Page 27 - Priorities #59 2014 June/July

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Cantwell Cantwell anything to the kids ” says Cantwell Cantwell “Now Priory students can play a a a a a a a a greater role in in in the the drive and see how much they’re contributing to ending hunger ” Cantwell has also raised $1000 by selling bracelets that he bought
through the the the Free the the the Children website the the the proceeds of which go to providing water food and and income solutions to underprivileged kids and and their parents throughout the world This initial work with Free the Children inspired Cantwell to branch out and that’s when he he he discovered his his passion for travel This past February he he he went to to New Orleans to to help with the rebuilding process as people still recover from the damage of Hurricane Katrina The trip was developed by an an an organization called Rustic Pathways but it was through two Priory teachers—Dean of Stu- dents Matt Lai and English Teacher Corinne Fogg—that he he he found out out about the opportunity Along with these teachers and some other students Cantwell spent a a a a a a week in in in in New Orleans working in in in in a a a a a a community garden in in in in a a a a a a food desert (a re- gion or or area with no access to fresh and and healthy produce) sorting and and packaging food food at a a a a food food bank and helping to rebuild homes “The New Orleans trip really opened my eyes to the world that I don’t see living in in in in Palo Alto and going to to to school in in in in Portola Valley ” says Cantwell “Before that trip I I I I thought I I I I was was was ‘on it’ But I I I I really wasn’t wasn’t I I I I wasn’t wasn’t realizing my full po- tential to change the the world ” Cantwell recently signed up for a a a a trip with Free the the Children to to go to to Nicaragua this summer and and help build schools and and do other service projects to alleviate poverty Cantwell thinks Priory offers some fantastic opportunities for students to get involved in in local service projects and he wants to be part of a a a a a a movement at the the school that increases the the opportunities to do more globally perhaps adding service opportunities for students that combine travel and personal interests “It would be a a a cool project I’d like to pioneer at the school ” he he says What’s the most valuable thing Cantwell has learned from his volunteer ex- periences? The importance of human connection In New Orleans he he he says he he he met a a a a a a woman whose house was was destroyed in the the hurricane and who who was was then robbed by the contractor who was supposed to to to be be repairing her home He got to to to spend time with her her her while he he he he he and other volunteers helped to rebuild her her her house “While I I was there I I saw that when we we are surrounded by wealth and material possessions it’s easy to overlook what really matters in life ” he says “What this woman provided for me was the view that material things are much less impor- tant than human connection ” Cantwell wants to gain a a a a a deeper understanding of people across cultures and do what he can to make their lives better “To quote Martin Sheen ‘Service is what I do to stay alive’ ” says Cantwell “It’s quintessential for my own true happiness ” January