On Nov. 22, 2024, Otterbein Art students Emily Rogers and Sarah Farmer, along with a group from Westerville Central High School led by Spanish teacher Pablo Chignolli, delivered a keynote presentation at the Ohio TESOL 2024 Conference (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) held in Columbus, OH. 

Their collaborative presentation, The Ones Among Us, Exploring Student Voices, Collaborative Practices, Socioemotional Impacts and Equity in Education, was attended by approximately 820 people. The presenters received a standing ovation at the conclusion of their presentation and many attendees shared that this keynote was the highlight of the conference. 

For their contributions, Emily Rogers presented Artwork Collaboration and Learning, and Sarah Farmer presented Using Art for Cultural Advocacy. 

The presentation grew from a previous collaboration. In August 2023, Chignolli contacted Otterbein’s Department of Art and Art History, and connected with Associate Professor Louise Captein. Chignolli shared his vision for creating an immigrant student-written memoir project that would also feature painted portraits of the immigrant students.  

Captein announced the project to art students, seeking up to 10 volunteer artists. In October 2023, they welcomed Chignolli and his students to campus. This first meeting allowed the college and high school students to meet and informally share stories of their lives and cultures.  

Once the student pairings were determined, the high school students sat for the initial portrait drawing session. The painted portraits were completed in December 2023. 

The immigrant students represented the following countries: Brazil, Columbia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria, Rwanda, Ukraine, and USA. The Otterbein artists were charged with capturing the “essence” of the students while including significant elements from the immigrant student memoirs in their portraits. 

The following Otterbein students created portraits: Isabel Alverez, Alina Baer, Ruth Boucher, Sarah Farmer, Nia Horton, Phoebe Kraus, Chloe Murphy, Emily Rogers, Hannah Thompson, and Lily Volz.

The collaboration resulted in a book, THE ONES AMONG US: Memoirs of Culturally Diverse High School Students in America by Pablo Chignolli, published in February 2024.

The portraits were first exhibited at the Otterbein Campus Center and have subsequently been exhibited at Fusian Restaurant in uptown Westerville; Deer Creek State Park in collaboration with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources – Arts in the Parks; Westerville Central High School Culture Day; Columbus Metropolitan Library during the Latino Writers Fair; and the Ohio TESOL 2024 Conference. The portraits are scheduled to be exhibited at The Ohio State University’s College of Education and Human Ecology Award Ceremony in February 2025.

The Otterbein art students have generously donated the portraits, which are currently installed in Chignolli’s classroom. Upon graduating each high school student will receive their portrait to keep.

THE ONES AMOUNG US: Memoirs of Culturally Diverse High School Students in America is available for purchase through Amazon. Chignolli is donating all royalties to support similar cultural awareness projects.