CHS Alum Leads Westfield Students Through Africa

A Cranford High School alum has been busy this summer leading a group of Westfield High School students through Africa.

Westfield High School earth science teacher Sara Soriente, a 2000 graduate of CHS, has been co-leading 11 WHS students on an in South Africa and Mozambique. The group, which left on July 13, arrives back in the United States on Sunday morning.

Soriente, who is leading the trip with WHS physics teacher Josh Garodnick, found out about the trip through the group Operation Wallecia. The group helps students groups conduct environmental research in Africa.

“It is a once a lifetime experience for them to be there,” Soriente said in a July interview with Westfield Patch. “They can do real environmental research, that’s something most university students don’t get to do.”

During the group’s first week abroad they stayed at Kruger National Park in South Africa, conducting research into the impact of animals and controlled burns on the bush. Kruger is a 7.332-acre national park in the northeastern part of South Africa.

Following the week in South Africa, Soriente and Garodnick brought the group to Mozambique where they spent a week scuba diving with sharks. This part of the trip featured extensive research into coral reefs for the group. While in Mozambique, the group reported that they have been able to learn about local culture and meet other students from around the world.

Outside of the field research, the group had regular lectures while in Africa and had the chance to learn more about local culture.

“They’ve aligned all of the things we’ll be doing with AP biology,” Soriente said before she left for Africa. “All of the vocabulary we’ll use is in the course. The courses we offer at the high school have minimal field experience, so this gives the students the chance to experience what real scientists do.”

Soriente, a volleyball coach at Westfield High School, has been leading regular trips abroad for WHS students. She has helped lead several to the Dominican Republic in recent years to provide humanitarian assistance to the Caribbean nation. In 2010, she traveled to Haiti to help rebuild the country following the earthquake. During the Haiti trip, she also organized a medical supply drive for the country within the WHS community.

Soriente has been named by Patch as one of and most interesting people of 2010.

The African trip was not paid for with taxpayer funds, but rather sponsored by Westfield parents and a variety of fundraisers in the Westfield community. The fundraisers included a car wash, selling banners for the WHS graduation and a contest to at WHS teachers and WHS Principal Peter Renwick.

“I never took the opportunity when I was younger, I never volunteered and traveled,” Soriente said before she left about why she has becoming Westfield’s globe trotting teacher. “Now I have the opportunity, so I can go and experience new things. I love watching the kids experience new things, that’s the most rewarding part of it.”