Students Connecting Through International Service

A unique opportunity for fifth grade scholars

Each fall, fifth grade students from Basswood, Edinbrook, Elm Creek, Oak View and Park Brook elementary schools who are interested in this opportunity write an essay to explain why they are the best candidates to represent their school for this project. Staff members at each school read and rank the essays, without knowledge of who the students are, and the student with the highest ranking at each site is chosen for the project.

Preparing for the trip

After being selected as their school representative, the fifth graders meet twice per month to prepare for the trip and their fundraising. The students study Mexican culture; learn a few Spanish phrases; and write to their pen pals at Sopori Elementary School in Amado, Arizona.

All five participating elementary schools host school supply drives where students, staff and families can donate money to the project. This opportunity not only allows Osseo Area Schools students the chance to contribute to the greater global community, but also to hone their public speaking and writing skills.

Traveling to Sasabe

The Students Connecting Through International Service experience culminates in the spring with the fifth-grade representatives taking a trip to Arizona to distribute the supplies and then returning home to recap their experiences for classmates, school board members and community partners. Each year, a different principal from one of the participating elementary schools travels with the team.

Follow Up

After the trip, the students report back to their schools and the community organizations that help pay for the students’ travel costs. Throughout the trip, from the school supply drives to the report back, the students develop their public speaking skills, as well as deepen their individual understanding of how they can have a lasting, positive impact in the global community.

The money raised by Osseo Area Schools students is used to purchase school supplies and other equipment for the school in Sasabe, Mexico. Trip expenses (airfare, lodging and food) are covered by generous donations from local community organizations, including:

• Brooklyn Park Rotary
• District 279 Foundation
• Maple Grove Lions
• Maple Grove Rotary
• Osseo Lions
• Piper Jaffray

The focus of the year-long project is to provide school supplies to the students in Sasabe, Sonora, Mexico.  However, the students and schools participating benefit beyond assisting the school in Sasabe.

Student Representatives

• Students tour the University of Arizona in Tucson, learn about scholarships, life on a college campus, and engage in conversations regarding opportunities after high school graduation. 
• Kartchner Caverns State Park:  The student representatives tour Kartchner Caverns State Park in Benson, AZ.
• The student representatives each have a pen pal at Sopori Elementary in Amado, AZ.  The students write back and forth to deepen their understanding and connection to those in another part of the United States.    
• Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum: The student representatives, along with their pen pals and students from Sasabe, spend a half-day touring and learning together.

Participating Schools

• Students learn about needs in the global community.
• Students learn about the value of education, and that not everyone in the world is afforded a free education.
• Students, staff and families have an opportunity to financially donate and hear how their generosity changes the lives of others, which is part of ISD 279’s mission to contribute to the community.
• Students hear first-hand accounts of the trip from the student representatives who traveled to the Sasabe school.

The children who attend Juan Escutia Elementary School in Sasabe, Mexico, need to provide their own school supplies. However, poverty and a lack of stores/resources means most students are unable to do so. This project provides all of the school supplies for the students, along with supplies for the teachers and school. 

Throughout the years, Osseo Area Schools students have raised funds to buy computers, printers, a copier, ceiling fans, water coolers, filing cabinets, space heaters and many other important pieces of equipment for Juan Escutia Elementary School. Their fundraising efforts have also contributed toward a new playground for the school, as well as a small school bus for the Sasabe students.