‘We’ve even begun training for what we would need to do if ICE showed up at our school.’

Aurora Sterbenz, a recent UWM graduate entering her life as a teacher in the Milwaukee area reflects on the past 10 months of a second Trump administration and how it has affected her life.

Charlie Skrade: How has the Trump administration affected you personally?

Aurora Sterbenz: As someone works in education, the effects of federal funding not going into grants for lower income schools as been very apparent. A lot of the schools that I’ve worked at this past year have had grants to help students pay for lunches, student-teaching opportunities, things like that have been taken away within the past ten months. It is not a good time seeing such brash statements being made about super marginalized communities. It was really upsetting seeing a President make derogatory statements during his inaugural speech… it all feels like a distraction to much bigger issues going on. I feel like our country has always been a fascist country, but now it’s out in the open. It’s really scary. And again, in the education system, it’s super disturbing seeing an administration focus on removing curriculums based around the history of our country that show our darker side, like slavery, the civil rights movement, and our really messed up history with indigenous people. It already felt like we weren’t talking about those kind of subjects enough, but now that they’re taking it away, it really feels like the curtain is being ripped off. And now with ICE, especially now with everything that happened in Chicago, I have had students who have just not come to school for a long period of time and come back after being deported. I can see how it affects them, they’re just kids, but they understand the weight of it and are really messed up by it. Since I work at a multi-lingual school, we’ve even begun training for what we would need to do if ICE showed up at our school. It just doesn’t feel real sometimes and that’s what’s so scary. Every other week there’s something new and you just can’t keep up.

Charlie Skrade: As a teacher, but also as a human being, do you find yourself having a hard time putting on a brave face for your students?

Aurora Sterbenz: With my older students, it is important for me to put on a brave face to make sure they feel okay, but it’s also important for me to keep it real with them. A lot of the projects we’ve been doing in class are centered around political issues, like right now we’re doing a protest sign project. It’s important to talk about it because it’s not going away, it’s important to make sure everyone’s informed. But, for my younger students, it’s not something a child should be worried about, I feel terrible that it’s even come to training for a possible ICE encounter, but it’s just what the world is now.

Charlie Skrade: Do you ever experience a “culture-shock” in a way in the schools where people have vastly different opinions?

Aurora Sterbenz: Absolutely. I grew up in a household that was very left, per se, but I went to catholic school all my life. So, I’m used to being around people with different opinions. I think it’s very important to speaking your truth, saying your opinions…I feel like silence is one of the worst weapons. Having conversations can lead to more food-for-thought for everybody.