A lunch that's breaking down barriers

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - This could be a lunch room in any high school across the country, but these students will leave with much more than full stomachs.

"I think for me it was an eye opener," says Dayton Early College Academy student Shaylynn Hespeth.

The backgrounds of the students are as varied as the toppings they like on the pizza they're eating at lunchtime Wednesday at the Dayton Early College Academy.

Half are immigrants from Belmont's English as a Second Language Class.

The other half are part of Dayton's Early College Academy.

This was like a "teenage" United Nations summit.

"It's just a lot of fun to get students from two schools together with different kinds of experiences and learn about the importance and contribution that immigrants make to our community," says Former Ohio Governor Bob Taft.

Through Taft's immigration seminar, students got to hear the stories of those who they share a lot in common with outside of a birthplace.

Stories like Sajad Abed from Iraq whose family left the Middle East after he was kidnapped twice.

"They was about to kill me but the police were in the area so they couldn't," Sajad says.

Through its Welcome Dayton program, the city has been trying to make it easier on immigrants to fit in here.

Student seminars like this one can help.   

"It's really important to have that experience and learn how beneficial it is to have the immigrants here," says Melissa Bertolo, coordinator for Welcome Dayton.

The students may never agree on pizza toppings, but they were able to come to an understanding.

"It was like I want to get to know you more," Shaylynn says. "We could be friends."

As for the immigrants, the "American Dream" is already becoming their own.

"Here in order to get success you have to work hard and you have to be something in this country," Sajad says. "So I'm doing my best to be something in this country."

To return the favor the Belmont ESL students invited the DECA students to visit their school in the near future.