WVSU students conduct service project with Central American school
3/5/2013
Contact: Dr. Donna Simon
(304) 766-3363
dsimon@wvstateu.edu
March 5, 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WVSU students conduct service project with Central American school
INSTITUTE, W.Va. – Underprivileged youth at a small school in Central America received supplies and materials recently from a group of West Virginia State University (WVSU) students as part of an international service project. Notebooks, crayons, glue, erasers, pencils and other items were distributed to students by the Lambda Zeta Chapter of Kappa Delta Pi, an international honor society in education.
Supplies were taken to La Escuela de Duarte Melendez, located in Soyapango, El Salvador, prior to the start of their new school year. School supplies are a costly but necessary expense that the school, which operates with no air conditioning and limited resources, struggles to acquire.
“It is difficult for teachers to keep supplies like pencils and erasers for every student,” said Stephanie Berry, president of Kappa Delta Pi. “Children are often required to share, which slows the learning process.”
The project was the first time the Lambda Zeta Chapter of Kappa Delta Pi sponsored an international outreach project. “The teachers and students of La Escuela de Duarte Melendez were so grateful,” said Berry. “It is our hope that this project will be a small step toward helping every child have a positive educational experience.”
Items were distributed to students by Kaitlyn Dewhurst, a representative of the Lambda Zeta Chapter. Dewhurst will travel to El Salvador again this summer to bring supplies to the school.
West Virginia State University is a public, land grant, historically black university, which has evolved into a fully accessible, racially integrated, and multi‐generational institution, located in Institute, WV. As a “living laboratory of human relations,” the university is a community of students, staff, and faculty committed to academic growth, service and preservation of the racial and cultural diversity of the institution. Its mission is to meet the higher education and economic development needs of the state and region through innovative teaching and applied research.
-WVSU-