COOS BAY — Lilly Duarte remembers sixth grade as the year the staring began.

It wasn’t because she was a transfer student. She had gone to Madison Elementary School.

Like a step-child who encounters added scrutiny because she is a new face, Duarte attracted attention because of her appearance — as well as her speech.

“I didn’t really speak English well,” she said.

Now she’s an articulate junior at Marshfield High School, but five years ago, Duarte withstood the whispers and stares in silence. Her experience was not uncommon for Hispanic students, said Gael Berhow, Marshfield’s dean of students.

“You see that when you get exposed to a lot more students at the middle school level,” she said.

Then the trouble started three years ago. The whispers turned into taunts, and the frustration among Hispanic students toward their white antagonists almost boiled over.

“I thought there would be fights on the (school) green,” Berhow said.

To thwart such an incident, the dean encouraged Hispanic students to confide in one another rather than lash out at others. Out of these discussions came the Latino Pirates, a club designed to talk about harassment and encourage good study habits.

There also are events to let the rest of the student body understand Latino students better. For the Cinco De Mayo holiday, the Latino Pirates put together a lunchtime party, including salsa tasting and a car-stereo contest.

There was plenty of smiling and head nodding as the hip-hop beat of Wysin Y Dandel reverberated through the courtyard.

It was a far different atmosphere on a rainy February morning when four members of the Latino Pirates went to Sunset Middle School to talk about their experiences and how to handle harassment.

As they were addressing a large group of students, they joked about how you could cut class, but not to do it too much or you would get caught.

Afterward, however, without a large group of middle school students to impress, they talked about the difficulties of being Hispanic amidst a sea of white students who aren’t always friendly.

Richie Rivas, a junior at Marshfield, went to school in Salem before coming to Coos Bay. Going to school in the state capital was much different than in a rural community.

“In Salem, we are the majority and Caucasians are in the minority,” he said. “There were still times when people would follow me just to scare me.”

When he arrived in Coos Bay, he noticed groups of white students who would purposely seek out students of color and bump into them.

“They would judge you by your dress and color and that’s not happening as much,” said Cesar Uribe, a classmate of Rivas who also is a member of the Latino Pirates.

When speaking to a group of eighth-graders, Cesar told them that he used to skip school in part because of the taunts directed at him. The Latino Pirates helped him realize it didn’t make sense skipping school when it would jeopardize his chances at graduating and going on to college.

“Not graduating, that’s the biggest bummer of them all,” he told them.

Diana thinks the group has helped make it easier to go to school without worrying about a barrage of put-downs and harassment.

“We’ve gotten a lot more respect around school,” she said. “(We) had a reputation for skipping and this club demolished that. Other students are seeing we are responsible.”

Still, there are some students who remain hostile.

“This guy comes up to me and asks if I have a green card,” Duarte recalled. “If you speak Spanish, they think you are talking about them. It’s not your fault you are bilingual.”

“Why can’t I speak our language?” Cesar asked to no one in particular.

The juniors all agreed having the Latino Pirates group has made life easier for them and hope the club remains vibrant once they leave.

Cesar said it is important to have because more and more Latino students are entering the district.

“Every year. Every month,” he said.

(Staff Writer Alexander Rich covers Coos Bay issues for The World. He can be reached by calling 269-1222, ext. 234; or by e-mailing to arich@theworldlink.com.)