Engineers mentor Chester Valley elementary students

  • Published
  • By Sgt. Isaac Reighard
  • 56th Engineer Co
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  Troops motivate local youth with math, sports

The 2010-2011 school year at Chester Valley Elementary School started with a new twist: Soldiers volunteering as mentors for students.

After a pilot program during the 2009-2010 school year, the partnership program was fully implemented in June 2010 and is scheduled to last until the end of this school year.

Soldiers from the 6th Engineer Battalion (Airborne) have volunteered more than 230 hours mentoring more than 20 students from Chester Valley Elementary School.

These volunteer hours involved coaching and assisting students with reading, math, science experiments and various extracurricular activities.

The Soldier-mentors are part of the 6th Engineer Battalion's community engagement program. The program is designed to promote a sense of service and volunteerism within the battalion, as well as to strengthen relationships with the Anchorage community.

"Integrating ourselves with the Anchorage community is essential in fostering mutual understanding and support between our Soldiers and the people we are sworn to defend," said Lt. Col. Marc Hoffmeister, 6th Engineer Battalion commander.
 
"The school partnership program is also an opportunity to give back to a community that has provided us such wonderful support over the years,"

Mary Rawlins, a fifth-grade teacher at Chester Valley Elementary School, said her class appreciates the program.

"My class loves their mentors," Rawlins said. "The students form an attachment to the Soldiers that come in and see the Soldiers in a very unique role ... like an older brother or uncle and as a teacher too."

Rawlins was in charge of the running club that was formed at the beginning of the school year and lasted through September 2010.

The Soldier-mentors provided coaching that helped improve students' running techniques and performance.

They were also instrumental in helping to organize and manage the running club, according to Rawlins.

"When the mentors had better ideas for running activities or how to set things up, I applied them," Rawlins said. "This was my first time doing the running club, so I was making it up as I went along."

The culminating event of the running season was a competition with other nearby schools. The main event was a one-mile race in which students ran in designated age groups.

Soldiers from the 6th Engineer Battalion arrived with healthy snacks and Gatorade to support the Chester Valley Elementary students as they finished the race.

In addition to the running club, Soldiers participated in the school's homework club every Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

The club includes students from second to fifth grades who are in need of assistance on assigned homework.

One of the main coaching focuses for the Soldier-mentors is to encourage students to solve math problems without the aid of calculators.

They also use learning games and other interactive techniques to motivate the students.
One extracurricular activity that has recently generated momentum is a drama club, which began in February.

The Soldier-mentors managed to generate enough interest in the club that its members are now preparing for a live performance scheduled for April 28.

The play "A Thousand Cranes," is set in post-World War II Japan. Soldiers from the 6th Engineer Battalion will help coach the student actors and some may serve as narrators alongside students.

Spc. Michael Miller, a volunteer Soldier from the 56th Engineer Company, said he is thrilled to have this opportunity to be a role model at the school.

"The kids always have questions about our jobs in the Army, which I find as an opportunity to tell them how school helped prepare me for what I do now," Miller said.

"They usually appreciate the perspective. The funniest thing is sometimes I learn things from them, since they have a totally different way of seeing things."