At the Starfire Sports soccer field in Tukwila, 15-year-old Nabil Alsalkini is the only thing standing between a dozen of his summer schoolmates and the back of the goal.

“Give me a challenge!” he yells, as he intercepts yet another shot and throws it back.

Like his two dozen classmates in the International Rescue Committee’s summer school, Nabil has already seen plenty of challenges. He and his family came from war torn Syria via Jordan, arriving in the Pacific Northwest about a year ago.

And like many of his classmates who were fleeing war and oppression in other countries, they landed feet-first in the Tukwila School District.

Though Tukwila boasts one of the most diverse school districts in the nation, refugee families face obstacles that other immigrant families do not.

The summer school that Tukwila and the International Rescue Committee has offered for refugees for nearly a decade aims to help the students acclimate into their new lives.

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(Photo by Venice Buhain.)