ST. LOUIS, MO – More than forty Sumner High School students embarked on an alternative service learning trip over Spring Break to tour colleges and offer assistance to hurricane ravaged ReNEW Schools in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Part of an elective course known as Service Learning, the concept for the trip, as well as the course, came from the movie “Pay It Forward,” in which one person does a favor for three people, asking each of them to “pay the favor forward” by doing favors for three other people, and so on, along a branching tree of good deeds.
At ReNEW Schools, Sumner students painted the front of the building, cleaned out and rearranged a large storage room, landscaped around the building, read to students, painted an entire outdoor area, sanded and painted doors, and fixed up an entire bathroom with a fresh coat of paint.
“My goal was to bring a change, and this course allowed students to see that no matter what you have, you always have something to give back,” said Kevin Martin, teacher and trip organizer.
The alternative service learning trip also gave Sumner students, many of which have never left St. Louis, the opportunity to tour the University of Memphis and the University of Mississippi and visit the National Civil Rights Museum.
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