Initiating a first for the community, business teacher Gina Mustoe has worked to involve Westford in a newly imagined mission trip to Belize, Guatemala through the organization Squads Abroad. The trip will be co-chaperoned by Mustoe and her longtime friend Kevan Sano, and is scheduled to take place this summer from June 20 to June 27.
The trip aims to host 8 to 17 students, and any Westford Academy student has the opportunity to participate. Though it is not officially associated with WA, this is one of the first times a solely service-based trip has been offered to the community. It will ultimately cost participants $3290 which includes airfare, lodging, and culturally enriching excursions such as cooking classes and activities involving the surrounding community.
“[I’m excited to] just connect with [students from Guatemala] and see how lucky we are,” Mustoe said. “I think it’s good for the kids too. I feel like in our little community, we’re kind of sheltered, and we don’t really truly understand how lucky we are until we’re forced to look at it face to face.”
Sano, who is now a retired Spanish teacher from Ipswich, continues to devote a large part of her life to allowing different students and community groups the opportunity to take part in service trips. Her goal is to provide individuals with the opportunity to make an impact while also exposing them to new cultures, lifestyles, and people. Hence, this summer’s trip will be hosting students from Ipswich High School, Hamilton Wenham High School, and Westford Academy.
“I do this because I know that it’s life changing for a lot of kids, and it makes them really stop and think about how fortunate they are […],” Sano said. “It’s seeing the impact that the students have on the kids that we are helping, and then knowing that it changes them. It changes both groups.”
Squads Abroad is an international non-profit organization that aims to address global economic and social challenges via a holistic approach which they describe as ‘programs with the end goal of sustainably evolving to a relationship of impact monitoring’. The organization is mainly responsible for coordinating day-to-day schedules for service groups. They also ensure student safety by arranging for on-site team medical professionals, cooks, and drivers. The designated service project is to be decided closer to the trip itself.
According to Squads Abroad, participating students will leave the trip with 20-24 service hours in addition to priceless skills and lessons. Groups are generally assigned a service project for the week, but break up the manual labor through sightseeing, games, and other activities local to the lodging. While the trip is an opportunity for Spanish-speaking students to practice their language, there are no language prerequisites for the trip.
“It’s an awesome opportunity for [students] to actually immerse themselves in the language and go to a country where English isn’t spoken by everyone,” Mustoe said. “And maybe be a little bit vulnerable and have to force themselves to use the language, because I think that’s always a struggle […]. It’s a whole other level of understanding and appreciation.”
Interested students should speak to Mustoe before mid-March and reach out to her via email at [email protected]. For more information on past trips hosted by Squads Abroad, individuals can look at trip summary videos or the organization’s presentations.
“I take these trips because I’m trying to be a role model for other teachers. Just sometimes I don’t understand why every school doesn’t have a service program and goes with Squads Abroad […],” Sano said. “So every opportunity that I get to take a teacher from a different area, I take it.”
