Rockford residents open school in Haiti

Jen Masternak took her local paper along on a trip to Haiti with another resident, Trillium Hibbeln. Trillium is the co-founder and president of a non-profit organization called The Power of Education Foundation (PEF). PEF is dedicated to improving literacy rates in vulnerable parts of the world and has opened its first school with 90 students in Port-au-Prince, Haiti last October.

“We traveled to the school to bring supplies, provide some teacher training, do arts projects with students,” said Masternak. “For most students

it was their first time painting.”

Pictured are some of the students with the Rockford Squire newspaper. “The students loved looking through the paper and passed it through each of the classrooms.” Masternak said there are many Rockford residents who have been very supportive of the program.