The University of Miami School of Law and HOPE Public Interest Resource Center hosted children from Mexico, Panama and the Dominican Republic on Tuesday, March 17th, 2009. The kids, who are all baseball players in their home countries, were selected to participate in a US State Department trip which included visits to the Miami Girls and Boys Club, the American Classic and several south Florida sights. At the School of Law, Professor Jennifer Zawid and Dean Marni Lennon welcomed the students for a morning discussion of problem-solving skills. Law students, Paula Arias (LLM), Sarah Trent (3L) and Veena Nagurshani (3L) facilitated groups with the assistance of Diana Sidlowski and Amanda Gomez, both of the HOPE Public Interest Resource Center staff.

"We were pleased at the openness of the students. In our discussion, we raised sensitive topics dealing with bullying and violence and they were eager to share their feelings about coping in their communities," Dean Lennon said.

After the session, the students, accompanied by State Department staff , translators and their own coaches, heard from Juan Gomez about international admissions and scholarship programs and had a tour of the campus before heading off to play baseball.

The representatives from the State Department indicated that they were pleasantly surprised at how quickly the children engaged with the small group discussions led by law students and indicated that they will contact UM LAW for future visits.