An accent rarely creeps into Ignacio Carvajal’s speech. When he walks, it’s with the swagger of any ninth-grader. And his longish, wavy hair doesn’t differ from most of the other boys in his class.

But when Ignacio moved to the United States last year from San Jose, Costa Rica, the customs of American teenagers he’s mastered by now were an enigma to him. He credits his success, and his sanity while learning English, to his English as a second language teacher, Kim Kreicker.

Ignacio was one of nine ninth-graders at Southwest Junior High School who read essays Friday night about a mentor who had helped them. All 220 members of the school’s ninth-grade class wrote two-page essays for “Kindness Unites Us,” Friday’s third annual event, which drew about 800 students, parents and honored guests from communities across Kansas and about 15 states.

“Tonight is about gratitude for things great and small,” said Kristi Willhite, an English teacher at the school, 2511 Inverness Drive.

Standing at the podium, Ignacio was jittery. Speaking in front of a crowd is no problem, he said. It’s speaking in front of Kreicker that makes him nervous. He wanted to make her proud. Kreicker was the trusted friend from whom he sought advice about English colloquialisms, girls — life.

Throughout the year, with Kreicker’s steady help, Ignacio gained confidence about speaking English. Kreicker inspired him so much she became his poetic muse.

“She said the man you will be never gives up — not now, not ever,” he read, choking back tears. “And I want her to know that she was right.”

Emily Moseley, a Southwest Junior High School student, hugs Karen Fender, her dance teacher, after presenting Fender with her Kindness

Sitting in the front row of the audience, Kreicker almost cried, too. Although she’s been at Emporia State University this year teaching students how to educate international students, she received mentor honors from Ignacio and another Southwest student, Baoqing Zhou.

“It’s seeing them grow up into their own lives and making their own choices that’s the most rewarding,” she said.

The gymnasium was awash with hugs, smiles and gratitude as the students chatted with their mentors. Assignment rules said they couldn’t choose family members. From college students to senior citizens, the mentors came because of the connections they’d formed with the students, said Mickey Woolard, who helped organize the event.

“It’s the honor that somebody has written a letter about them,” he said.