CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Students from a small Catholic high school on the South Side are planning a trip of a lifetime to Ghana in West Africa.
Six students from Leo Catholic High School, at 79th and Sangamon, in the Auburn-Gresham neighborhood will be visiting Ghana for 10-days in June.
Principal Shaka Rawls has been there a couple of times before and has set up a relationship with people in the tiny village of Mpeasem, which follows Leo High School and its activities and sports on the Internet.
"They’re already familiar with the work that we do at Leo, so our boys will be rock stars when they get there," Rawls said.
Leo senior Schron Brown, 17, knows the trip will expand his horizons from the Englewood community where he lives now. He said he's looking forward to learning about the people, the food, the animals and more in Ghana. He also expects there'll be plenty of singing since all six students going are members of the Leo choir.
Brown said he expects the choir to perform R&B and gospel music and "if we learn their music too, we’ll do it with them."
Principal Rawls expects the trip to be eye-opening for the students.
"We’ve been very successful raising money, but we’re still soliciting donations. And we’re looking to subsidize our trip as much as we can," he said.
Some of the money has come from the Big Shoulders Fund and from big supporters of the school.
Among the other experiences and places they'll visit according to Rawls, "we’ll have opportunity to weave kente cloth, we’ll have the opportunity to study the Andinkra symbols. We’ll have the opportunity to learn about the history of Ghana, to visit the house of the kings in several different regions."
The school has a Leo Lions 'N' Ghana Facebook page.