Iona Preparatory's Mission Peru Trip Offers Students Unique Service Opportunity

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. (April 25, 2017) – Westchester’s only all-boys K-12 Catholic institution to make the “Best Catholic High Schools in New York State” and “Best Private High Schools in New York State” on Niche.com, Iona Preparatory recently sent a group of students and chaperones on a life-changing service immersion trip to Peru. They visited the country’s most impoverished areas to gain first-hand knowledge of a completely different way of life and survival, as well as a better understanding of how to better advocate for change and tackle global issues such as poverty and injustice at their sources.

“This time spent is invaluable in both character and faith formation for our students,” said Sean D’Alfonso, Assistant Director of Campus Ministry. “This type of trip puts all of the values we teach into action. You can tell the young men are truly impacted from seeing these difficult situations up close, and finding the courage and strength to do something about it.”

Students worked together to lay concrete for the building of a home in the impoverished barrio of Jicamarca in the City of Lima. They also visited Cenaculo, an orphanage in Villa Salvador that is run by a group of Italian nuns and lay volunteers for children up to 3 years old who have been abandoned.

The group went to a medical clinic that serves some of the area’s most impoverished people and dropped off five suitcases worth of medical supplies that were collected from students during Mission Peru week at the school. The young men also visited with children at a daycare center, who were cared for while their parents tried to look for work.

The service immersion concluded with visits to the Sacred Vally, Machu Pichu, Inca ruins and home tours of Saint Rose of Lima and San Martin de Porres to round out their experience.

Reaccredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges & Schools in 2015, Iona Preparatory School K-12 sits on 37 acres of suburban green in New Rochelle, N.Y., where it educates young men to be moral and ethical leaders. Iona Preparatory School is a Catholic community inspired by the charism of Blessed Edmund Rice as expressed in the Essential Elements of a Christian Brothers Education. We develop young men into moral and ethical leaders who are dedicated to Christian service and who strive for spiritual, intellectual and physical excellence. Iona Prep was recently named as Westchester’s only all-boys Catholic school to make the “Best Catholic High Schools in New York State” and “Best Private High Schools in New York State” on niche.com. For more information, please visit IonaPrep.org and to hear our story, visit www.IAmIonaPrep.com.

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Front Row (L-R):Junior Joseph Kramer, Bronx, N.Y., Junior James Mahaney, Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y., Junior Luke Tobia, New Rochelle, N.Y., Junior Peter Harkins, Katonah, N.Y., Senior Iain Pile, Tuckahoe, N.Y., Mr. Sean D’Alfonso, Asst. Director of Campus Ministry

(L-R back row):President Brother Thomas Leto, Mr. Mario Aceto, Italian Teacher, Senior Zach Quarnstrom, Mount Vernon, N.Y., Junior Jack Kristensen, Katonah, N.Y., Junior Noah Darden, New Rochelle, N.Y., Junior Rory Naughton, Bronx, N.Y., Junior Chris Bond, West Harrison, N.Y., Sophomore David McLaughlin, Yonkers, N.Y., Sophomore Ottavio Castaldi, Yonkers, N.Y.