Elgin Academy students spend spring break in Dominican Republic

About 29 Elgin Academy students and more than 10 teachers, parents and alumni packed clothes and toiletries for a week in the Dominican Republic.

Some had boxes of toothbrushes and toothpaste added to their luggage. Others had medical and dental equipment. The sun hadn't even begun to rise at 4 a.m. on Saturday, March 26, when their flight was set to depart from O'Hare Airport.

But with excited looks, albeit sleepy ones, the students settled into their seats on the plane.

Alyson Oriold, a senior from St. Charles, boarded the plane for her second trip to the Dominican Republic in her time at Elgin Academy. The school has been organizing the trip for seven years in cooperation with Orphanage Outreach, an Arizona-based organization committed to serving the youth in a community called Monte Cristi on the northwest side of the Dominican Republic.

Oriold and fellow students landed in Miami Saturday morning then boarded their second flight headed for the small Caribbean island. Oriold said the first time she went was such a great experience, she was more than excited to do it again.

“You don't really know what to expect when you go to the D.R.,” Oriold said. “It's just such a different place and such a different mindset. It definitely lived up to beyond my expectations.”

Oriold has taken four years of Spanish classes in her time at Elgin Academy, giving her a bit of an edge on some of the other students going on the trip.

Regardless of Spanish fluency, the Elgin Academy students are given the opportunity to play games and sports like baseball with children living in the Hope of a Child Orphanage as well as teach English classes to the students in grades 1 through 8.

For these children, English is vital to getting a job in the tourist industry, the knowledge of which could mean a wage to live on.

Oriold said the teaching is a major mission of their trip.

“It's about really getting them into their education and getting them really excited about it,” Oriold said.

Oriold has been saving up birthday and holiday money as well as pay from part-time work helping her mom package and label the jewelry she makes to help finance the $1,400 trip. She also applied for a scholarship Elgin Academy offers to qualifying students.

There was also the used book sale and potluck that garnered some money toward the trip's expenses as well as donations for the orphanage.

The last few years parent dentists and doctors have gone on the trip as well to provide their own services not readily available in the community. That's why some people were laden with boxes of toothbrushes and toothpaste on top of their own clothes when boarding in O'Hare.

Oriold and the rest from Elgin Academy will be in the Dominican Republic until April 2 when they must say goodbye to the Monte Cristi orphans and the island breezes. Then it's back to the Elgin area's stuttering spring for the second week of their Spring Break.