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Nay Thar Htoo, 5, points to a pencil across the table and looks anxiously at his tutor. Seconds pass, while seven other kindergartners from Myanmar, formerly Burma, draw pictures of mermaids, pools and flowers in their journals.
“I need a pencil,” Htoo says eventually.
For his tutor, Mary Ulsar, the utterance is a victory.
Two weeks ago, when Htoo and 40 other Burmese students began their free summer tutoring, many were still speaking only in Karen, Mon or Burmese.
Ulsar is one of 11 teachers and church volunteers helping Waynedale Elementary School’s Burmese students work on their English this summer. Every Monday through Thursday until July 30, the tutors meet in Brendonwood Park Apartments to offer kindergarteners through fifth graders an hour of instruction in reading, writing and math.
The program, started this year, is the brainchild of Christina Osei, a Waynedale English teacher who wanted her Burmese students to have a chance to practice English during the summer.
“I think it’s been very relaxing for everybody involved,” Osei said. “If they don’t get it, they don’t get. They’re not being tested. It’s just practice all summer long.”
•Manchester College student Daniel Nave of Fort Wayne, a sophomore health and physical education major, received the 2009 Jean Lee/Jeff Marvin Collegiate Scholarship from the Indiana Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.
•Otterbein College student Eric M. Folks of Fort Wayne received The Paul G. Smythe Theatre Award.
•Howe Military School student Jonathan Adams of Grabill received the Best Spirit Medal.
•Howe Military School student Eric Mandel of Fort Wayne received the John Pagin Geography Bee Award and the Howe Military School Spelling Bee Award.
•Six Allen County high school graduates will receive full-tuition, four-year scholarships as the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne 2009 Lilly Endowment Community Scholars.
Chelsea Crawford, South Side High, plans to attend DePauw University; Ivan
Fredrick, Bishop Luers High, plans to attend Indiana University; Alyssa Kennedy, Homestead High, plans to attend Indiana University; Odessey Morris, South Side High, plans to attend Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis; Sara Sims, Wayne High, plans to attend Manchester College; and Laura Spieth, Woodlan Junior-Senior High, plans to attend Butler University.
•New Haven High graduate Cassie Summers accepted the IPFW Chancellor’s Scholarship.
