At The Head of Her Class, and Homeless
Passage Summary:
In June 2014, NPR published this story about Rashema Melson. At the time, Melson was a homeless high school senior at Anacostia High School in Washington, D.C. She is now a student at Georgetown University.
When and How to Pair:
Introduce this text after chapter one in order to have students think about how other kids deal with loss and tragedy. Ask students to compare and contrast how Sahara copes with the departure of her father versus how Rashema Melson deals with the death of her father. Think about why they handled their unique situations so differently. Use evidence from both texts to support your answer.