Along the coast of Santo Domingo, seven students will spend their February Break making the switch from learning to teaching.

Throughout the school year, teachers from the Alternative Choices in Education program (ACE), have come together to offer their students a trip to the Dominican Republic. On the trip, the students will teach English and math at an underprivileged school located on the outskirts of Santo Domingo. The trip was available to all ACE students, and after the application process, seven were selected.

According to Julie James, one of the ACE teachers and chaperones, the Café con Leche school was founded to create more educational opportunities for children in the area. Due to the lack of government funding in the area, the residents of the neighborhood took matters into their own hands and created a K-8 school run by parents and volunteers. ACE chose to visit this school specifically because James visited the school last year.

During the trip the students will teach three groups of sixth graders and three groups of fifth graders, seeing each periodically throughout the week. The school gave the ACE students and teachers several options regarding what kind of math they wanted to teach. Juan Paniagua, one of the math teachers, said that their final decision on what to teach was measurements, specifically to focus on smaller details

“We chose measurements because it requires simple objects and it’s very open-ended,” Paniagua said. “Because if somebody measures the height of the door and somebody says this is 24 and somebody else says, no, this is 36, who’s right? Who’s wrong? Probably both of them are right. The thing is that they’re using different units.”

According to SOS Children’s Villages, 63 percent of children experience poverty in the more rural areas of Santo Domingo, including the area that the school is in. According to Paniagua, the school lacks basic materials and supplies.“We want to bring some supplies like protractors, rulers, compasses,” Paniagua said. “I personally am going to ask my classes. I’m gonna share with them that I’m doing this trip and that I’m planning to buy some supplies and I will ask them to see if they can help with that.”

According to Derek Matos, a junior attending, the students have been working to come up with solutions for challenges they may encounter on their trip, specifically the language barrier. Matos said that the group of students attending has met weekly during X-block to practice necessary skills, such as speaking Spanish and how to teach the curriculum they are being given.

“One of the people here [already] knows Italian, and he’s been doing really well learning [Spanish] every X-block. We learn here what we’re gonna teach,” Matos said.

According to James, the cost of the trip presented challenges, tallying up to$2,700 per student. Despite this obstacle, the students and teachers have worked to alleviate the cost and make it easier for every student, raising money in various ways.

“We did a GoFundMe that raised six thousand dollars,” James said. “The students themselves have done some fundraisers. They made Flan and sold it right before the winter break. They did a pastelito sale after school. They’re doing a dinner on Tuesday, Jan. 28.”

Sophomore Chora Bayer, one of the participants, said that the main reason she wants to participate is because it aligns with her passions and values.

“I wanted to go because we get to work with kids and I really have always enjoyed working with kids. It might be something I want to do in my future,” Bayer said. “I also have always wanted to go to the DR, and knowing that I can go there and help teach kids math and English is really fun.”

Matos was interested in working with the kids, but also in the unique experience that the trip would offer. He emphasized the importance of reaching out and learning about different cultures and groups of people.

“I want to know the kids’ background, the teacher’s background, the parents’ background,” Matos said. “I want to learn everybody’s story.”