[introspective piano music] - Throughout the 20th century, Beloit stood out as a city of opportunity with robust manufacturing industries.

In addition to securing jobs, many newcomers found Beloit an ideal place to pursue an education.

- Fung Scholz: Anybody that wanted to have a better life, of course, would migrate.

Many people came.

Well, my uncle came to Beloit first, started a restaurant, and then my father came to join him.

- Charles Wong arrived in Beloit from Guangdong Province in 1920, and eventually brought his wife, Yee Shee, in 1923.

- John Wong: The Wong family is one of the first Chinese families to ever immigrate to Beloit, Wisconsin.

Charles and Yee Shee Wong had seven children: Gim, Fung, George, Helen, Harry, Frank, and Mary.

Moving to the United States was going to offer them opportunity that they would not have had in China.

Not only opportunities as far as jobs, but probably more importantly for our family: education.

And they knew that the educational system was going to be stronger in the United States than it would have been in China.

Eventually, my grandfather was shot and killed in July of 1938.

My dad was the oldest at age 14.

- Fung Scholz: When we lost my father, that was truly a struggle 'cause my mother didn't speak any English.

It was up to us.

And that was kind of a struggle, to begin with.

I was number two; I was the oldest daughter.

I grew up only speaking Chinese in the home, and then, learning English, playing with neighborhood friends.

Education was a thing that my mother insisted on.

That was one reason they came to the United States.

- John Wong: Higher education was extremely important to the entire family.

And I think that they knew that education was the one tool that nobody could ever take away from them.

When they were in the community and involved, they knew they were different, but they tried to be different in positive ways.

All of them excelled in school.

Many of them were class presidents, or treasurers, or secretaries of each of their respective classes.

I think knowing what they had to go through, and then, to find out that all seven of them ended up going on to college, having successful lifestyles, successful families is probably the greatest part of the story.

- Fung Scholz: We didn't go back to China because the neighborhood, the community was so supportive of us.

I think that's why we all got an education.

Of course, my mother expressed her feelings about it all the time, too.

She was just glad we all got through.

[drum roll, jazz] - By mid-century, children of the Great Migration were also making their mark on the Beloit community.

Arriving in Beloit from Mississippi, Barbara Hickman immediately developed a passion for education.

- Barbara Hickman: Academically, I did very well in high school.

That just was part-- whatever you do, you do your very best.

I wanted to be a third-grade teacher.

That was my goal in life.

I wanted to go to college.

I decided to go to Stevens Point.

I was the only Black student on campus for three years.

And so, it was after I graduated from Stevens Point that I became aware that I was the first African American female to graduate from Stevens Point.

- After receiving her teaching degree in 1960, Barbara searched for a position as a teacher in Wisconsin.

[bell, students] - Barbara Hickman: Growing up in Beloit, there were never any African American teachers.

I never wanted to forget where I came from and my background.

I never wanted to part from that.

I couldn't be average.

You know, you had to stand out in order for them to even think or consider.

There were people who were honest with me to say, "Well, we're looking and want to hire, but they got to be twice as good."

[small laugh] In Beloit, they offered me a contract.

I started my career in the building that I had attended.

And from there, I spent about 60 years in the District of Beloit.

Every opportunity I got, I never said no to anything.

- With Barbara's success, she became a role model to young Black students.

By the end of her career, she had worked in ten Beloit elementary schools and earned distinction as the first Black administrator in the school district.

In the later years of her career, Barbara witnessed a new pattern of immigration in the school district.

She, along with other educators, shifted their focus to set up new Beloit residents for success.

- Rosamaría Laursen: The growth of the multilingual students, about 98% of them were Spanish speakers, really started to take off in the early 2000s.

There was a large increase in immigrants in Wisconsin because of agriculture and manufacturing industries.

It attracted many families here.

- Coming from Mexico and countries throughout South and Central America, these families sought educational opportunities through English literacy programs like Even Start and the dual language program in the School District of Beloit.

- Rosamaría Laursen: Having an education really not only opens doors for you, but it also gives you that complete freedom and flexibility to live the way that you want to.

Anecdotally, I have heard students say that they loved attending Beloit schools because it taught them how to interact with people who are different than they are, and it really set them up for success in a larger global society.

- Barbara Hickman: We wanted to make a difference in our students' life.

You get an education; can't anyone take that away from you.

And that was the driving force.

- Education has long been a pillar of Beloit's community, from the college to the public schools.

These educational institutions now stand as a beacon for those in search of a better life.

- John Wong: People that are coming in from other countries, they want the same thing that my grandparents and great-grandparents wanted.

They want their family to have a better opportunity for the future than they had.

That is no different today than it was a hundred-plus years ago.

- Rosamaría Laursen: I truly believe that Beloit is on its way to being a supportive community where anybody's welcome and is able to thrive.