MARCH 9-21, 2025 – A group of students from Collegedale Academy went to Masai Mara, Kenya, for a two-week mission trip led by the school. They helped build housing for the teachers at a school there and held Vacation Bible School for the local children. The mission trip’s main focus was to work on the teacher’s dormitory. “They were living in mud shacks that were falling apart,” explained Rylee Holland, a senior at CA. “One guy had snakes that would come into his house.” They also dug trenches to lead clean water to the high school girls’ dormitory. According to Mrs. Alvarez, the high school is a rescue center for the girls who come to study there. Some students don’t have anything when they come to the school, and some are even pregnant. Rylee’s favorite part of the trip was the kids. “They were all really sweet,” she explained. She got to know the children while helping lead VBS, which was for preschool through ninth grade. “We played games with them, we sang songs with them, we told them a little story about David and Goliath.” Students were also able to go on a safari, where they saw lions, zebras, hippopotamuses, and many other animals. As from any mission trip, there was something to take away from the experience. “[It’s important to know] that we have so many opportunities here that we don’t take advantage of,” Mrs. Alvarez reflects. “They don’t have as much as we have, and they’re always just so joyful and happy.” Rylee recommends other students go on a mission trip at some point in their lives. “I was surprised by how rewarding it was to just go out and do stuff for these people.”

Jack Fesler ( grade 12), Andrew Lindquist (10), Owen Nudd (10), Boston McClarty (10), Avery Jung (12), and William Schrode (12) lead out in a praise song.

Juniors Emma Josephs and Rebecca Walwyn paint parts of the school.

CA Staff donate school supplies

Seniors Rylee Holland and Kiera Stecker wait for a flight.