By Courtney Aquadro ’11

Last spring we were all notified of an assembly that would take place on November 9 of the upcoming school year. It seemed odd that we were given such advanced notice on this. We soon found out why. The assembly was to be given by humanitarian, activist author Greg Mortenson. Greg Mortenson’s book Three Cups of Tea was our community read that, and also be required reading in all of the history classes. The library even made sure to have enough copies of the book so that everyone could borrow one.
After I read the book I was extremely excited for this assembly. At the assembly we got to experience the talks he talks about in Three Cups of Tea. Mortenson talked with fluency and excitement throughout the entire assembly. Students were kept involved by being used as examples to represent situations such as literacy and poverty rates. The assembly lasted close to an hour and a half yet no one seemed to lose attention and not be fully captivated by this amazing man.

After the assembly everyone met with the athletic team. As a team everyone participated in some sort of community service. Some examples are the girl’s cross country team set up a peace pole in front of the middle school, the junior varsity boy’s water polo team made scarves for people, and the varsity volleyball team taught children in Springfield to play volleyball.

Mortenson truly touched the members of the community to be thankful for what they have and to give back to those who are less fortunate. In locations around campus you can donate pennies for Greg Mortenson’s fundraiser “Pennies for Peace.” “Pennies for Peace” is an organization which uses pennies to show that you can start small when giving back. On the jars of pennies are descriptions saying how much you can buy in Pakistan with certain amounts of pennies.