Linda Forte
Being part of an immigrant population, and it’s funny you ask this ‘cause I was just talking to somebody else about this, there were not any of the bells and whistles you have today to help kids. You walked into a classroom, you were labeled “immigrant.” You were put at the back of the room. And I was telling someone the other day that I was sitting in the back of the room and as immigrants came in, they kinda put us together, just in the back. And the girl they partnered me with, she came in and she was actually, literally off the boat from Greece. And they put her with me and they’re like “You can help her” and I’m like “Oh my god, it’s all Greek to me” no pun intended. [Laughter] You know, I – and I’m thinking to myself, “How do I help -you know I speak Finnish, they’re not even close in language at all.
Linda Forte is currently a fifth grade teacher at Worcester Arts Magnet School. Although teaching wasn’t her initial career goal, Linda finds it rewarding and worthwhile to be able to make a difference in a child’s life. She was the first of her family to be born in the United States, as her family emigrated from Finland. Although she faced no gender discrimination, she was discriminated against as the child of two immigrants.