Earlier this month, Saklan’s 8th graders completed a meaningful service learning field experience in Puerto Rico. We shared highlights from the beginning of the trip in last week’s blog; below, we invite you to catch up on the final days through reflections written by the students themselves. Throughout the week, students documented their learning, service, and growth in a daily blog, capturing both the work they did and the connections they formed along the way.
Day 3: Filling in Walls with Cement
Today, when we woke up, we were greeted by a delicious waffle breakfast. By the end of breakfast, we were ready to rumble and headed to the construction site. Angel told us that today we were going to be filling in the walls with cement. The jobs for today were: shoveling, passing buckets, and filling in the wall. We worked tirelessly and filled in the first wall in only 45 minutes! During our breaks, we were surprised to receive different snacks like fruit, CapriSuns, and Gatorade. After each break, we switched around our jobs and learned more skills for rebuilding houses.
When we were finished with construction, we were welcomed back to Maria’s house with a very delicious lunch, and a very friendly dog that we called Lil Brunc. Our delicious lunch today was rice, beans, chicken nuggets, and salad. After our lunch, we headed to a local bakery where Ms. O bought us giant donuts the size of Lil Brunc! Then, we went to a nearby supermarket where we bought a bunch of delicious and exclusive Puerto Rican snacks. After that, we went back to the Big Yellow House to get ready for the beach. The beach was super fun, and when we got back, we all ate a really delicious meal. Then we enjoyed the rest of our day with group activities and free time.
Day 4: Last Day in the Big Yellow House
Today was an amazing day to close our stay at the Big Yellow House! We woke up to the delightful scent of French toast and sausages. After applying sunscreen and bug spray, we returned to the work site to finish filling in the wall. During our work, we were given tasty ice pops by Yulissa, the person for whom we were building the room. After a few hours of hard work, we filled in the wall completely.
We ate a lunch that consisted of burgers and French fries, along with fruits of many kinds. We returned to the Big Yellow House and had a few extra hours of beach time, because we had finished early. At the beach, we used our creativity to dig holes and play with rocks in the sand. After a fun time at the beach, we headed home to pack up our luggage for our last night at the Big Yellow House.
The group prepared thank you cards written to the community we worked with over the week. Once everything was ready, we spent time with Miss O and Miss Kim to reflect on our experiences with the community so far through journaling. For our final dinner at the Big Yellow House, we invited the community to share it with us. We had a delicious dinner of chicken breast, pork chops, yellow rice, and potatoes. After everyone had finished their food, our class played games with the other kids in the community. To close up our dinner, we had a final meeting about our overall thoughts on our three days at the work site. Before we said our final goodbyes, the community gave us each a bracelet as a thank you and as a reminder of our time here in Puerto Rico.
After everyone left, we all pitched in to help clean up and turned in for our final night at the Big Yellow House. We cannot wait for our upcoming adventures during our last full day here in Puerto Rico!
Day 5: El Yunque Rainforest
Today we started off with an early wake-up to eat a breakfast of delectable waffles, sausages, French toast, and fruit. We packed up everything and got in the vans for a one-hour drive to El Yunque Rainforest. At El Yunque, we went down a short and muddy trail to a beautiful but cold river, which we swam in for a nice, peaceful morning. After trekking back up the muddy trail, in our vans, we headed to the El Yunque Visitor Portal, where we had to run through random bursts of rain to get inside. At the Visitors Portal, we learned about how the local ecosystem works, shopped at souvenir vendors, and adopted a Puerto Rican stuffed parrot, where all the proceeds go to a recovery fund for this endangered species. Once we headed back to the vans, we ate lunch at Rest. El Terruño. There we ate some traditional Puerto Rican food, and tasted the island’s national drink, the Piña Colada (the non-alcoholic version!).
After the delicious lunch, we had an hour to visit and buy from the kiosks that were on the street. Once we were finished shopping, we made the trip to Casa Coral, which is where we get to stay for one short night! There, we settled in and checked out the beach. We had an early dinner of pizza and got in the van one last time to head to Biobay kayak tours. We paddled a mile and a half each way through tangled mangrove roots with our partners to see the bioluminescence of the microscopic things living in the bay. Back at Casa Coral, we shared about what we had learned on the trip and what we will take back home. We will miss our time here in Puerto Rico!
Through service, collaboration, and reflection, Saklan’s 8th graders deepened their understanding of community, responsibility, and global connection. Their time in Puerto Rico left a lasting impression, one they will carry forward long after returning home.
#SaklanFieldExperience
FRIDAY BLOG 
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