by Daryl F.
Mallett
Trevor Hardy
is 16 years old and a junior at Mountain View High School. He's also on his way
to receiving the highest award in Boy Scouts, the rank of Eagle Scout. In order
to become an Eagle Scout, candidates must "plan, develop and give
leadership to others in a service project helpful to your religious
institution, school or your community." (The project should benefit an
organization other than Boy Scouts of America (BSA).)
So Trevor
set out to coordinate a humanitarian service project with the students and
teachers at Montessori International School in Mesa to help victims of the
Christmas 2004 tsunami in Asia. The project involved the Montessori children
and teachers making 25 "Comfort Quilts" to send to survivors of the
disaster. The quilts were designed to be bright and cheerful.
When asked
why he chose this as his project, Trevor said, "The owner of the school is
from Sri Lanka and went there to help in the tsunami's aftermath. The school
has adopted the town of Kosgoda to help rebuild. Many of the children there
have brought in their piggy banks and families of attending students have made
generous donations. My two sisters, who attend the school currently, asked what
else they could do to help the tsunami survivors. This got me thinking about
having the kids do a humanitarian service project in conjunction with my Eagle
Scout project."
Trevor also
went to preschool at the Mesa Montessori. As he stated, the school's owner,
Therese Kestner, is from Sri Lanka, and traveled back there with her three
grown children to help in the aftermath of the tsunami. Under her direction,
the Montessori International School in Mesa has adopted the town of Kosgoda and
will help them rebuild. Trevor's efforts will benefit people in that town, known
in the region for its turtle hatchery, which rescues turtle eggs and releases
the newly hatched turtles to the ocean. A website about the Kosgoda Rebuilding
Project has been created at http://montessori-intl.org/tsunami. [Note: Website no longer active at the time of this reposting.]
"This
has been a great experience for both me and the students," said Trevor,
"and should bring some comfort to those in need."
(Originally
published in Northeast Mesa Lifestyle, Vol. 1:1, March 2005.)
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