Pacific Ridge School Senior Travels to Baja, Mexico for Project Bus

Pacific Ridge School recently made the following announcement: 

In April of 2011, Pacific Ridge School senior Akash Patel launched a service learning group and set out to turn an abandoned school bus in San Ignacio, Mexico into a library and community center for the village’s lone elementary school.  Patel partnered with National City-based International Community Foundation and the NewSchool of Architecture and Design in San Diego, to help make this dream come true. 

This spring, Patel visited the village of San Ignacio to check on the project’s progress. When he found that the original architectural plans had to be modified, Patel set to work. 

With the help of San Ignacio's mayor, Patel was able to engage a local architect to develop new plans to incorporate the bus’s original design and a few fresh additions including a projector system, stage and an outdoor amphitheater.

The amphitheater, which can be used for showing films and other educational purposes, will be one of only a few permanent structures in the town and can serve as a gathering place for the community.

The project has received overwhelming support from local residents of the small fishing village, who are watching the construction with excitement. 

During his visit, Patel spoke with students, parents and teachers from the school where the library and theater will reside. They showed their enthusiastic appreciation for Patel’s efforts by throwing a "feast" in his honor. 

Patel’s is one of many innovative and successful projects to grow out of Pacific Ridge School’s service learning program. To learn more about Pacific Ridge School, visit www.pacificridge.org.