Three students from Westridge School for Girls in Pasadena work on a mural in a rural school in El Salvador.
by Erika McCarden
Many high school students spend spring break free of books, with lots of beach time -- but not all students spent the break catching rays. Five students from Westridge School for Girls in Pasadena traveled to El Salvador in March, where they volunteered to work with local children, and took part in an Extreme School Makeover.
“I had the most amazing time,” said Altadena’s Andrea Risolo, a senior at Westridge. “The first thing I noticed when we arrived was how friendly the people were. The poverty was pretty evident. The roads weren’t maintained, it was really humid, and there was a lot of dirt. Plus, there were so many homeless dogs running around. But, it was also beautiful – we visited a national park, and there were a lot of vines and interesting birds.”
The trip stemmed from an experimental learning initiative during Westridge's Upper School Interim Week, in which Risolo and four other students teamed with nonprofit agency, OneKid OneWorld for an eight-day volunteer mission to San Salvador.
“We’ve been working with Westridge for over four years as a part of their service learning class. We usually select to travel with a small group such as five because it’s easier to manage,” said Tracy McCubbin, executive director of OneKid OneWorld.
“This was the first group from the school to go on the El Salvador trip. The girls raised money to help provide supplies and activities for the local kids. And the goal of the trip was for the students to actually see how the projects they helped to fundraise get used.”
PIctured: the Westridge students explore a national park in El Salvador.
Risolo and her classmates spent their first days in San Salvador leading arts and crafts at a local after-school program for kids ages 5-12. They also participated in daily activities for the children outside of rotation – a fixed shift that rotates the children in an out of the classrooms.
“The after-school program helps to keep the kids busy and off the street. The big difference with our education in the U.S. is that the kids in El Salvador only go to school four hours a day,” Risolo said. “One group might go at 8 AM, and another group at 1 PM. So, they don’t have a lot of time for their studies. They really only have time for two subjects a day, and maybe math once week.
“We played a lot of soccer with the kids,which they really loved, painted flower pots for their parents, and helped them with their English.”
At the end of the week the volunteers dedicated a full day for an “Extreme School Makeover” of a rural primary school.
“They repainted the school from top to bottom, and painted beautiful murals. The students and parents were so touched by their work and dedication. They were incredibly receptive,” said McCubbin. “One of the trip highlights was that a dance teacher was brought in on the final day, and the local students took a Latin-Reggae dance class with the U.S. kids, which they all really enjoyed.”
Pictured: the Westridge students with falconer Roy Beers in El Salvador. Westridge School has a policy against identifying students in published photos, so there is no identification.
