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South Kent students head to Alaska and Peru for community service.

2008-05-27 16:14:03

Two South Kent School (SKS) students have been awarded SKS scholarships for participation in VISIONS Service Adventures programs (http://www.visionsserviceadventures.com) for community service in Alaska and Peru.

This year’s scholarship winners include SKS eleventh-grader Blake Taylor of New Milford -- who will travel to Peru this summer -- and tenth-grader Patrick Fleming of Watertown -- who will participate in a VISIONS program in Alaska.

Each year the school offers two scholarships which provide SKS students an opportunity for service work and cross-cultural immersion for four weeks each summer. Currently SKS students compete for two $3,400 scholarships to participate in the acclaimed VISIONS summer community service programs at locations in North, Central, and South America, the Caribbean West Indies, and in Vietnam.

Blake is very involved with community service work at home and has been an active participant in Scouting for years. He has recently been working to complete his Eagle Scout award and hosted a Music Night at SKS last fall to raise funds for the New Milford Food Bank.

“I have taken part in many service projects in New Milford, some with the Special Olympics, my church, and Scouting services, however the opportunity to assist a devastated country, which had an earthquake just last year, is a selfless opportunity,” Blake said. “Not only will we be constructing shelters and places to live, but we will be traveling through Peru. Climbing Machu Pichu, and living in a remote puebla is my way of exposing myself to the outside world.”

Patrick has never traveled much outside of New England and is looking forward to seeing Alaska. His group will be building a recreational facility which will be used as a community center for the general public.

“I chose Alaska because I like the kind of work that I'd be doing up there, and I'd like to see Alaska,” he said. “It's one of the places you hear stuff about but never see, and I wanted to experience that.”

Patrick is also the recipient of South Kent’s Millennium Scholarship. This scholarship was created in 2000 by the Class of 1950 in celebration of its 50th reunion. The scholarship seeks to attract students to South Kent who meet specific criteria including academic ability and leadership potential.

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Posted by lina