. The installation also includes survivors’ stories, and the aim is to shatter the myth that sexual violence is caused by a person’s wardrobe. The exhibition is free and will be on display all day.

The installation originated at the University of Arkansas in 2013 and since then has toured many college campuses across the country.

On Saturday, “The Vagina Monologues” returns to the Southampton Arts Center for encore performances at 2 and 7 p.m. This Obie Award-winning episodic play, written by Eve Ensler, introduces a divergent gathering of females who delve into topics such as consensual and nonconsensual sexual experiences, body image, genital mutilation, sex work — all told through the eyes of women of various ages, races, sexualities, and other differences. More details can be found in today’s arts section.

Back at the East Hampton Library, “The Hunting Ground,” a documentary that had its premiere at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, will be screened on Monday starting at 6:30 p.m. Only high schoolers and adults will be admitted. A panel discussion will follow with representatives from the Retreat, the Family Service League, and the New York State Police.

The event is free, and high school students will receive two hours of community service.

High schoolers in Bridgehampton may be one step closer to answering the age-old question that students invariably ask: “Why am I learning this?”

The school hosted a STEAM day on Tuesday — that is, a day dedicated to showcasing careers that often stem from STEAM subjects, namely, science, technology, engineering, art, and math.

Businesses from across Long Island set up stations in the school gym, and 9th through 12th graders were given 20 minutes with representatives from each company to discuss how pursuing one or more of these subjects can eventually result in jobs, or even being career-ready by graduation time. 

A representative of Stott Architecture in Southampton discussed how all five STEAM subjects are utilized in the work they do there. Someone from Harbor Hot Tubs, also in Southampton, talked about how a knowledge of science — particularly water chemistry — and technology is useful in that trade. 

Eve Behar, a Sag Harbor ceramist and past president of the Clay Art Guild of the Hamptons, spoke about careers in the arts. Other businesses included Staples of Bridgehampton, Bridge Abstract, a title service for residential and commercial projects, Suburban Propane, Home Technology Experts, which provides luxury audio-video and smart home solutions, and Bridgehampton National Bank. 

“What a great preparation for 21st- century work-force readiness skills, necessary for success in the real world,” said Lisa M. Strahs-Lorenc, the director of school-business partnership programs at Career and Employment Options, a Hauppauge career-finding enterprise. “Our students need to learn about the relevance of their education, and Long Island companies need to connect to these students. They are our investment and success of our business growth and future.”

The Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center may be losing East Hampton’s prekindergarten students next year, but it could be gaining the Springs School District’s youngest students.

During a Springs School Board meeting earlier this month, Debra Winter, the superintendent, proposed that the district’s 36 pre-K students expected next year move from their current program at the Most Holy Trinity school building in East Hampton to the Whitmore Center. SCOPE Educational Services currently operates the half-day pre-K program for Springs 

The Whitmore Center’s prekindergarten program, which will be able to accommodate 60 children in the fall, finds itself with an abundance of available slots for the 2018-19 school year because of East Hampton’s decision to move its 72 prekindergartners in-house to the John M. Marshall Elementary School in the fall, which is expected to save that district $300,000. The center plans to have three sections of prekindergarten and to expand what it calls its 3-K program for 3-year-olds in the 2018-19 school year.

For Springs, the move to the early childhood center will cost the district $162,200, which is $48,800 more than it pays SCOPE to operate its program this year. But there are benefits to parents and students that may outweigh the added costs, Ms. Winter said.

“The big difference is that parents will now have the option to go from a two-and-a-half-hour daily program to a four-hour day with lunch and two snacks provided.” For working parents, she said, that is a major plus, as is the fact that the early childhood center in East Hampton offers an extended day option for about $145 a week that allows students to stay through 5:30 p.m. That option was not available in the Most Holy Trinity building.

The additional $48,800 has been factored into the proposed 2018-19 budget, recently adopted by the board.

Although, ultimately, the pre-K move is contingent upon voter approval on May 15, Ms. Winter said the school will go ahead with a lottery drawing in order to fill the 36 spots, available to Springs residents with children who will turn 4 by Dec. 1.

“We cannot wait until May 15 to see whether we can go ahead or not,” she said. “We need to get started on this now and if the budget is voted down, then this is the sort of thing that will be the first to be cut.”

With less than three weeks to go until statewide school budget votes on May 15, the Springs School District is the focus this week in The Star’s ongoing examination of 2018-19 proposed budgets in each district in our coverage area, in an effort to offer details of proposed changes and projections. 

The Springs School Board recently adopted its  proposed budget of approximately $28.9 million, an increase of $760,610 from this year, which represents a 2.98-percent state cap-compliant tax increase.

“Unlike many schools,” said Debra Winter, the district superintendent, in her first budget season at the school, “We first started the process by asking what each department needs.”

“It was like a wish list,” said Michael Henery, the school business administrator, also in his first Springs budget season.

The wish list, however, created about two months ago, was “a shock for the board,” according to Mr. Henery, since it came in well over $29 million. He then worked with each department head to prioritize their needs, and slowly the team whittled the figures down to cover “only what’s good for the kids,” Ms. Winter said. “There’s no admin stuff in here at all.”

One of the most important increases incorporated into next year’s budget will be in the area of security — both physical upgrades and a greater focus on mental health. Together they fit under the school’s theme for next year, which is “the whole child,” the superintendent said.

Her rationale is straightforward: It is of little use to simply beef up security with an extra guard or metal detector if children are having a mental health crisis that may be undetected. 

“We need to know where our children are mentally,” she said. This has resulted in making a second full-time psychologist available, as well as providing more hours for a second nurse to be on hand.   

Yoga classes will be added to the physical education program as well as mindfulness exercises, keeping kids involved in sports by offering more athletic options, continuing to develop the newly formed robotics team, and other STEAM-related activities.

Physical security measures will be upgraded with the addition of two school resource officers and extra cameras. The building will soon install a special card reader in the entry vestibule, which scans valid driver’s licenses or state-issued IDs. An immediate check is made against the national sex offender list as well as disgruntled ex-employees, persons with injunctions or court orders, and anyone who does not belong on school premises.

With President Trump announcing in February that he would cut roughly $3.6 billion in education aid during the next fiscal year, Ms. Winter pointed to the uncertainty of receiving grants, especially those linked to offsetting teachers’ salaries. “These are not competitive grants,” she said, but ones that are automatically granted based on the size of the school and the number of students. However, unable to predict what the school might receive next year, she said they had to budget $227,000 as a contingency.

Approximately $100,000 will be placed in the school’s capital repairs reserve for unforeseen overhaul needs. This is standard procedure in most schools, she said.

The school announced on April 9 its  proposed move from its current SCOPE Educational Services prekindergarten program to one at the Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center in East Hampton. A story on that proposal appears elsewhere on this page

Voters on May 15 will see a separate proposition on the ballot for $150,000, earmarked for two new wheelchair-accessible school buses to replace outdated ones. Also included in the proposition is $31,000 to buy and install security cameras for most of the buses.

If the school’s proposed 2018-19 budget of approximately $28.9 million is passed, homeowners of properties with an assessed value of $600,000 will see an estimated $175 increase in taxes per year; an $800,000 assessed property value will incur about $234 extra, and a property assessed at $1 million will see an annual increase of $292. 

On March 6, Springs taxpayers also approved a $16.9 million bond to cover the school’s expansion plans. However, those taxes will not go into effect until the school borrows the money. “We don’t anticipate borrowing for another year,” Ms. Winter said.  

Also on May 15, Barbara Dayton, the board’s president, will seek re-election, having served on the board since 2015. She is uncontested so far.

If the budget is rejected, Ms. Winter said, the school board would have to come back with a zero-percent increase from last year, which means all enhancements such as new mental health programs, Project Most after-school activities, and the pre-K changes would have to go.

The superintendent hopes that on voting day, the Springs community will see that “We’ve done our homework, we’ve taken the taxpayer into consideration, and we’re taking the whole child into consideration.”

A public budget hearing will be held on Monday, May 7, at 7 p.m. in the school library.

Family Fun and Star Wars at CMEE

Rain or shine, Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon, it’s the eighth annual Peconic Family Fun Day at the Children’s Museum of the East End. The event, co-sponsored by a number of organizations, including the South Fork Natural History Museum, is an opportunity to learn about and celebrate the ecosystems, estuaries, and environments that are unique to the East End, with activities designed to encourage water management, agricultural sustainability, recycling, and environmental stewardship. Those attending will enjoy games, guided walks, live critters, arts and crafts stations, a seed planting station, taste testing, and music courtesy of the Bridgehampton School’s marimba band. There is no entrance fee, and the event is open to families with children of all ages.

Parents and caregivers with children of all ages can stop by the museum tomorrow between 3 and 5 p.m. to celebrate national Star Wars Day. Participants can awaken the force with a special Star Wars-themed Lego workshop, Jedi crafts, and chewy Wookie cookies. The cost is $18 including museum entry, or $5 for members.

Mother’s Day, Madoo, Cinco de Mayo

Children ages 4 and up can celebrate Mother’s Day with a story time and craft on Wednesday between 4 and 5 p.m. at the East Hampton Library. Next Thursday from 4 to 5 p.m., sixth though eighth graders can make their own glass gem magnets using scrapbook paper and glitter.

The Hampton Library’s weekly Mondays at Madoo story time at the Madoo Conservancy in Sagaponack have begun. An hour in Madoo’s Magnolia Bosque at 10 a.m. will feature storytellers from the library. The event is free and will run weekly through Nov. 12. The library should be contacted in advance to confirm dates or if the weather is questionable. Tomorrow at the library, children ages 4 and up can create cork boats at 4 p.m. On Tuesday at 3:30 p.m., teens can stop by to use a variety of art supplies to create a mixed-media collage.

At the Montauk Library, a Cinco de Mayo fiesta is on the schedule for Saturday. Children in kindergarten and up can stop by from 3 to 4 p.m. to celebrate the Mexican holiday. Gringo’s Burrito Grill will supply the ingredients to make tacos, and there will also be a piñata, festive music, and Cinco de Mayo-inspired desserts to take home.

Avian Flight at SoFo

On Sunday at 10:30 a.m., Eleni Nikolopoulos, a South Fork Natural History Museum environmental educator, will introduce kids 8 and up to a nature game intended to explain the history of birds. Participants will learn about avian evolution and the journey that modern flying species have taken to get to where they are today. 

For many high school seniors, early spring can be a nail-biter of a season as college notifications trickle in bearing news of acceptances and rejections or the purgatory of being waitlisted. 

For one East Hampton High School senior, however, responses from his desired universities came like so: Yale, yes. Brown, yes. Cornell, yes. University of Pennsylvania, yes. Columbia, yes. Dartmouth, yes. Princeton . . . not yet.

“I was really demoralized after being waitlisted by Princeton,” said Alexander Sigua Pintado, known as Nick, who is East Hampton’s valedictorian this year. “I thought there was no way I was getting into Harvard because it has a lower acceptance rate than Princeton.”

He was wrong. Harvard said yes, yes, yes.

Nick got into seven of the eight Ivy League schools, just one shy of the so-called Ivy League Sweep.

Whether it is seven or eight is hardly relevant. We are officially in an era where getting into even one of those hallowed institutions, whose acceptance rates range from 4 to 12 percent, is considered a superhuman feat. Applicants are expected to submit not only near-perfect scores on their SAT or ACT college application tests, but also to show grade point averages that usually exceed the coveted 4.0, made possible by taking staggering numbers of advanced level courses in high school. They also have to craft a standout essay, clock roughly 100 hours of community service, and be either an athlete, accomplished musician, artist, or debate champ. In addition, they are required to somehow demonstrate characteristics such as curiosity, empathy, openness to change, and ability to overcome adversity — factors that college admissions officials call “predictors of success.”

Marilyn Marsilio, Nick’s high school counselor, who has worked in the East Hampton School District for 25 years, said she does not remember ever seeing one student receive seven Ivy League acceptances in one year. 

“I burst out crying when I found out about Harvard,” said Nick. “I was so surprised especially considering the acceptance rate this year for regular decisions applicants was 2.43 percent.” He added that the overall rate for both early and regular applications was 4.59 percent. In selecting its freshman class of about 2,000, Harvard rejected approximately 35,000 applicants this year.

He texted his good news to a friend and when he walked into his classroom the next morning, everyone started clapping. “It felt really good to have this community backing me,” he said.

Harvard even offered the 17-year-old “the best financial package of all the schools, which will really help lessen the financial burden on my family,” he said. Nick’s mother works in the cafeteria of the Ross School in East Hampton and his father is a carpenter and landscaper. Both are from Ecuador and moved to Springs 20 years ago. Neither went to college.

What narrows the acceptance odds even further at these world-famous institutions is that they admit legacy candidates, that is children of alumni and those of big donors, at a much greater rate than nonlegacy students. Legacies make up nearly a third of Harvard’s current freshman class, The Harvard Crimson reported, while Princeton’s class of 2021 is 13 percent legacy, according to the university’s website.

In addition to the eight Ivies, Nick also applied to Georgetown University, New York University, Northeastern, and to the State University at Binghamton. They all accepted him.

“I can see myself fitting in each of these schools,” he said, but admitted that he is leaning toward Harvard. “It’s been my childhood dream to go there.” 

He has until May 1 to decide and the factors he will consider are the campus environment, the student body, and the interaction between students and professors. He knows the academics will be top-notch. To help with the decision making, he plans to attend Harvard’s upcoming admitted students day as well as travel to New Haven, Conn., for Yale’s Bulldog Saturday to get a second look. 

According to Ms. Marsilio, his acceptances will be motivational for future students. “It’s a great message to kids and parents,” she said, “that you can get to these colleges from a public school.”

Michael Brown, a Houston teenager from an economically challenged public school, made recent headlines by not only getting into all 20 elite universities he applied to, including the eight Ivies, but also receiving a full scholarship to them all.

Of the handful of students who achieved the Ivy League Sweep over the last few years, the majority have something in common with Nick: They are all children of immigrants. That fact is something Nick said he will address in his valedictorian speech. “My speech will have something to do with the American dream.”

Fun and Healthy at the Y.M.C.A.

The Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter is hosting a healthy kids day on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Kids can climb the rock wall, do science, technology, engineering, and math activities, as well as sports and arts and crafts. There will be a bounce castle and family swim time, among other activities, all offered at no charge. 

A Ballet Weekend at Guild Hall

The students of the Hampton Ballet Theatre School will perform their spring production, “Coppelia,” a comedic ballet, tomorrow at 7 p.m., Saturday at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. at Guild Hall’s John Drew Theater.

The show’s score is by Leo Delibes, choreography is by Sara Jo Strickland, the school’s director, costumes are designed and hand-sewn by Yuka Silvera, and lighting is by Sebastian Paczynski. Joining the students will be Gail Baranello of A&G Dance Company and Nick Peregrino. Devon Friedman and Vincenzo James Harty, both advanced professional students, will dance the lead roles.

Advance tickets start at $15 and can be purchased at hamptonballettheatreschool.com.

Puppetry in Amagansett

Liz Joyce’s A Couple of Puppets will present “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” on Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Amagansett Library. The show is perfect for kids 2 to 6, who must be accompanied by an adult. Admission is free, but advance registration is requested. 

Eggs Overboard at CMEE

The Children’s Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton will host its sixth annual egg drop challenge Saturday from 9:45 to 11:45 a.m. for families with kids of all ages. A design workshop will kick off the activities, with kids creating protective containers for their eggs. Then, from atop the resident pirate ship, they will send their eggs overboard in a 10-foot drop. Which will survive? 

There is a $5 fee for members and a $20 fee for all others. Admission to the museum is included.

At the Libraries 

High schoolers can earn one hour of community service with the East Hampton Library’s new graphic novel review club, in which participants will have one month to read a graphic novel and submit a review. The club’s first meeting is on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

On Wednesday from 4 to 5 p.m., the library will host a bilingual celebration of books and reading for children ages 4 to 6. El Dia de los Ninos/El Dia de los Libros is an annual event at the library. A craft-making activity and refreshments will be included. 

Next Thursday from 4 to 5 p.m., sixth through eighth graders can decorate a glass bottle with various colors of yarn. 

At the Hampton Library in Bridgehampton on Tuesday, kids in sixth grade and up can take their instruments, voices, and music for a karaoke showdown and jam session from 3:30 to 5 p.m.

As part of STEAM Sundays at the John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor, kids ages 8 to 11 can learn how to make a balloon hovercraft on Saturday from 3 to 4 p.m.

On Sunday afternoon at 2, the Montauk Library will screen “Ferdinand,” a movie about a bull with a big heart who is mistaken for a dangerous beast. The movie is suitable for kids of all ages.

April is Sexual Assault Prevention Month, and, as part of an ongoing effort to raise awareness of the issue and educate communities, the Retreat, a nonprofit advocacy organization and shelter for victims of domestic violence, will present Navigating Consent: A Sexual Abuse Prevention Workshop for high school students today from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the East Hampton Library. 

According to Helen Atkinson-Barnes, the Retreat’s education program manager, the workshop has been specifically developed for high schoolers. Through a series of informative discussions, teenagers will learn what consent really means, how to differentiate between healthy and unhealthy sexual practices, how to recognize when they, or friends, might be at risk, and risk reduction strategies. 

“We’ll cover important topics like being supportive of a victim instead of victim blaming,” said Ms. Atkinson-Barnes. “It’s not okay to say things like, ‘He or she must have asked for it.’ Also, we’ll cover bystander intervention, nonverbal cues, and how to set boundaries.”

Only high school students will be admitted to the workshop. They will receive community service hours and free pizza. 

In addition, Wednesday is international Denim Day, a campaign borne from a ruling in the 1990s by the Italian Supreme Court in which a rape conviction was overturned because the justices felt that since the victim was wearing tight jeans she must have helped her rapist remove her jeans, thereby implying consent. The following day, the women in the Italian Parliament came to work wearing jeans in solidarity with the victim. 

Since then, wearing jeans on Denim Day has become a symbol of protest against the misconceptions and destructive attitudes about sexual assault. As part of the Retreat’s ongoing rape prevention education program, the organization is asking community members, elected officials, businesspeople, and students to make an important social statement by wearing jeans on Wednesday as a visible means of protest against sexual assault. 

Photos and selfies of people dressed in jeans on Wednesday can be posted on the Retreat’s Facebook page as well as sent to the organization via Twitter or Instagram.

“The issue of sexual assault has always been relevant,” said Loretta Davies, the executive director of the Retreat. “But this year with MeToo and everything that’s going on, it’s especially important to bring the issues to the public’s attention.”

Tomorrow, on the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting, thousands of students across the country are once again expected to rally against violence in an event called the National School Walkout, the third student-led protest since the Feb. 14 deadly school shooting in Parkland, Fla.

The walkout is intended to commemorate the events on April 20, 1999, when two armed teenagers entered the Columbine school and in a shooting spree killed 12 students and a teacher and wounded 20 others. The shooters then killed themselves.

The teenage organizers of tomorrow’s National School Walkout hope to continue the current groundswell of students demanding common-sense gun reform. According to the organizers’ website, the walkout begins at 10 a.m. in each time zone, when students will head outside, observe 13 seconds of silence to honor the 13 people killed at Columbine High School, and then leave school property. 

“This is a problem that needs to be addressed longer than 17 minutes,” Lane Murdock, a sophomore at Ridgefield High School in Connecticut, one of tomorrow’s organizers, recently told ABC News. She was referring to the first school walkout, on March 14, when students observed 17 minutes of silence in memory of the 17 victims of Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. 

“Leaving and breaking up that schedule that all American students have every day is how you get people to pay attention,” Lane said.

In what some said was a surprise, however, Columbine High School administrators have pushed back against tomorrow’s walkout, reminding students in Colorado and across the country that the Columbine community has turned April 20 into a day of service, not protest.

At East Hampton High School, Adam Fine, the principal, said yesterday that students had not mentioned a protest and were expected in classes all day. At the Ross School in East Hampton, a survey generated by a student was emailed to students asking them to weigh in on participation, and requesting that those participating wear orange to show support for this particular walkout. 

In Montauk, a community event organized by the Montauk Community Church and St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church is planned for after-school hours, with Montauk residents encouraged to meet at 4:30 p.m. and walk to the hamlet’s gazebo. “Let’s come together for this important conversation,” a poster says.

More than 2,000 schools are registered to participate, with at least one in every state and several globally, according to the National School Walkout organizers.

“I am [name redacted], one more immigrant in this great nation. Do you want to know my story? Okay, I’ll tell you.”

It is a harrowing story of a young boy who must say goodbye to his father as he leaves his country with his mother to make a covert crossing into the United States. 

“Son, and What If I Don’t See You Again?” and 14 other equally wrenching stories, all written anonymously by students at Central Islip and Patchogue-Medford High Schools, form “Brave Journeys,” an anthology of first-person narratives of teenagers leaving home — usually a country in Central America — and crossing mountains and rivers, by bus, train, car, and on foot, often alone and always scared. 

Herstory, a writers workshop and publisher dedicated to bringing unheard voices to the public’s attention, released “Brave Journeys” last month.

Erika Duncan, an essayist, novelist, and Sag Harbor resident, founded Herstory in 1996 as a weekly workshop at the Southampton Cultural Center to help women turn their private stories into gripping ones. Two decades later, the organization has grown into an Islandwide endeavor that, through grants from various foundations as well as the National Endowment for the Arts, has published a library of books and a prototype manual and DVD tutorial that details the workshop techniques. 

The stories in “Brave Journeys” originated during an English language learners class in Central Islip High School, where Dafny Irizarry, an E.L.L. teacher in the district for 24 years, first met all but two of the students featured in the book. It was December 2016, and the group of young people had recently made their harrowing crossings into the U.S. Their pain was acutely visible, the teacher said.

“Since it was almost Christmas, I asked them to write about something that they were grateful for,” said Ms. Irizarry, who is the founder and director of the Long Island Latino Teachers Association and previously served on the Herstory board of directors. Unanimously, the students wrote about the joy of being reunited in America with a parent or loved one, she said. 

“We needed to give them a voice,” Ms. Irizarry told Ms. Duncan, although they recognized that anonymity would be necessary to protect either the children’s undocumented status or that of their families. With Helen Dorado Alessi, a Herstory-trained facilitator and translator, a weekly workshop was formed during Ms. Irizarry’s lunch period for those students whose schedules facilitated participation. During a dozen or so sessions, the stories took shape.

“Without doubt,” Ms. Irizarry writes in the epilogue of “Brave Journeys,” which will soon be available at Canio’s Books in Sag Harbor, “this was my most meaningful project of the year.”

According to the International Organization for Migration, the number of migrants who died near the U.S. and Mexico border rose in 2017, as 412 migrant deaths were recorded, up from 398 a year earlier. Sixteen migrant deaths have already been recorded in the area so far in 2018.

“These are stories that moved and troubled us,” Ms. Duncan said of the 15 young authors featured in the book, “told by brave heroes who are being villainized today.” 

Their modern-day odysseys, printed in English and Spanish, serve as stark reminders of the astonishing courage and strength of many immigrant children and the exploitation of the business of border crossings, and as an indictment of immigration policy.

Here is an excerpt from “I Had to Do It,” written by a girl who left her country to be reunited with her mother, whom she had not seen in 12 years: 

“When I was 15 years old, I decided to come to the United States, because of the problems in my country and because I wished to have a better life. On the way, I suffered a lot. I never imagined it would be so hard. I walked a lot, barely ate, and suffered cold. I slept in the mountains, drank water from a puddle, which disgusted me, but if I wanted to quench my thirst, I had to do it. The only thing that gave me strength was the thought that soon I’d be with my mother.”

Many of the stories highlight painful partings with grandparents who are often the only parents these young children have known while their mothers and fathers live and work in America. Here, in “A Longed-For Reunion,” a young girl contemplates crossing the Rio Grande, which she must do the next day:

“When I’d think about having to cross the river, I’d get very scared because I’d heard that in that river many people have died. . . . ‘Run! The soldiers are coming!’ We ran out to hide. At the time, I had on sandals and couldn’t run well, so I took them off and kept running. But I felt stinging because there were thorns, but I continued until we found a place where we could hide. . . . When we got back, I began to pull out the thorns but there were so many and they hurt. A while later, the time to cross the river had come.”

Central Islip High School has been an ardent supporter and promoter of the “Brave Journeys” book, Ms. Duncan said, and Patchogue-Medford recently ordered 60 copies to use in its pre-Advanced Placement classes. But her dream, she said, “is to have the book in every high school in Long Island.” Maybe even colleges, and nationwide. 

“These children are living heroes,” Ms. Duncan said, and as such she believes that American students should be reading these stories alongside those about heroes from the Civil War and other historical events.

Indeed, in an era of hardened immigration policies, which sparked Nancy Pelosi, the minority leader of the House of Representatives, to say that “the Statue of Liberty must have tears in her eyes,” these stories can serve as a reminder to young people of a country’s shared heritage as a nation of immigrants. 

From “When the Heart and the Mind Don’t Agree,” story number 13 in the book: “That’s how I came to say ‘goodbye’ to great parts of my life. The day I left my country I realized our souls are made of glass — as I looked at my country’s streets one last time, I could hear inside how my soul and heart shattered to pieces.”