The new girl in class sat in the row of desks by the
window. She seemed shy and didn’t look at the other
students. She didn’t even look at the teacher until
Mr. Walters spoke to her.
“Welcome to our class, Maria. Would you like to tell us
a little about yourself?” said Mr. Walters.
“There’s really not much to say,” answered Maria. “My
family just moved here, and this is the school where I’m
Mr. Walters smiled a little and went on with the lesson.
The class was studying geography, and they were talking
“Does anyone know the names of some mountain
ranges that are not in the United States?” asked
No one answered right away, but Maria raised her
hand just a little. When Mr. Walters nodded at her, she
answered, “How about the Alps?”
“That’s a great answer,” said Mr. Walters. “What do
you know about the Alps?”
“We used to live near the Alps in Germany,” said Maria.
“On weekends, we would go hiking or skiing in the Alps.”
Bart was sitting near Maria. He turned and asked, “How
did you end up living in Germany?”
“My parents are in the military, and we were stationed
there,” answered Maria. She seemed more comfortable
now and not so shy. “It was pretty much fun, but I missed
my friends and family. We had friends who were German or
Austrian, but my German is not very good. Some of them
spoke English or Spanish, and that made things easier.”
“I’ll bet you played soccer there,” said Vicky. “Maybe
you can come to the soccer field after school and show