Students take a two-week summer service learning trip.
Wardlaw-Hartridge students, front row, Kallie Schildge, Learta Bajqinovci, Sanjna Patel and Amanda Jenkins; back row, AJ Massaro and Jack Sartor, take a break from their work in Las Vinas, Guatemala.EDISON -- This summer six students from the Wardlaw-Hartridge School exchanged some of their vacation time for the chance to experience a new culture and help others during a two-week service learning trip.
Led by W-H teachers and chaperones Andrea Barnett and Elizabeth Martin, last month students AJ Massaro of South Plainfield, Kallie Schildge of Westfield, Amanda Jenkins of Iselin, Jack Sartor of Green Brook, Sanjna Patel of Edison and Learta Bajqinovci of Roselle Park traveled to Guatemala and Belize. They lived with host families in Guatemala, where they helped break up and remove an aging, broken down basketball court and made four motivational signs to hang in the local school. In Belize they explored Actun Tinichil Muknal Cave.
"All the amazing places we visited and the sights we saw were nothing compared the experience we had in the homestay. Staying with people you can barely communicate with was hard at first, but it got easier," Sanjna said.
"We were all interested to go because we wanted to travel and see more parts of the world and we wanted to do some good. We had our fears and we had to step out of our comfort zones," said Barnett.
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