USS Cushing forms
partnership
with Yokosuka's Kinnick H.S.By Steve Liewer
Yokosuka bureau chief
YOKOSUKA
NAVAL BASE, Japan — The destroyer USS Cushing and Yokosuka’s Kinnick High School
have formed a partnership that soon will see Cushing sailors sprucing up the school and
mentoring students.
Cmdr. Dan
Weed — who took over the helm of the Cushing five weeks ago — and Kinnick
Principal Tari Wright announced the alliance at a ceremony Wednesday.
"I
made it a command commitment toward developing a volunteer ethic," Weed said.
Such
sponsorships have been fairly common at the elementary school level, where sailors
periodically read to students or play Santa Claus. But Weed said he thinks his corps of
young sailors, most of them in their early or mid-20s, are the right age to serve as role
models for high schoolers.
"The
sailors I have are not much different in age (than the Kinnick students)," he said.
"A young teen-ager can say, ‘This is where I want to be in six years.’
"
Wright said
she would like to keep the Cushing crew busy.
The first
joint activity was Friday, when Cushing sailors helped run a Kinnick track meet. Within
two weeks, the Cushing crew will be sanding and painting a breezeway and repairing an
indoor stairwell.
Later there
will be other projects to spruce up the grounds. In the months ahead, sailors will begin
working with students as mentors and tutors.
"Any
way they can help us, we will appreciate it," Wright said.
Back to March's stories
Page Two news roundup
Stories from February, 2001
Stories from January, 2001
Stories from December, 2000
Stories from November, 2000
Stories from October, 2000
Stories from August and September, 2000
Stories from June and July, 2000
Home |
