Rider Students Help Renovate School in Costa Rica

Editor's Note: The following is a news release that was issued by Rider University.

Instead of returning home after the spring semester like most of their peers, 10 Rider students participated in a unique service trip to Calle Vargas, a small farming town located on the side of a volcano in Costa Rica.
 
There, from May 16 to May 22, the students help renovate and repair the local school in order to provide a safer space for the children of the town. They painted the outside of the school buildings, built a playground and planted a vegetable garden. The students also worked in the classroom with primary school students with a focus on basic English and computer skills.

The trip, which has been held for the past couple of years, was coordinated with Peace Works, a non-profit organization. Dr. E. Todd Weber, the trip’s faculty adviser and associate professor of Biology and Behavioral Neuroscience, said the students are responsible for paying for travel, room and board.
 
“It’s great to see students from Rider experience other cultures,” said Weber, adding that it was rewarding to see the community’s reactions to their hard work. “On the last day of the trip, I had downloaded the photos that I took and show them in a slideshow on a projector. The school children were oo-ing and ah-ing and clapping. They were excited to see themselves in the photos.”
 
In addition to the service project, the students had a chance to visit a dairy farm and national park, and go whitewater rafting.
 
Participating students included Holly Barr, a junior Elementary Education and Spanish dual major; Jessica Cheverez, a senior Liberal Studies major; Allyson Cook, a senior Secondary Education and English dual major; Angelica Decicco, a junior Secondary Education and Psychology dual major; Stefanie Holman, a junior Elementary Education and Psychology dual major; Michael Lubeck, a sophomore Economics major; Samantha McKay, a junior Accounting major; Michelle Register, a junior Accounting and Finance dual major; Kelsey Rider, a sophomore Elementary Education and Psychology dual major; and Gabriella Roman, a junior Entrepreneurial Studies major.

Please visit http://www.rider.edu/news/2011/07/07/students-take-service-trip-costa-rica, to view a sampling of snapshots taken by Dr. Weber.