Center for the Common Good
Joseph McKeen

The Alternative Spring Break program provides a unique opportunity for students to participate in an intensive public service experience while increasing their understanding of significant social problems. Engaged in direct service relating to these problems, students live and work in communities with which they otherwise may have little contact. By immersing themselves in this environment for one week, students internalize their experience and can use it as a springboard for a lifelong commitment to social change. All trips are student-initiated and student-led and are supported by staff in the Joseph McKeen Center for the Common Good.

These multimedia slideshows feature students reading their reflections from their trips. Please turn on your computer's speakers.

Trip Names and Descriptions

Camino Seguro
Participants volunteered in the classrooms of Safe Passage (Camino Seguro), an organization founded by Hanley Denning '92 for children whose families make their living off the Guatemala City dump.
Julia Bond '09 slideshow »
Jamie Nadeau '10 slideshow »

Lending a Hand in Louisiana
In a region still struggling to recover from the devastation of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, students worked to rebuild homes in rural Phoenix, Louisiana.
Margaret Brenner '10 slideshow »

Su Parque en Perú
Solidarity in Action (Solidaridad en Marcha) welcomed participants to Peru to work alongside local children to refurbish playgrounds in the shantytowns of Lima.
Laura Belden '08 slideshow »
Lincoln Pac '08 slideshow »

Making Mississippi Home
Students traveled to Pontotoc, Mississippi, to help build affordable housing for a low-income family while learning about rural poverty, the housing crisis, and Southern culture.
Patrick Costello '09 slideshow »
Jamilah Gurwala '11 slideshow »

Supporting Sudan's Lost Boys
Students learned about the lives of Sudanese refugees in the United States by traveling to Phoenix, Arizona, to volunteer with community organizations, meet with legislators, and learn from community leaders.
Caroline Bader '09 slideshow »

Book It to the Bronx
Students explored urban public education in New York City by volunteering at PS 152 and building a library at the Harlem Children's Zone, an organization led by Geoffrey Canada '74.
Elyse Terry '11 slideshow »
Kati Joseph '09 slideshow »