Students performing service over winter break

Fourteen Cornell College students will be spending part of their winter break performing community service in Xela, Guatemala.

The trip, sponsored by the college’s Career and Civic Engagement Center and led by students, marks the first time students are participating in an international service trip over winter break.

The students on the trip are going to work at an orphanage and take part in other projects identified by community members. The student-led group has been working closely with Juan Sisay, a Spanish School in Xela.

According to statistics from Breakaway, a national organization that sponsors service trips for college students, only 15 percent of service trips went to an international destination, and 15 percent took place over winter break, as well.

Cornell College’s Career and Civic Engagement Center is also sponsoring Alternative Spring Break trips this year for the 11th time. More than 130 students are signed up to participate in those service trips, which will run March 5 through 15.