Mentors aid Marshallese kids

CELINA - Marshallese mentor Rob Lee on Thursday afternoon ambles over to a table of Marshallese high school boys busy painting ornaments and eating pizza. Lee shoots the breeze about the kids' interests in sports, taking a moment to bump fists with one of the students.

The students clearly feel comfortable with Lee.

Lee and the boys move on to the topic of the Marshall Islands, specifically eight-foot-long and six-foot-wide beached turtles. They note it takes five guys to flip one of them over.

"To get them back out?" Marshallese Mentoring Program Co-Director Claudia Coe asks innocently.

No, the students respond, the men flip the turtles over so they can eat them. Laughter then erupts from the students.

This is exactly the kind of unguarded, spontaneous moment organizers hope to elicit from the Marshallese students who tend to be shy and sometimes hesitant to come out of their own shells, Lee and program officials said.

What these students say and do is important and are gifts to be shared with others, said Vaughn Ray, Celina City School's curriculum director and mentor program co-director.

"The big thing we're looking for is inclusion where all of our students can go in, feel comfortable, safe and just feel welcome and valued in all their (endeavors)," he said.

Many of the students involved in the program have come straight from the islands. Not only do they have to deal with the regular pressures of being a teenager, they also have to get to know a different culture and language and get used to being among people with very different experiences than theirs.

Now in its second year, the high school mentor program meets every Thursday during lunch period in instructor Dave Mauer's classroom. A group of ten Marshallese students pair up with adult Marshallese mentors. They talk about how they're doing in school, their family life, personal goals and career aspirations, Mauer said.

The mentors and mentees are matched up based on shared interests. Sometimes, mentees just naturally gravitate toward certain mentors, Mauer said.

"The idea is to make them successful adults, successful members of our community, to help them to adjust to the cultural changes without removing their own culture. We honor their culture," Mauer said.

Program advisor Francis John, a Marshallese translator at Cooper Farms, went to churches and other venues seeking Marshallese adults to serve as mentors. Ray characterized John as a crucial connector between the program and Marshallese community.

"The mentors that we have are successful people in the community, and they're very respected so they have a lot of very valuable information and experiences that they can pass on," Mauer said.

The mentors, Mauer said, are happy to have a positive influence on the students.

Once such mentor is Rob Lee, who along with Lydia Bolkeim owns Ralik Ratak Alele, an Asian-Pacific food and clothing store geared toward the Marshallese population. The store offers food common in western and eastern cultures, frozen fish, fruit native to the Marshall Islands, hand-made crafts from the islands and clothing that is from the Marshall Islands and Asia.

"Because of the community support, I want to support it back," Lee said about becoming a mentor. "This was the perfect opportunity for me to volunteer my time and resources to help."

As a student, Lee said he was bullied and went through financial hardships. He believes he can offer students a guiding hand.

"I don't want them to go through what I went through," he said.

Marshallese people, he said, tend to have difficulties with the English language, at least at first. Also, life in the United States is much more structured. It also takes time for Marshallese people to adjust to the area's radically different weather.

"We come from a place where 82 degrees is winter. I'm not kidding. I'm not exaggerating," he said.

Marshallese people, he noted, enjoy the small community-feel of the area and enjoy playing basketball, volleyball and softball.

Asked what the community can do to help Marshallese people feel welcomed, Lee stressed the importance of patience and understanding.

"Accept them as a new culture," Lee said. "Learn more about them, why they are the way they are. If need be, educate them instead of pushing them away. Just be more open to them."

Ray said mentor program officials aim to get the kids involved with activities and programs. Students will come into the sessions to talk about club opportunities, Ray said.

They're also looking into holding basketball tournaments and partnering with other clubs or groups to undertake community service projects.
  Program officials also try to bring in business owners and other community members to engage the students. For instance, on Thursday, Heather Kuhn, owner of the Kuhn's Nest, visited the class. Kuhn's Nest, located at 930 North Main Street, Celina, hosts paint parties, kid camps, DIY workshops and birthday and bachelorette parties. It also does custom orders, offering painted signs, noodle boards and other items.

Kuhn led the students through an ornament painting activity.

"I'm thrilled. It gives us an opportunity to have our community meet with our Marshallese students," Ray said.

Now in it's second year, Ray hopes the program can eventually expand into the middle school and beyond. It is funded through grants from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and Society of the Precious Blood.