A group of Spanish students from Pacelli High School currently finds themselves in Mexico, some 6,000 feet above sea level.

Tuesday, April 18, 2000

A group of Spanish students from Pacelli High School currently finds themselves in Mexico, some 6,000 feet above sea level.

The group is the first to venture outside of the United States’ borders and are currently stationed in Oaxaca, Mexico.

According to Becky Rasell, a Spanish teacher at Pacelli, a former resident of Austin lives in Oaxaca and runs a children’s home he helped build. The students will help to expand the exsisting facilities.

"We didn’t want to do the tourist thing," Rasell said. "We wanted to do someting that would make a difference."

Twenty students and five adults are making the journey to the city, which lies seven hours south of Mexico City.

The experience will be brand new to most of the students, right from the start; about 17 of the students have never been on a airplane.

The student said they look forward to grow and in appreciating what they have here at home. Many of the students said the trip bring them closer together and give them the experience of having to use a language profieceintly. In addition, the students will be able to celebrate Catholic holidays in a different country.