Farmington Hills

Students plan Dominican Republic trip

By David Wallace
C & G Staff Writer

FARMINGTON HILLS — About 35 students in the International Baccalaureate program at Harrison High School are preparing to spend their February break helping in the Dominican Republic.

The idea for the Feb. 18-25 trip started when Maria Blanco, a teacher on sabbatical from Gill Elementary School, contacted Harrison IB Spanish teacher Liz Miller about the Dominican Republic Education and Mentoring Project. Blanco, who is involved in the program, wanted to make a connection between DREAM and Farmington Public Schools.

“I was actually already trying to put together a service learning trip to Guatemala, and it wasn’t really working out too well, and right at that time she contacted me,” said Miller.

“DREAM focuses on education, so they have lots of schools that they run down there, and after-school programs and things like that, so it just kind of went from there,” said Miller.

Not long after email notices went out, Miller had about 40 people, mostly students and some parents, interested in the trip. They have done several fundraisers since to help pay the $1,500 per-person cost, half of which is for the airline tickets.

The DREAM program arranges hotel accommodations, and the IB students will stay within walking distance of their work with elementary school-age Dominican Republic students. The Harrison High School IB students — this is the first year of the globally centered IB program, so all of the IB students are freshmen — will work on individual and group projects.

“We have some students that know karate, so they’re going to teach the kids some karate. Other kids are really good at soccer. Other kids want to teach English, and (there are) other kids that want to do things like painting in the school,” said Miller.

“I’m painting a mural on one of the walls. There’s a wall in front of the school there, so we’re all painting a mural, and I’m going to get kids together to do handprints and stuff like that on that wall,” said student Shamitha Pula.

“I’ll be teaching kids English. It’ll be kind of fun with hand motions and stuff. Aside from that, they’ll be teaching me a little Spanish and reading to me and stuff,” said Elspeth Muzzin.

“I’m going to be teaching basic martial arts, except no contact. So let’s see how that’s going to go, but basic self-defense, like, how to avoid strangers that might attack you,” said Abhi Kumar. “You know, the usual.”

Not all of the IB students study Spanish, but Miller said the trip could transform some of her students’ studies.

“I’m really hoping that they are really motivated to keep learning the language and keep working hard to study and learn the language, because I think when you first have that experience and you realize that you can use it in real life, it’s just so encouraging,” said Miller. “And I think that if people have that experience, they usually go on to actually develop a high proficiency in the language. If they don’t ever have that real experience, then oftentimes it just becomes like any other class. It’s not really real.”

Jordan Scrimger, Kate Kreiss and Jacob Grahlman are among Miller’s IB Spanish students signed up for the trip.

“It’s, like, practical use. Like, you’re not just text booking or saying it, you’re actually talking to people who have it as their first language,” said Scrimger.

“And for me, part of the reason I wanted to teach English was because they can learn English as a second language, and I’ll kind of be learning more of my Spanish through teaching them English,” said Kreiss.

“It’s not like it’s a controlled environment where you have certain things to say. You’re off and you actually get to practice everything you’ve learned, and you get to put it into real situations. That helps you be a better Spanish speaker,” said Grahlman.

“It’s like your test run,” said Scrimger. “You can actually see how much you know.”

They are aware that each Spanish-speaking country has its dialects, and Miller has a training session scheduled Feb. 4 on Dominican Republic Spanish and the nation’s culture.

Students have bigger goals than Spanish proficiency.

“As much as we’ll be helping them, I really hope that I’ll come back with a new perspective and the feeling of fulfillment,” said Muzzin.

“You’re learning something from other people and learning about a different culture and a different language and a different way of life. It’s kind of cool,” said Kumar.

Those on the trip are going to pack their clothes and personal items in their carry-on luggage. Each person plans to take a piece of checked luggage full of donations for the Dominican Republic students. IB students are collecting new school supplies, sports equipment and pumps to inflate balls. Anyone who would like to donate items may bring them to Harrison High School, 29995 W. 12 Mile Road.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer David Wallace at dwallace@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1053.