COSTA MESA : Students Learn to Let Blows Roll Off

Ted Latin’s usual profession is boxing coach, but he recently found himself in a different arena: a classroom.

In a demonstration for about 75 students at Whittier Elementary School in Costa Mesa, Latin hammered home the importance of shaping up, staying out of gangs and staying in school.

English teacher Mary Becker arranged for Latin to speak to some of her fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade students who are native Spanish speakers.

On a campus where 90% of the student population is Latino and 81% are learning English as a second language, Becker invites people from the community to help bring her lessons to life.

“In my classroom, I have kids from newcomers to almost fluent,” she said. Latin’s visit coincided with a class unit based on sports, in which students read about Latino baseball heroes, such as Roberto Clemente, wrote poems about basketball and studied boxing.

Sports are good topics for a language class, Becker said, because sophisticated verbs are required to explain the action. Guests such as Latin stay in their minds, she said.

“They say, ‘Hey, remember when Mr. Latin came in? Wasn’t that great?’ ”

As for Latin, he found an eager group of boxing fans.

“They wanted to know how long it takes to become a boxer,” he said. “It takes forever. But I told them, you can learn to spar in about three months.”

Latin also urged the children to join SOY (Save Our Youth), the Costa Mesa club aimed at keeping Latino youths out of gangs, where he runs the boxing program.

Latin stressed that the program is not just for boys, although “I don’t let the girls throw punches at each other. I teach them to throw at their gloves,” Latin said.

With the sports unit of Becker’s class almost completed, she plans to move on to other subjects.

“We’re going to go into plants as soon as we get done with sports. That will be a content area, so it will bring science into the classroom,” Becker said.