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This summer Dedham High School seniors Matt Mariano and Jack Fay visited the site of the Battle of Gettysburg, enjoyed a guided tour of Philadelphia and caught a Broadway musical following a downpour.
“We had to sit through the entire play soaked but it was well worth it,” Mariano said.
The Dedham teenagers, and four other Boston-area high school students, gave a presentation about their nearly two-week trip to various cities along the East Coast, Monday night at the Odd Fellows Lodge on High Street.
The students won the “United Nations Educational Pilgrimage for Youth” essay contest sponsored by the Odd Fellows, that since 1949 has sent over 43,000 high school students from around the world on a summer educational trip. This year about 150 students won the Odd Fellows contest. The trip included a visit to the United Nation’s headquarters in New York City.
“It was really cool to just be in the UN listening to speakers,” Fay said.
Speakers at the UN discussed such topics as water, sustainable development and climate change, said Victoria Steeves, a student from Hamilton.
“It actually helped me a lot on my college essay,” Steeves said of the water speech.
Dedham High School students Kelly Saintcyr, Kayla Cunningham and Kate Masters also went on the trip, but were unable to attend Monday’s event.
Local Odd Fellows Lodges sponsored the five Dedham High students to go on the trip.
Pat Coulsey, secretary of the Jamaica Plain Lodge, which meets at the Dedham Lodge on High Street, said the trip costs about $1,400 per student.
Lodges across the country are able to foot the bill through fundraisers and membership dues, Coulsey said.
Coulsey joined local students on this summer’s trip.
“I can’t picture having a better group,” she told the students Monday. “It was a pleasure for me to be with you young people for those 12 days.”
Students said it was a great experience meeting other young people from across the country, and visiting new cities, including Niagara Falls, Baltimore, and Washington D.C.
“You can’t describe it in words, it was just so pretty,” Mariano said of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. at night.
Medway resident Judy Mascari, whose son, Tibor, discussed his memories from the trip, said she thinks her son grew from being away from his family for such an extended period of time.
“It was good for him because he hadn’t done anything like that before,” she said.
This summer Dedham High School seniors Matt Mariano and Jack Fay visited the site of the Battle of Gettysburg, enjoyed a guided tour of Philadelphia and caught a Broadway musical following a downpour.
“We had to sit through the entire play soaked but it was well worth it,” Mariano said.
The Dedham teenagers, and four other Boston-area high school students, gave a presentation about their nearly two-week trip to various cities along the East Coast, Monday night at the Odd Fellows Lodge on High Street.
The students won the “United Nations Educational Pilgrimage for Youth” essay contest sponsored by the Odd Fellows, that since 1949 has sent over 43,000 high school students from around the world on a summer educational trip. This year about 150 students won the Odd Fellows contest. The trip included a visit to the United Nation’s headquarters in New York City.
“It was really cool to just be in the UN listening to speakers,” Fay said.
Speakers at the UN discussed such topics as water, sustainable development and climate change, said Victoria Steeves, a student from Hamilton.
“It actually helped me a lot on my college essay,” Steeves said of the water speech.
Dedham High School students Kelly Saintcyr, Kayla Cunningham and Kate Masters also went on the trip, but were unable to attend Monday’s event.
Local Odd Fellows Lodges sponsored the five Dedham High students to go on the trip.
Pat Coulsey, secretary of the Jamaica Plain Lodge, which meets at the Dedham Lodge on High Street, said the trip costs about $1,400 per student.
Lodges across the country are able to foot the bill through fundraisers and membership dues, Coulsey said.
Coulsey joined local students on this summer’s trip.
“I can’t picture having a better group,” she told the students Monday. “It was a pleasure for me to be with you young people for those 12 days.”
Students said it was a great experience meeting other young people from across the country, and visiting new cities, including Niagara Falls, Baltimore, and Washington D.C.
“You can’t describe it in words, it was just so pretty,” Mariano said of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. at night.
Medway resident Judy Mascari, whose son, Tibor, discussed his memories from the trip, said she thinks her son grew from being away from his family for such an extended period of time.
“It was good for him because he hadn’t done anything like that before,” she said.
Early this year students wrote essays about topics related to the United Nations. Medway resident Thea DiGiammerino said hers was about the United Nations’ involvement in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
She said she was surprised to learn that there are often limitations on what UN peacekeepers can legally do. For instance, they might not be allowed to use guns in a time of need.
“They have to take people (peacekeepers) out more often than be effective,” she added.
Mariano wrote his essay about Darfur; Fay wrote his about children soldiers and exploitation issues; and Saintcyr wrote hers about UNICEF and education initiatives.
Cunningham wrote hers about peace and anti-terrorism efforts, and Masters wrote hers about United Nations AIDS and HIV initiatives.
Students who attended Monday’s event all received certificates, a group picture taken during the trip and a pin of the United Nations headquarters.
