Daniel, a Chin high school mentor, has encouraged a fifth grade boy in a very unique way.
At Lakeland Elementary, we have a large population of Chin refugee students that have originated from Burma. With so much transition that happens when a refugee family settles in the United States, these students are in high need of behavior and academic support. We are very excited when a mentor is available for a Chin CIS student, and look forward to see how the individual relationship can help encourage the student.
When a mentor can speak the same primary language as the student, it helps strengthen the connection of the mentor/mentee relationship. Daniel, who is the foster son of one of our teachers, Mrs. Laura Massey, mentors a young fifth grade Chin boy. He mentors every week before starting his day at the high school.
For our Chin students, the majority speak Hakha Chin, with just a few speaking other versions of their dialect, with English as their second language. Daniel is unique in that he speaks Burmese fluently, as well as writes in Burmese. We have a new fifth grade refugee student named A Mon who is still adjusting to school life. A Mon only speaks Burmese, so he is not able to communicate with the other Chin students very well.
This April, we joined forces with all the Lakeland teachers to have them each write notes of encouragement before the STAAR test. Mrs. Massey thought it would be a wonderful idea if Daniel wrote a STAAR encouragement note to A Mon in Burmese. A Mon was excited to get an encouragement note in his primary language. He even had the chance to read it out loud to his entire class in Burmese.
Thanks again, Daniel! And thank you Laura Massey for helping Daniel connect with Communities In Schools of North Texas at Lakeland Elementary!
