Summer gain to bring Spain spring for Lincoln students

By Dan MacArthur
North Forty News

A motivated group of Lincoln Junior High School students will skip some of the sweet joys of summer to toil toward a lofty goal certain to change their lives.

They are undertaking endless enterprises to raise the $2,000 each of them needs to earn an educational expedition to Spain next spring.

Students are creating and marketing their crafts, washing cars, babysitting humans and animals alike, and selling T-shirts.

Assistant Principal Kathy Mackay said as a result of one girl's diligence, almost her entire North College Avenue mobile home park has been fitted with the garments declaring the International Baccalaureate World School's mission: "We question, learn, think, care and act."

Parents are pitching in, too. One mother contributes the proceeds from selling the tamales she makes for friends and neighbors. Another is donating her time, materials and expertise to help students string beaded objects of art for sale.

"This isn't an easy goal. You're going to have to do a lot of work," said Mackay. "It's a huge reach. It's a huge goal."

But it's a goal she's convinced the students can and will reach.

Lincoln has hosted international trips every year, Mackay said. But those expeditions weren't available to the majority of students whose lower-income parents lacked the cash for such an extravagance.

"So I wanted to open this up to the whole school," she explained.

Toward that end, Mackay first chose a more affordable tour that she thought also would be appealing to the great many current and incoming Lincoln students who speak Spanish as their primary or secondary language.

"We wanted to show the value of their language, being bilingual," Mackay said, noting that more than half of those enrolled at Lincoln are Latino.

She also saw it as an opportunity for students to leap beyond their limited boundaries.

"We want to broaden their lives, too," said Mackay. "A lot of these kids haven't even left Fort Collins, much less fly on a plane."

"I think it would be good for me to see another country and see about their culture," agreed Robinson Arrieta, taking a moment from stringing beaded bracelets that will fund his trip and supplement his family's income.

Next Mackay set out to ensure anybody wanting to go could afford to do so. She said the students themselves are largely directing the fund-raising that will continue through the summer and fall.

One "smart cookie," for example, plans to sell the cookies she bakes. Kyle Fritz, who chose Lincoln precisely because of its diversity, is rounding up donated gift cards to auction.

Mackay also is putting out a call for donations of cash, merchandise or sponsorships to offset student expenses. In exchange, she said, students will demonstrate what they have learned through "service learning" projects at school.

"For example, students may opt to photograph art in the foreign country, then recreate that art for display and explanation to other students at our school," she explained in a letter to potential donors. "Students may also choose to create photo collages of the architecture of the city and compare it to the architecture in our own town to again show our shared humanity."

The final installment payment for the expedition is due Dec. 5. The students and their escorts depart March 14. During the nine-day tour they will visit the Prado, Alhambra, Royal Palace and Seville and Toledo cathedrals, in addition to other important cultural and historic sites.

To contribute to the students or for more information, contact Mackay at 488-5703 or kmackay@psdschools.org.