Students Walk Cape Cod to Support Habitat for Humanity

Peabody, MA - On Saturday, April 9th, the Junior class from Covenant Christian Academy embarked on a seventy-mile walk covering the entire length of Cape Cod, beginning at Cape Cod Canal and ending in Provincetown, in an effort to raise money for Habitat for Humanity.

The week-long effort was part of a larger program called Academic Travel Week at this private classical school located in Peabody.

Each spring, in the week leading up to spring break, students in grades 7 -12 have the opportunity to travel with their classmates on an Academically focused trip that aligns with specific curriculum goals. It allows students to experience the world outside the four walls of the school, the living classroom all around them. While other classes visited the Battlefield at Gettysburg, exploring Quebec, and doing Marine Science Labs on the Chesapeake Bay, the program for the Junior Class is always a bit different. Each year the Junior Class is asked to take on a challenge – to come up with a “hard thing” that will take great effort to accomplish – and use it as an opportunity to raise money to fund a service learning trip of their choice. The Juniors at CCA decided early in the school year that they wanted to support the efforts of Habitat for Humanity in their work providing good, affordable housing in the United States and abroad. Moved by the humbling statistics showing that millions of people live in sub-standard housing, these students have chosen to take action and help contribute personally to the good work that Habitat for Humanity is doing worldwide. Students are raising pledges from family and friends - a dollar for every mile they walk. The pledges the students receive will be used for the class to plan a service trip in the fall of their Senior year to a Habitat for Humanity build location, yet to be determined, to personally assist in a building project.

Mr. David Church, principal of the Upper School at CCA, is the man behind Academic Travel week. Mr. Church is new to the Academy this year, having worked as a Principal and Director of Academic Travel at the prestigious Stony Brook School on New York’s Long Island prior to his tenure here at CCA.

“The purpose of the Junior class challenge trip is twofold - first, before these students graduate and go off to college, they are given the opportunity to physically accomplish something together that they may not have thought they were capable of," he said. "Secondly, it gives these students the opportunity to personally serve a cause they are passionate about -to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty. It allows them to leave a legacy of good, and a real understanding of what it looks like to serve others well.”

With the help of teachers Jordan Willis and Kelly Story, students explored a variety of locations and routes. Rail trails and the Saltonstall bike route provided an almost continuous path from Bourne to Provincetown along scenic towns and beaches.

“This is quite a distance and a difficult goal,” said Junior student Riley Bradford. “We are willing to struggle through this and experience some discomfort along the way. This is just a very small way for us to share in some of the pain and suffering of families living with inadequate shelter.

If you would like to support the efforts of these students financially, visit the school website at www.covenantchristianacademy.org. $1.00 for every mile is the students goal, equalling $70 for each sponsor.