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Student in the Spotlight — Eh Blue Soe

Lenihan student helps migrant students, enjoys games

T-R PHOTO BY ADAM SODDERS - One of Lenihan sixth-grader Eh Blue Soe’s favorite activities is hitting the court to play basketball.

Lenihan Intermediate School sixth-grader Eh Blue Soe is a quiet young man, but his good work at the building has not gone unnoticed.

“We do a migrant tutoring program on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and he gets all of his work done and then is really good about getting up and helping the other kids,” said Lenihan paraeducator Ariell Klinefelter. “He helps them with their Lexia and their ST Math and stuff and he’s just been such a hard worker this school year.”

Lexia Reading Core 5 and ST Math are online learning programs for literacy and math, respectively, and both have been implemented throughout the Marshalltown School District.

Eh Blue helps tutor fellow migrant students at Lenihan. He is Burmese and came to Marshalltown about five years ago, he said.

Marshalltown has seen an influx of migrants and refugees from Southeast Asia in recent years, and children like Eh Blue have had to adapt to a new school system in a new country.

In the classroom, Eh Blue said he likes doing math, particularly multiplication. He also takes full advantage of recess and enjoys playing with fellow students.

“I like to play four-square,” he said. Klinefelter went further and described Eh Blue as a “four-square champion.”

Eh Blue said another of his favorite activities is playing basketball. When he isn’t up and hitting the four-square or basketball courts, he could be found playing the card game Uno, or trading Pokémon characters with a friend.

Next year, Eh Blue will move to Miller Middle School to start seventh grade which is the grade his cousin is in currently.

Beyond middle school and high school, Eh Blue said he is interested in a career as a law enforcement officer. He said he likes the idea “because you get to catch bad guys.”

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Contact Adam Sodders at (641) 753-6611 or asodders@timesrepublican.com

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