Seven Rider University students will spend their winter break, January 4 through 19, in Jamaica, West Indies, tutoring children and gaining insight from them.

A Rider tradition since 1990, the Jamaican service program exposes students to a new culture, way of life and perspectives. This year, the students will work at an orphanage, two public schools and a church-related school.

The Rev. Nancy Schluter, Protestant chaplain, and Donald Brown, director of the Center for Multicultural Affairs and Community Service, coordinate the program and place special emphasis on service learning.

“In service learning, you serve in order to learn, to put things into greater analytical context,” said Brown, who joined forces with Rev. Schluter in 1996 to help with program planning.

Before the trip, students are required to complete reading assignments and attend a series of seminars to better understand Jamaican culture and service learning theory. They will also keep a personal journal during the trip so they can document and evaluate their experiences in a final project, usually a paper. The group will stay at the United Theological College in Kingston.

As in past years, the students will visit St. Mary’s Parish and later Ocho Rios. In St. Mary’s Parish, they will work in the classrooms with residents of Pringle Home for Children. In Ocho Rios, they will work with residents of the Iona School, a private children’s institution run by the United Church of Jamaica. All are under the auspices of The United Church of Jamaica-Grand Cayman, which is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and Disciples of Christ Church.

Rev. Schluter said, “Our students leave this country with high expectations of providing services; however, year after year they return to the United States knowing they have received much more than they gave, which is a great blessing in our culture with such emphasis on material things.”

Taking the journey are: Nilsa Britto ’07 of Englewood, a communication major; Jennifer Chevalier ’08 of Edgewater, an elementary education/psychology major; Joshabel De La Cruz ’10 of Fort Lee, a global multinational studies major; Jessica Geiger ’09 of Highlands, a journalism major; Jenna Piccolomini ’09 of Freehold, a psychology major; Katherine Santana ’07 of Poughquag, NY, a psychology major; and Sharmaine Stevenson ’08 of Columbus, a finance/global business major.

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