Okinawa Marines recognized for Teaching English in community

Photo By Cpl. Jonah Baase | Cpl. Jessica Goldman and Lance Cpl. Scottlyn Arnold receive a certificate of appreciation from the Nago City Board of Education, at the Uruma City Ishikawa District Community Center, in Nago City, Okinawa, Japan, March 7, 2017. The certificate was presented as a thank you for their volunteer efforts during the Nago English Camp. Volunteers at the camp spent the majority of their time teaching Okinawan children how to read and write in English. Goldman, from Newtown, Pennsylvania, is a motor transportation mechanic. Arnold, from Potomac, Montana, is a motor transportations operator. Goldman and Arnold are both with Truck Company, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force. (U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Lance Cpl. Jonah Baase)  

OKINAWA, JAPAN

03.07.2017

Story by Lance Cpl. Jonah Baase 

III Marine Expeditionary Force   

NAGO CITY, Okinawa, Japan – Learning about another culture is one of the benefits to being stationed in Okinawa, but Okinawans get to experience elements of U.S. service members’ culture too.

U.S. service members received certificates of appreciation from the Nago City Board of Education, March 7, 2017, at the Uruma City Ishikawa District Community Center, Nago City, Okinawa, for volunteering as English teachers at the Nago English Camp.

Marines and Sailors volunteered for the camp, where Okinawan children have been learning English since 2013.

“It’s nice to interact with the community and teach them as well as learn about their culture,” said Lance Cpl. Micael Kleefisch, a meteorologist with 3rd Intelligence Battalion, III Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group, and a native of Athens, Alabama.

Jessica Goldman, a motor transportation operator with Truck Company, 3rd Marine Division, III MEF, said the class helped her achieve one of her goals.

“I’ve been wanting to teach English as a second language for a very long time now,” said Goldman, from Newtown, Pennsylvania. “It’s an incredible feeling that I hope other Marines will want to be a part of for generations to come.”

The event is open for all volunteers to help the local community in a one-on-one environment.

“Little by little we can change society,” said Goldman. “It’s right there; all we have to do is reach out.”

• Date Taken: 03.07.2017
• Date Posted: 03.10.2017 03:00
• Story ID: 226420
• Location: OKINAWA, JP
• Hometown: ATHENS, AL, US
• Hometown: NEWTOWN, PA, US