By Noel Case

| Special to The Tribune

A group of high-school humanitarians recently traveled to a remote village in Mexico to provide something that had been missing from the education system: a school.

Brighton High students spent their winter break in Nichnamtic, helping expand education for children in Mexico’s impoverished Chiapas region. It was a particularly powerful addition to the community, which previously had no building for students beyond grade school.

Photos

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

	Join the Discussion
	Post a Comment

It was an eye-opener for students such as Andrew Kenney, a senior at Brighton High.

"I literally have an elementary and middle school right out my back door," he said. "I never realized how fortunate I am to have the opportunity of education so accessible to me."

Kenney was one of 10 students from Brighton High who joined the humanitarian effort. Other students — from Brighton and Jordan high schools — supported the mission through fundraisers to help cover construction costs.

The project was done in cooperation with the Salt Lake City-based Foundation Escalera, which approached student leaders at Brighton High last fall with the idea of building a school that would allow children in Nichnamtic and surrounding villages to attend class beyond the sixth grade for the first time.

Brighton signed on. So did Jordan.

"Escalera has been focused on granting high-school scholarships to rural Mexicans and building schools in marginalized areas of Mexico for many years," Brighton High Principal Jerry Christensen said. "With the help of Utah volunteers, Escalera has built 26 classrooms in rural Mexico, benefitting over 1,900 middle-school students."

Students from Brighton and Jordan raised an estimated $56,000 for the new school. Some students traveled abroad to help build it.

The project was directed by a team of professional builders from Mexico City. But students, and their families, ended up being the "arms and legs" of construction, Christensen said. The group worked together to build six classrooms, two bathrooms, one basketball court and 40 cook-stoves in three days.

"I have never met a more friendly, accepting and grateful group of people," said Alexis Brandt, a junior at Brighton High. "I will never forget those students."

Brandt’s classmate Kenney said the experience of helping build the school made him aware of what is important in life.

"I was able to tune out technology and all the comforts of home and dedicate a few days to serving others," Kenney said. "It felt great to be part of a project that would benefit youth for years and years to come."

The school was completed by students during their trip. It was accepted and dedicated by the Mexican government in late December. According to Christensen, indigenous people from surrounding villages joined with state and national government officials to celebrate the event. The Chiapas government has agreed to provide teachers and provisions in exchange for the school.

Although the school will allow hundreds of students from Nichnamtic and surrounding villages to expand their education, many other villages in the region aren’t as lucky, Christensen said. He cited one source — Subsecretaría de Planeación Escolar — which estimates that there are more than 175,000 students who do not have classrooms in Chiapas.

"Education is the key to break the cycle of poverty and increase their standard of living," Christensen said. "Escalera is hoping to use the highly positive and highly tangible experience Brighton and Jordan high had to encourage other Utah high schools to sponsor ‘sister schools’ in Chiapas."

closeup@sltrib.com