Whitnall Senior Helping Fellow Student Through Tough Transitions

Ruben Garcia could have made a case that he was just too busy to help Ronald Quinones-Almeyda, a transfer student from Puerto Rico who came to Whitnall High School in early January.

After all, Garcia is a senior who wants to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering at Marquette University, the University of Wisconsin or the University of Minnesota. He’s taking tough classes and regularly makes the honor roll. He’s a member of the National Honor Society and the Model United Nations, and he’s a wrestler and soccer player.

So when a fellow student came up to him about seven weeks ago and told him of Quinones-Almeyda, a freshman whose English was limited to the word “OK,” Garcia could have shrugged it off and wished the kid luck.

But Garcia, who is Puerto Rican himself and is fluent in both English and Spanish, said his family taught him a valuable lesson.

“My dad and my family always joke around and say every Puerto Rican is like family,” Garcia said. “Especially since he’s from the same part of the island, I felt like I should help him.”

During their first conversation, Garcia found out his family and Quinones-Almeyda come from the same city. The two bonded quickly, sharing stories about the Puerto Rican beaches Quinones-Almeyda knew well and that Garcia has visited.

Those first few days, Garcia walked Quinones-Almeyda to his classes, introduced him to fellow students, tutored him and even helped him open his locker, something Quinones-Almeyda didn’t have at his school in Puerto Rico.

Now Garcia rushes through his lunch, or skips it altogether, in order to spend time mentoring Quinones-Almeyda during the freshman’s health class, translating instructions and assignments.

“The coolest part about it is Ruben spearheaded it, but he brought all his AP Spanish friends in on helping Ronald,” Whitnall Principal Anthony Brazouski said. “There are AP Spanish students who are tutoring Ronald or helping him out or showing him around the building. It’s more than just Ruben. He kind of lit the fire, including for me.”

Because of Garcia’s lead, Brazouski intensified his efforts to help Quinones-Almeyda’s transition at Whitnall by assigning him a school-issued iPad equipped with a Spanish-English translation application that allows Quinones-Almeyda to interact with teachers and other students.

“If it wasn’t for Ruben, not that we wouldn’t have been aware of it, but we would have had a formal system in place like we do for other English learners,” Brazouski said. “There wouldn’t be that informal kind of mentoring.”

Garcia’s above-and-beyond efforts led Brazouski to nominate the senior for the Greenfield Chamber of Commerce’s Whitnall student of the year award, which Garcia won and will receive at the chamber’s awards banquet Feb. 23, at a dinner at Meyer’s Restaurant.

“Imagine being thrown into not only a new high school but a completely different country, different culture and not being able to speak the native language,” Brazouski said. “It’s a testament to the kinds of kids we have here. We have kids that really care when someone new comes in and is struggling or is not familiar, and they jump in and make it work.”

Garcia said he’s seen improvements in Quinones-Almeyda’s ability to understand English on his own and believes he’s becoming more and more acclimated to Whitnall each day. What’s more is he hopes by lending a helping hand he has found a lifelong friend.

“If you’re nice, people will be nice to you, so just do the right thing and it will come back to you,” Garcia said.