San Diego School Undertakes 6-Day Service-Learning

Fourteen students from the Francis Parker School in San Diego, California completed a six-day immersion program under the Institute of Service-Learning (ISL).

The 14 high school students undertook the program from February 15 to 20 as part of their school's Global Studies initiative. 

Divided into groups, they were assigned to five ISL partner agencies in Dumaguete City and the municipality of Dauin. Each had a unique homestay experience that allowed them to participate in the day-to-day activities of their host agencies: La Casa Esperanza, Rainbow Village Ministries, Little Children of the Philippines, Inc., Dumaguete City Habitat for Humanity and the Silliman University Marina Mission Clinic. 

Their activities ranged from teaching at daycare centers, doing community gardening, attending barangay council meetings to cooking Filipino meals for their foster families and the beneficiaries of their host agencies. 

This year's batch was composed of Adam Bloom, Ali Bloom, Claire Bryan, Connor Polk, Dutra Brown, Eric Lee, Gabriel Harrington, Katelyn Kreitzer, Kyra Ghosh, Matthew Gluck, Michael Smargon, Olivia Wei, Patrick Barba and Rukman Thota.

Leading the group was Mr. Tom Crowley, Director of Global Studies at Francis Parker. He was with two faculty members, Ms Carol Obermeier and Ms Michelle Adelman, and the school's former Chief Operating Officer Mr. Grant Lichtman. They were also joined by Mr. Ron Weatherford, the father Bryan, one of the pioneering participants who passed away a few years ago, who visited to finalize plans on the construction of a youth center for the agency that hosted his son.