U.S. soldier shares war stories with ELL students

One day last fall, Felix Herrera was teaching science at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia, when a helicopter rumbled overhead. The Army reservist's war instincts kicked in: His adrenaline surged, and his eyes shot to the window. Nothing out there. Most students had not even noticed the chopper. But one had. Herrera exchanged glances with the 14-year-old from Baghdad. "That's how my country sounds, Mister," Ameer Abdalameer said. "I know," the teacher said. Herrera has served tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq. His English for Speakers of Other Languages class has many teenagers who have arrived in Arlington County from homelands torn by civil strife or war. Read the article.