UAIS Olympics earns gold medal for making a difference

For Almeera Khalid, supporting others’ access to a quality education is personal.

“If you give people opportunity for a good education, they have an opportunity to change their life,” the Utica Academy for International Studies junior said. “You need to have an education to move forward.”

Thanks to her schoolmates and the school’s twice-annual student Olympics, Khalid’s determination is now impacting the education of young women in Cameroon, Africa.

Khalid and the other members of the UAIS Student Advisory Board asked students taking part in the Olympics to bring in school supplies to support A2Empowerment, a non-profit company working through the Peace Corps to promote education for women in Cameroon.

UAIS students collectively filled about 70 backpacks with school supplies and clothes to ship to the organization.

“The project was in the spirit of internationalism and global issues that we discuss here at the Academy,” said Justin Spear, the UAIS program director.

UAIS students supported the organization through its twice-annual Olympics, a pep rally-type activity that divides all students into six different “houses” for fun competition.

“I am so happy with the way this project has turned out,” Khalid said. “It has broadened my horizons and has shown what I do can make a difference.”