She added that these near-peer mentors are valuable because kids get to see what they might be like in a few years.

Dominik Heman, a junior, decided to volunteer in the Garfield program after hearing about it from a College Hill teacher. He was a student at Garfield himself and said it was nice to return.

“Everything is a lot smaller,” Heman said.

He said working with second-graders, which he did during six lessons, was fun but chaotic.

Heman said he learned patience working with the students.

“I was just trying to teach them to work together, because they never do,” he said.

Rene Alvarez, a College Hill senior, also volunteered in the class, as did a third College Hill senior who couldn’t make the final lesson Thursday.

“It was fun,” Alvarez said. “It was like trying to understand a younger versions of myself."

Merrei Panzeri, an 8-year-old who worked with Heman, said she likes Legos and the lessons were fun. Merrei and her partner, Jibril Geter, also 8, built the robot with a spinning hands and motion detectors.

Merrei said she found the high school students helpful in the robotics lessons.

“They’re really fun. First of all, they help you when you get stressed out, and they help you fix things when they break.”

Anthony Rimel covers education and can be reached at anthony.rimel@lee.net, 541-758-9526, or via Twitter @anthonyrimel.

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