Vermont students spend spring break in Gainesville

GAINESVILLE - University of Vermont students who decided not to travel to Florida are spending their spring break in Gainesville helping children with disabilities at Challenged Child and Friends.

Ten students are spending the week at the early intervention center. Nineteen year old UVM sophomore Katie Crowley says they drove 20 hours to spend time with the kids as part of the national Alternative Spring Break program that sends students all over the country who want to help instead of play.

"A program like this is unreal," Crowley said. "Just the chance to be able to see it is way worth it is worth not going to the beach and partying. This is so much more fulfilling for us and the kids."

University of Vermont students have been coming to Challenged Child for about five years. Crowley said students who have visited previously told other students they had a great experience.

"They cannot stop raving about what a great program this is," she said. "The directors are awesome, we're well treated here and it's an amazing experience."

For 20 year old Andreas Varsakopoulos, who originally hails from near Athens, Greece but now lives near Burlington, Vermont, the trip to Gainesville gave him a chance to travel as well as help out.

"It's an experience to see another part of the country we've haven't seen before," he said.

Varsakopoulos is an education major planning to teach high school students, but he said working with small children beneficial.

"Working with little kids is exciting because I love how genuine they are at this age and how curious they are," he said.

UVM Middle School major Amelia Landay said she was drawn to specialized education with her visit to Challenged Child.

"I'm planning to work with 7th, 8th and maybe 9th graders when I graduate," Landay said. "Specialized education is something that's getting closer to my heart now that I've experienced it first hand."

Challenged Child Executive Director Dave Earnest said The UVM students are working in the class rooms with the children along with other projects including fund raising mailing, clean-up and play ground maintenance.