Warwick students launch international outreach with Roatan

The Warwick Valley High School Interact Club has kicked off its first outreach project of the year, working alongside the Warwick Valley Rotary Club and Hilltop Communities to connect with students in Roatan, Honduras.

The initiative, called Branches Across Borders: One Well & Global Literacy, is part of Hilltop Communities’ PATH program (Promoting Art, Teamwork, Hope), which focuses on community-led, sustainable projects in education and infrastructure.

The collaboration began after a recent Warwick Valley Rotary luncheon, where Dr. Roseanne Esposito and Rick Bette, president and vice president of Hilltop Communities, shared their vision of fostering literacy, cultural exchange, and even introducing robotics into Central American classrooms.

To mark the start of the program, Interact Club students created a cultural poster representing their school and community. The poster was delivered to Honduras by Dr. Esposito and will be shared with Roatán students as a way to spark dialogue and build friendships across borders.

“This project is a natural fit, especially since Rotary’s area of focus this month is education and literacy,” said Jeanine Fogler, WVHS teacher and Interact Club advisor. She noted that the club’s work supports PATH’s literacy efforts, which currently sponsor 50 students abroad with copies of Emily and the Mango Man by Gary Chamer, a story centered on cultural pride and intergenerational learning.

The “traveling poster” project has already generated interest beyond Warwick, with two other communities expressing a desire to join the exchange. Interact Club members are looking forward to more opportunities through Hilltop Communities and Rotary’s global network, especially projects connected to Rotary’s Seven Areas of Focus, such as education, health, and community development.

For Warwick students, the experience goes beyond service—it is an exercise in becoming global citizens. Through these connections, they are learning to value empathy, cultural understanding, and the responsibilities shared within a worldwide community.