Twelve Providence College students recently participated in an alternative spring break traveling to an Apache Reservation in San Carlos, Arizona. The trip was organized by students from the Class of 2008 with the help of Colleen Rost-Banik, Service Learning Coordinator at the College's Feinstein Institute for Public Service.

PC students stayed with host families in groups of two or three on the 1.8 million acre reservation, primarily in the towns of San Carlos and Peridot, AZ. The host families were incredibly hospitable and excited to teach the students about their culture, said Rost-Banik.

While on the Apache reservation, PC students embarked on various service projects--helping to paint a mural at the boys and girls club; assisting and observing at the primary school and San Carlos high school; as well as at the Apache Day Care Center. The PC students also worked at the senior center, preparing meals and delivering them to seniors in nearby towns on the reservation.

According to Rost-Banik, several PC education majors presented findings about their observations at the high school to very receptive San Carlos High School faculty members.  The education majors were also able to give some perspectives on teaching methods they have been learning at PC and on classroom dynamics in New England, said Rost-Banik.

All participants in the alternative spring break are members of the Class of 2008:
 
Briana Clements of Northfield, VT, majoring in Public Service Learning;
Katherine Donahue of West Roxbury, MA, majoring in Elementary/Special Education;
Patrick Duggan of South Windsor, CT, majoring in EPS-Pre-Engineering;
Kathryn Dykas of Wethersfield, CT, majoring in Elementary/Special Education;
Dean Guasconi of Bridgewater, MA, majoring in Management;
Katherine Hypolite of Bloomfield, CT, majoring in History;
John Mateus of South Dartmouth, MA, majoring in Psychology;
Kate O'Brien of Winooski, VT, majoring in English/Secondary Education;
Elizabeth Rouleau of West Greenwich, RI, majoring in English/Secondary Education;
Claire Seguin of Columbus, OH, majoring in Biology;
Lisa Whitlock of North Wales, PA, majoring in Elementary/Special Education;
Yara Youssef of Somerset, MA, majoring in Health Policy Management