Two Federal Way students recently attended a remote school in Nagappatinam, India that was established to provide an education to children who were some distance away from government schools.

The Rotary Club built the school after the 2004 Indonesian tsunami devastated the area, but the building remained empty and unused for some years. Vidyarambam, a non-profit organization, saw a need, worked with the proper authorities and established a school for children from 3 years of age to the sixth grade.

Devin Cole, a seventh grade student at Sacajawea Middle School and Jessica Lam, a recent graduate of Federal Way Public Academy, taught a class about airplanes.

Cole defined in detail the parts of an airplane, using a Lego airplane as a model. He completed his demo by having the students build paper airplanes.  Boeing posters, brochures and other airplane material were donated to the school’s library.

Lam said the trip was the chance of a lifetime for her and she received an offer to come back and work summers in India as the children attend school almost year-round. Lam is currently attending Highline College and studying early childhood education.

To read more about the students’ teaching experience, visit their blog.

For information about Vidyarambam, visit www.vidyarambam.org.