Kentwood — Flash back to three years ago: Ahmed Elkwad sat in a classroom for English language learners at East Kentwood High School feeling very alone.
He had fled Sudan, the only home he had ever known, with his parents and two brothers due to ongoing civil war. Surrounded by other U.S. newcomers whose native languages were not his own, he felt like he had no one to talk to.
“My sophomore year, I was very disconnected from my community. I just went to class and went back home,” he said. “That was my life, every day. I sat alone at the lunch table; I didn’t know anybody. (My English) was very broken, so I didn’t have the confidence to go out and talk to people. I was very shut down.”…