Page 42 February 2014 Aden Aden enjoys his job with the SUSD, working with kids much like him. Refugee liaison for SUSD has his own story of survival By Katie Mayer Phoenix resident Aden Aden isn’t really sure how old he is – but to the U.S. government, he is 28. After fleeing his home in Somalia and spending 16 years living in refugee camps in Kenya, Aden and his family were admitted into the United States Resettlement Program in 2001, and with the help of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, came to Arizona to rebuild their lives. “Before we left, they did medical testing and checked you and that’s when I got my date of birth,” Aden said. Because he wasn’t born in a hospital and his family’s primary language does not exist in the written form, his actual birth date was never recorded. “Homeland Security looked at me and said, ‘He looks 16 years old, so let’s give him Jan. 1, 1985,’” Aden said. Today, Aden plays a key role in helping other refugees from Africa thrive at school, and even in life. As a refugee liaison for the Scottsdale Unified School District, Aden has spent the last eight years helping with everything from translating six languages to informing teachers and administrators about cultural differences and supporting youth and their parents in the classroom. “He understands these families,” said Sheila Cepress, Aden’s manager and Native American Education Program Coordinator. This school year, SUSD has 13 refugee students, but five have been here fewer than three years, making them eligible for special services, Cepress said. The majority of the refugee students attend Tavan Elementary School, Ingleside Middle School and Coronado High School. According to the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, a refugee is defined as someone who is outside his or her country of origin because of the threat of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, social group or political opinion and is not safe in his or her country. The definition also can include people fleeing war or armed conflict. While Aden’s life today is very much like the typical American’s – taking his kids to the movies, going out to dinner and spending time with his wife – he can still vividly remember the shock he and his family felt when they first arrived to Arizona. “My mom was scared of the kitchen and wouldn’t use it because she did not trust electric fires, and my dad said he would never ride in a car because they are moving too fast,” Aden said. Aden and his family settled into an apartment complex near 40th Street and McDowell Road where they live among many other refugee families. The faces Aden sees in the schools are often also his neighbors. “When they find out I’m right there, they will keep calling me for anything they need,” Aden said. Tavan Elementary Assistant Principal Benjamin Roat said many of the cultural and language resources in the schools are focused toward the Latino community, so Aden fills a special role for a small but critical group of students. “It’s just an amazing and powerful position he has,” Roat said. “We have to build a work ethic where these students can learn and you’re sort of crossing the cultures, and Aden is the person to do that for us.” In some cases, Aden will actually sit in the classroom for an extended period of time with students to ensure they follow the teachers’ instructions and are participating in learning. Just recently, Aden attended parent-teacher conferences Continued on page 44 Send Entries to: Teachers We Love c/o Arcadia News 3850 E. 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