Teacher describes student service trip to Puerto Rico delivering blankets to Alzheimer’s center

A teacher told the Springs Valley School Board that a four-year student service effort, called the Sika project, has taken Spanish-class students to Puerto Rico to deliver tie blankets and letters to patients at a local Alzheimer’s center.

The teacher, who did not give a full name during the meeting, said the class has quietly produced blankets for Alzheimer’s patients for several years and recently took officers of the class on a trip that included visits to Old San Juan, El Yunque rainforest and an Alzheimer’s center in Fajardo where students distributed the handmade blankets and spent time playing games and talking with residents.

Why it matters: Board members were shown photos and a brief slideshow and were told the project builds cross-cultural connections and provides students with service experience. The presenter said the students also exchanged letters with Puerto Rican students and kept signed banners from the host school.

Details from the presentation included that the project began four years ago, that students write letters in Spanish to recipients, and that the trip combined cultural visits with the service portion. The presenter described students interacting with residents, playing bingo and giving each resident a blanket; a support-group leader at the Fajardo center welcomed the visitors and helped coordinate the visits.

The presenter emphasized the personal origins of the project: it is named 'Sika' in memory of the presenter’s grandmother, who died of Alzheimer’s, and the presenter described family ties in Puerto Rico that helped arrange the school visits and community hospitality.

Board response and next steps: Board members thanked the presenter and the group for the trip. The presenter said organizers hope to run the trip every other year so successive classes can participate and plan to expand elements of the project locally by making blankets for families with Alzheimer’s patients in Orange County.

The meeting record shows no formal action was required for the presentation; the teacher concluded by thanking the board for permission to take the students on the trip.