Impacting  the lives of impoverished children in Costa Rica through education, the members of the group iEducateCR will be heading back to Nosara, Costa Rica for the third year in a row this January. iEducateCR stands for International Educators Donating Unifying Contributors And The Enduring Costa Ricans, and was founded by then junior Annie Tadvick in 2011.

“I started it January of my junior year in high school,” alumni and iEducateCR founder Annie Tadvick said. “I founded it because I had always wanted to do a mission trip but felt I had turned into the kind of person who talked the talk but never walked. I went to a church that didn’t provide many service trip options for teens [and] I felt like they were missing an opportunity to ignite a passion for others within teens.”

While trying to find a service project for to do, Tadvick was also looking for opportunities to show her responsibility.

“I wasn’t the normal teen either,” Tadvick said. “I was kind of a 17 year old going on 25 maybe even 30. I wanted to be given responsibility and trust, but, because of my age, I didn’t find it often. So, I heard about Dina Gundelfinger’s work in Nosara, Costa Rica and asked her to mentor me for a fundraiser and service trip that I wanted to start up.”

Gundelfinger is a philanthropist, fundraiser, and in Tadvick’s case, a mentor, for the Friends of Nosara foundation.

“We work with the US-based non-profit Friends of Nosara (FON) , specifically [the] Surfing Nosara Foundation (SNF),” Tadvick said. “We raise money, collect school supplies and toys, then, volunteer in Nosara at local summer camps whose main purpose for existence is to feed children and keep them busy during the summer months while their parents are at work.”

In simple terms, the FON is the group that works with the overall Costa Rica project, while the SNF works and supports the schools.

“Friends of Nosara is a large scale US-based non-profit, [while] Surfing Nosara Foundation is connected to Friends of Nosara as a sister organization,” Tadvick said. “Basically, being connected to FON allows SNF to claim tax deductions. FON has many different organizations that they are connected to and fundraise for ranging from environmental efforts to education efforts.”

This year the Surfing Nosara Foundation president is senior Sarah Antonson, who organizes the Escuelita project, and the senior project leader is senior Olivia Griffin.

While in Costa Rica, the volunteers do a variety of volunteer work along with having a recreational day for themselves.

“We deliver all of the random supplies that we’ve collected, volunteer or run summer camps, and enjoy a “reward” day,” Tadvick said. “The “reward” day is the day that we spend just enjoying Nosara by going to the beach and zip-lining. It’s a reward for all of the hard work they’ve put in that week and the entire year leading up to the trip.”

Because the majority of Costa Ricans speak Spanish, and the fact that the host families, the families the iEducateCR group will be staying with, speak only Spanish as well, the members must be prepared for speaking a non native language.

“I’m really looking forward to staying with the host families because they speak only Spanish and all Spanish,” junior Sydney Carawan said. “You’re staying with this family who speaks a completely different language so you have to figure out how to communicate and I get to learn about their culture and their food and all about what it’s like to live there.”

Since the host families the group stays with only speak Spanish, the applicants and members are chosen each year through the Spanish classes.

“Every year we do presentations during Spanish classes about this project and leave applications for students to fill out, then we take the best applicant,” Tadvick said.

The reasons for going are different for every applicant, but they can include working with children, a chance to change, a love of Spanish, or a want to help other places.

“I had friends that went last year and so they said it absolutely changed their lives and they came back with this whole new appreciation,” Carawan said. “I love kids, too,  and we’re working in a school called Escuelita, so I’m excited to get to work with the kids on that.”

Although Tadvick graduated from LHS two years ago, she is still involved in the group and their trips, and will be traveling this year as well.

“I help organize the trips, do the presentations at the end of the year, and oversee their efforts to

fundraise and collect supplies,” Tadvick said. “Since I’m working in the film industry, I plan on putting together a short 5-10 minute documentary over “Escuelita”, the non-profit summer camp that they do for the entire month of January. I will also be chaperoning this year’s trip.”

This year only 6 student and chaperones will be making the trek to Nosara.

“We’re keeping it kind of small scale to save money [this year],” Tadvick said. “So, it’ll just be four students, myself, and my father. I think we’re going to have a really fun time since it’s not as many people to socialize with and keep track of. I’m also super excited to introduce Sarah Antonson, Mike and Alic Olsen, and my host family to my Dad.”

In Tadvick’s opinion, the fact that they actually go to Costa Rica instead of just sending over supplies

makes a huge impact.

“Meeting the people that you fundraise for makes a big difference,” Tadvick said. “We do the service trip so that a piece of our community can connect and put faces to names.”

While changing the lives of people in Costa Rica, the trip also changes the lives of the students who go.

“I believe it’s changed my life completely: the way I think about money or food, the way I speak to others, and honestly the way I look at how I want to live my life,” Tadvick said. “It gave me a lot of confidence. The people of Las Delicias taught me how to live humbly and how to laugh fuller. My host family is amazing and I can’t wait to see them again!”