School Prep

Day 4: 

Today started as a typical morning in Puerto Rico, the birds were chirping, the frogs were coquiing, and we were surrounded by the fresh morning air once again. We got our typical island breakfast and loaded onto the bus with our favorite driver, Tony. We braved the tsunami of potholes, as Tony so graciously put it, and made our way to the Luquillo community school which was forced to close its doors after Maria hit and is currently being restored into a Montessori, which is a low-cost option for the education of younger children. 

When we arrived, we split up into several work parties to help revive this place of learning. Some of us were tasked with removing the old and destroyed furnishings from all the buildings, some were power-washing inside and outside the building to remove the stains brought by Maria, others assisted in reclaiming the area back from mother nature, while others removed paint from the past so we can repaint the future. 

Soon the entire area was filled with the heart-wrenching screams of Tyler and DJ as a rat leapt from an abandoned cabinet and ran past them into the surrounding wildlife. After this excitement, Greater Kensington and Harrisburg made strides in the rejuvenation of this school. By lunch, most of the area had been trimmed, many of the walls had been washed, and all of the debris was cleared from all the rooms. 

After eating lunch and a quick dance session featuring the exotic moves of Tyler Barry, everyone was granted the second wind to make it to the end of the day. We finished most of what we started, but we left some chipping and painting for the next day. 

We then came back to camp and played some intense games of water polo and bonded with the other Penn State campuses staying with us.