By Janet C. Wetzel
Enquirer contributor

MOUNT HEALTHY - Christian Malcolm Frederick readily admits that teaching is not his game. Basketball is. But when his school district needed volunteers to help younger students with reading and writing, he agreed to trade some court time for some book time.

It began last year when Malcolm, as he's known to friends, was a freshman at Mount Healthy High School. But it didn't end with the school year as planned. He's still going strong.

Malcolm quickly discovered he enjoyed being on the other side of the desk, and agreed to tutor two students at Rex Ralph Elementary.

"I wanted to try my hand at teaching to see how that was compared to being taught,'' said Malcolm, 15. "It was great."

The teen developed an easy camaraderie with the second- and third-graders, and enjoyed watching them learn and grow more confident. When volunteers were needed for the district's summer mentoring program, he immediately signed up.

Those who know him were not surprised by his willingness. As an eighth-grader, he was one of only 20 students chosen from the seventh and eighth grades to be in the Key Club, a community service group. Their community service ranged from school fund raisers, to planting flowers around the school, making posters for upcoming events, and visiting Alzheimer's patients.

"I just liked doing things I knew would help,'' he said.

Malcolm particularly enjoyed mentoring the elementary students this summer at New Burlington Elementary. He went four days each week, and mentored eight students.

They read, wrote in journals, reviewed vocabulary words, and played. Malcolm was delighted to get the chance to teach some of them a few tricks on the basketball court.

"They really liked me being there,'' Malcolm said. "They always wanted to talk to me about things that happened in their lives. ... I learned that they can relate good to people closer to their age. They just want someone to listen, someone to talk to. They talked to me about their families. One little kid said how his dad had went to jail and he didn't know where he was for a year. He was upset and just needed to talk. Seems like they hold in a lot of things and when I came around they started letting it out. It made me feel good that I could be there for them.''

The Helping One Student to Succeed (HOSTS) mentoring program is in four of the five elementary schools in the district. This is the second full year for the program, said Maureen Bertsch, Title1/HOSTS teacher at Rex Ralph Elementary. She said more volunteers, both students and adults, are greatly needed.

Do you know a Hometown Hero - someone in your community dedicated to making it a better place to live and helping others. E-mail Janet Wetzel at jjwetzel@siscom.net or fax to 513-755-4150.