Winslow High School senior Annika Bortz admits she was extremely hesitant to go on the Spanish Club’s annual service trip to Agua Prieta, Sonora in Mexico set for April 6-9. The senior, like many people, had scrolled through headlines about border violence and convinced herself she might not make it home. “I was scared I was gonna die,” she said, laughing now at the memory of what her expectations were for their trip.
That fear hovered over the first morning, when Bortz, eight classmates, and three chaperones stepped into their first assignment: a private elementary school where classes are taught in English and tuition is out of reach for most local families.
Rancho Feliz, the Arizona based nonprofit that organized the trip, sponsors scholarships so children can attend.
The Winslow visitors were welcomed with a spirited production of “High School Musical,” complete with choreography that left Bortz astonished. “I don’t even know how someone could dance like that—a lot of practice, I guess,” she said.
The students’ community service began later that day when they helped pour the concrete slab for a 10 by 16-foot addition for a single mother with seven children in a single room home. The next day they repainted a faded basketball court at a special education campus where students craft and sell furniture to fund their own school and learn life skills to become more independent. Evenings brought lively games of ‘Mexican Bingo’ with neighborhood kids and excitement for what the next day would bring.
Between tasks, the students absorbed lessons that never appear on a syllabus. WHS junior Aayden Roland was struck by the razor thin line between comfort and hardship. “The people are all the same—we’re all humans—but the circumstances are different,” he said. Bortz especially felt the lesson land when Spanish teacher Reese Chatwin guided them to the home of a girl they had met earlier that day.
Bortz described seeing a home that was almost falling down and stricken with poverty. “It tore us down,” she recalled, “and it made me grateful for what we have here.” Bortz and Roland both describe the people who live in these homes and how happy they were. The appreciation for what they had reminded the students of everything they had and deepened their appreciation for those things.
On their final morning the Winslow crew assembled 300 bags of food, handing one to each family that arrived with a sack of recyclable trash—a small trade that kept litter off the streets and food on the table. They capped the day with piñata swings and hugs goodbye before packing the tools and paint rollers that would be handed to next year’s volunteers.
Over the four-day trip, somewhere in the bustle, Bortz’s dread evaporated. She had survived the trip, bonded with classmates and realized she never felt threatened once. “It felt safer than here, honestly,” she said, already planning her return.
Those able to take part in the trip included Spanish Teacher Reese Chatwin, Aayden Roland, Owen Hendricks, Isaac Kelley, Ben Couchman, Assistant Principal Kourtney Hendricks, chaperone Romalea Chatwin, Erika Sanchez, Gabby Casuse, Ana Valenzuela, Annika Bortz and Amanda Childers.
