Mohnike wins We Day trip to Amazon

“And the winner of the trip is …”

“Kerry Mohnike from Saratoga High School!” The host pronounced the last name as Mo-NIKE (like the shoe and apparel brand).

The 40 SHS students attending the We Day event at the SAP Center on Feb. 25 lifted their heads in confusion. They had no idea who this Kerry Mo-NIKE figure was, but soon enough they figured out that of the 25,000 participants at We Day — a Free the Children leadership concert that drew participants from all over the Bay Area — the winner of the big prize was none other than assistant principal Kerry Mohnike.

As a result, Mohnike, along with three students, will be participating on a service trip through the Amazon Jungle this summer from June 30 to July 14. Their plane will fly into Quito, Ecuador, and from there, they will travel to a village in the Amazon.

Free the Children is an international charity dedicated to helping villages in third-world countries. It partnered with the EF Learning Tours organization to give educators and students around the nation an opportunity to give back in a global sense.

“The whole point of Free the Children and giving one of these trips at the We Day event is to raise awareness about their service learning organization and opportunities for students,” Mohnike said. “[Having] an adult go with some students encourages them to buy into the process and get connected through the tours to local villages in a variety of different countries.”

The first student Mohnike has decided to bring with her to the Amazon is ASB treasurer junior Aakash Thumaty, who was the student who encouraged her to enter the raffle in the first place.

“He’s been involved in ASB all these years, so I feel like if we’re really going to do something meaningful on the trip and bring that experience back to the school, he would be the best person,” Mohnike said.

Mohnike will open the other two spots to any students interested through a form in the office, but warned that students going on the trip should know they “may not be in for hot showers [and shouldn’t] be afraid of bugs.”

The trip will include five days in a village in the Amazon Jungle, where the students will work on a project involving “digging, building [and] mixing and pouring cement,” Mohnike said.

The airfare, lodging and food during the time in the Amazon are all paid for by the organization. There is also an optional extension of the trip to the Galapagos Islands, which Mohnike said the group might also do.

Mohnike, an avid traveller, said she most looks forward to experiencing the culture and flora and fauna of South America, as it is her first time traveling there. She also wants the students to be inspired and spread the passion for service back at Saratoga High School.

“I have a vision for this school where our service organizations and ASB unite and do something as a school that is more global that everybody can be proud of pitching in to,” she said. “Having a focused place to direct our service is a cool way to promote service and school unity.”