Photo By Staff Sgt. Jerry Boffen | Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jason Hendricks, Nevada, Iowa, a helicopter pilot with C...... read more read more
CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo – To most teenagers, the months of July and August are associated with their summer break from school. This is their opportunity to go to the pool, pick up a summer job, enjoy the weather or take a vacation with their friends and families. These two months provide a chance to forget about school; a time to just be a teenager and revel in the precious months away from the classroom.
Many teenage students in the vicinity of Ferizaj/Urosevac, Kosovo, have taken advantage of a unique opportunity during those summer months, thanks in large part to a group of U.S. soldiers from Task Force Griffin, the aviation component of Multinational Battle Group East.
Twice a week, between 10 and 15 soldiers from the Arkansas and Iowa National Guard with Task Force Griffin spend several hours teaching English to local students at the Youth Center in Ferizaj/Urosevac. Normally, between 60 and 80 students attend the sessions, all of whom are there voluntarily.
“What’s really cool about this is that all of these kids are here because they want to be,” said Capt. Joshua Owens, Conway, Ark., a helicopter pilot and commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1-114th Security and Support Aviation Battalion, Arkansas National Guard, Task Force Griffin. “Nobody has to be here. They’re all out of school for the summer and could be doing any number of things, but they choose to come here and learn English from us.”
This is the fifth rotation of Kosovo Forces aviation soldiers that has participated in the effort to reach out to the local communities by teaching English at the Youth Center.
“We inherited the program from the KFOR 12 aviation element,” said Owens. “I think a lot of the attendance that we have is due, in part, to the great job that KFOR 12 did in securing and maintaining the trust of the local population and the parents of these kids.”
The sessions are typically broken up into two main groups; one large group of students and a smaller, more advanced group of about 10 students.
The focus of the large group is to familiarize the students with reading and carrying on conversations in English, said Master Sgt. Terry Martin, Cabot, Ark., HHC, 1-114th, the noncommissioned officer in charge of operations for Task Force Griffin.
The majority of the soldiers will work with the larger group to improve the students’ English comprehension through various exercises. These exercises include reading current news articles or popular song lyrics, playing various word games, or simply holding a conversation in English.
“I think it’s important to have the kids do more than just read something in English,” said Martin. “I can pick something up that is written in French or another language and read it, but that doesn’t mean I know what it means. So I try to get the kids engaged to see if they actually comprehend the material.”
Once the students reach a high enough level of English comprehension, they are encouraged to participate in the advanced group, which is designed to prepare the students to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language.
The TOEFL evaluates an individual’s ability to use and understand English in an academic environment, said Capt. Eric M. Nelson, Madrid, Iowa, a helicopter pilot and commander of C Company, 2-147th Aviation Battalion, Iowa National Guard, Task Force Falcon.
The Soldiers prepare the students for the TOEFL through reading, listening and essay-writing exercises. They also engage the students in conversations on topics such as current local and world events, as well as daily conversational topics.
Nelson said that the TOEFL is needed for a variety of the students’ educational endeavors, especially at the university level, so it’s an important test for some of the students.
“With all the different goals you guys have, it’s important to finish school and get a degree,” Nelson said to his group of students. “Even if you end up changing your mind about what you want to do in life, having that degree will open up a lot of opportunities for you.”
Many of the students in Nelson’s group reflected his sentiments on the importance of education.
“I’d like to be a journalist when I finish school,” said Elira, one of the students. “I think that for me to be a really good journalist, it’s important for me to be able to speak more languages than just my own.”
Nazim, another student in Nelson’s group, had a similar perspective.
“I want to be a helicopter mechanic,” he said. “It’s just a dream of mine. I’ll probably have to go outside of Kosovo for that, since there really aren’t any schools for helicopter mechanics available in Kosovo. Being fluent in English will really help me realize my dream.”
The students aren’t the only ones that get something out of these teaching sessions. Many of the Soldiers have also expressed their satisfaction with the program.
“A lot of the kids that I’ve been able to work with are the same age as my daughter,” said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Jim Funk, Ames, Iowa, a helicopter pilot with C Company, 2-147th. “It’s really cool to talk with these kids, because I see a lot of similarities between them and my daughter.”
“This is my favorite part of my job, just seeing the kids develop,” added Owens. “These kids are amazing.”
The Soldiers of Task Force Griffin plan to continue these outings throughout the remainder of their deployment in Kosovo and intend to pass the torch to their KFOR 14 successors.
| Date Taken: | 08.16.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 08.16.2010 11:57 |
| Story ID: | 54663 |
| Location: | CAMP BONDSTEEL, ZZ |
| Web Views: | 218 |
| Downloads: | 7 |
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