Over the summer high school students catch up with their community service hours, many helping local organizations. One young man from Newtown, CT, Albert “AJ” Vitiello ‘18, went beyond his borders, both personal and physical, and travelled half way across the world to help another community with seemingly simple but important needs.
His three weeks in the village of Anloga, Ghana included helping to build a school as well as minds. During his time in Anloga Mr. Vitiello taught a fifth grade class where students ranged from ages 12-18 years old. “This made me realize how lucky I am to receive the education I am getting and the encouragement from my teachers,” said Mr. Vitiello. “My service also consisted of making bricks for a primary school,” he said.
Seeing how precarious education is in other parts of the world really opened his eyes to how fortunate he was to receive a top-notch, modern education in a comfortable, modern school building with some of the best educators in the world. The experience also strengthened his faith.
“Although my village was mostly Muslim, my class made me a rosary at the end of the trip which was really special,” Vitiello said. “This strengthened my faith by showing how people from two completely different cultures and backgrounds can come together with God.”
Immaculate High School stresses the importance of community service and requires each student to perform at least 25 hours a year. At the end of the 2016-17 school year, IHS students had performed nearly 25,000 hours of community service, most of it in the communities of Fairfield County.
Immaculate High School is a private, non-profit Catholic college-preparatory institution serving students from 28 communities in Connecticut and New York. Founded in 1962, Immaculate High School also allows students to focus on their spiritual development, personal moral commitments and service to others. Located in Danbury, CT, Immaculate High School is part of the Diocese of Bridgeport’s parochial school system.