Spring break is generally a time for students to unwind, maybe go on a vacation and celebrate not having to be in class for awhile.
For nearly 30 Quaker Valley high schoolers, it was an opportunity to help out a national charity in New Orleans and share adventures in The Big Easy.
“I wanted to go to New Orleans as a way to commemorate my senior year,” said Graham Thompson. “Two of my favorite teachers were the chaperones, a couple of my friends were going, and I knew that we would be doing impactful and exciting activities.”
Math teacher and trip coordinator Jeffrey Sebastian and art teacher Nina Strelec took students from various classes and grades on a service-learning excursion March 31 through April 4.
They worked on a house for Habitat for Humanity, went through an escape room in the French Quarter and adventured on a zipline swamp tour and motorized Segway tour among other activities.
Sebastian said the group not only had a lot of fun times, but learned about teamwork and rebuilding a community.
“Ever since Hurricane Katrina, Habitat has been a constant presence down in the lower 9th Ward, attempting to rebuild homes in the area that was completely flooded,” Sebastian said. “Our partnership with Habitat entailed painting a home that needed to be finished for a family waiting to move in. Our students painted the entire interior of the house with two coats of paint, and we stained the exterior deck of the house.
We spend a full eight-hour day volunteering our time and sweat. It was a blast and I couldn’t be prouder of our group. They worked hard, and they worked with great pride.”
Juniors Bella Soderstrom and Julia Garvic painted a closet and learned about how Habitat helps families with housing. They also enjoyed the city’s architecture.
“It is so different from Pittsburgh in every way possible,” Bella said. “It was a lot of fun to see all the different parts of the city, and it’s such a big and diverse city. The architecture was my main thing. I’m big into art and architecture and that type of thing.”
Unexpected connection
Julia made a surprising discovery during a visit to the National World War II Museum.
She found what was described as a “sister tank” to the ones her great grandfather, Army Sgt. Robert E. Kaiser of the 66th Armored Regiment, 2nd Armored Division, served with during the mid-1940s.
Kaiser was a reconnaissance agent who landed in Europe just after D-Day in June 1944 and served with his unit through the war’s end in May 1945.
He was awarded the Silver Star for Gallantry in Action on Jan. 12,1945 during the Battle of the Bulge near Houffalize, Belgium.
“I talk about him every day with my family,” Julia said. “I’ve never had a chance to meet my great grandfather. It as cool to kind of thing the hypotheticals of he may have touched this tank or he was in it at some point. It’s cool to know that I found a connection to my great grand father.”
Julia said Kaiser died about 10 years ago when she was 7 years old.
Teachers are human
The whole ordeal involved multiple hours of flight travel, as well as early mornings and late evenings.
The trip provided a lot of different experiences that can impact peer-to-peer and student/teacher relationships.
“It was a lot of new experiences for all of us,” Bella said. “It had that team-building affect on us, and I think we all kind of got to know each other a lot better.”
Julia said it was nice to see the teachers talking about their home lives, playing card and video games instead of grading papers and tests.
“It was nice to see them as humans,” she said. “Our math teacher brought up his house, and we were like, ‘Whoa. Our math teacher has a house.’
“It was nice to see them in that light where they’re having fun and they’re also still learning as (opposed to) teachers who know everything. We’re all people. We all get frustrated sometimes and we also have fun learning.”
The students also encouraged others to go on school trips when possible, even if they are nervous, and to make new friends along the way.
Sebastian said he and Strelec were happy to provide an opportunity to have a “classroom without borders” and a chance for the young learners to step out of their comfort zones.
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“I specifically selected New Orleans because of its multi-cultural influences, the presence of Habitat for Humanity, its favorable climate, and the opportunity for adventure,” he said. “This trip for both the students and for me and my teacher colleague was not part of any club here at the school.”
Michael DiVittorio is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Michael at 412-871-2367, mdivittorio@triblive.com or via Twitter .
