Edgar Hernandez spreads his fingers across the screen of his iPad, zooming in on a map of Africa. He smiles as he locates the Nile River, then turns to a classmate and together they search for the Sahara Desert.
A student's sense of place is key at LEAP High School, which serves immigrants and refugees who have had little or no experience in mainstream education.
For 20 years, the St. Paul school has been adapting to an ever-changing student body, and a quickly diversifying Minnesota population.
"I can tell when they come to my class they're genuinely excited to be there. They're engaged and they help each other," social studies teacher Paul Gore said.
When the school was founded in 1994, most of the students were Hmong. Over the years the population has changed from being primarily Asian to 46 percent African in 2003, and now to more than half Karen — an ethnic minority from Myanmar (formerly Burma).
Warsan Osman moved from California two years ago. Before that, she lived in Nairobi and never had a chance to attend school. The 17-year-old is one of four LEAP students from Kenya.
Changes in the student body are often linked to world conflicts and trends, said Principal Rose Santos. Many LEAP students have escaped violence and political turmoil in their homelands. Santos hired on 10 years ago, just as a Thai refugee camp closed and brought a large wave of Hmong refugees to the Twin Cities, increasing the school's population to more than 400.
Today, LEAP serves about 330 English language learners between 16 and 21 years old. Enrollment fluctuates as new arrivals join and older students move on.