Dear Fountain Hills residents:

I have been the advisor for Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) and a teacher at Fountain Hills High School for 17 years.

As part of this service leadership club, students have been planning and implementing large-scale service projects with both local and global causes in mind.

Last year, we served Arizona foster children. This year, we are focusing on sustainability…the need to balance ‘people, profit and planet’ in a way that ‘sustains’ over time.

This project will include local acts of service, and will also contain an international component. Thirty-two students from FHHS will be traveling to Monte Verde, Costa Rica to partner with “Colegio,” a career and technical high school that teaches young people sustainable trades from agriculture, farming, and eco-tourism.

Our students will serve 40 hours over their spring break to help Colegio students with projects to expand their campus and infrastructure.

If you would be willing to assist our students in raising money for this trip, we would greatly appreciate your tax credit or personal donation to help students reach their goal of learning about sustainability in a country that is emerging as a front-runner in sustainable commerce and tourism.

Thanks so much!

(Editor’s Note: For questions or further information, Claire McWilliams can be reached at cmcwilliams@fhusd.org.)