Taboo Issue Topic: Immigration
Words by Renee Boss
Photography by Sarah Jane Sanders

Clutching a small blue purse with a single coin inside, a gift from her Peruvian grandmother, six-year-old Kendra Montejos and her family boarded a plane bound for the USA. They touched down in a new country to a brand new life in a new language, their belongings fitting modestly into two large suitcases.

Kendra spoke no English when she started public school in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, but she was an eager student, and she was soon asked to help translate conversations between other families and administrators in her elementary school. The rural school system was unprepared for a growing population of Spanish speakers, due to the influx of migrant workers in the area. Kendra took notice, and it eventually became pivotal to her future career.

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