SHS Students to Travel To Cambodia this Summer for Cultural Exchange and Community Service

This summer 22 students from Scarsdale High School will participate in an experiential and service learning program, "Partnership for Youth (P4Y)," in Cambodia. Sponsored and organized by the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii the three-week experience includes a week's home stay in a rural community in Takeo Province. In addition to teaching English at the elementary school in the community, Scarsdale students and their Cambodian sisters and brothers, will help install a new water tank to provide fresh drinking water for the school. The water tank will cost $6000. To help defray this cost the P4Y participants and the SHS Schools-Helping-Schools Club, will sponsor a Walk-a-Thon on the SHS track, May 4 at 2:00pm. They welcome your support and donations for this worthy cause. All donations to the Club will be used to support this project.

Scarsdale's Sydney Cantor, now a junior at the high school will be walking on Saturday and making the trip to Cambodia. She says, "I am really looking forward to traveling the beautiful country of Cambodia, but most importantly, I am excited to be able to take part in several community service projects in rural Cambodian communities. This new water tank will be able to supply many students with a source of clean, safe drinking water.

Faculty Advisor Gwen Johnson says, "I'm very excited to part of this unique three week cross-cultural immersion offered by the East-West Center for twenty-two SHS students and their teenage counterparts in Cambodia. This summer's special program is designed for our students to share, support and learn from their Cambodian counterparts through cultural sharing and service learning projects. In the spirit of "Schools Helping Schools," the students will be working with their home stay brothers and sisters to install a new water tank (the focus of our fundraising) at the local elementary school to ensure that fresh water is available for all students. This is just one activity among many where the students will work as a cross-cultural team throughout the three weeks."

Readers can contribute to the project by clicking here or sponsor a walker on May 4.