Allison Spear

CRANBERRY TWP — Summer vacation for many high school students means enjoying time off before returning to classes in the fall.

For Seneca Valley High School student Allison Spear, this summer is about helping others.

Allison, 16, was in Costa Rica as a volunteer for the Young Leader program, part of Global Leadership Adventures. For 10 days, she was in the program’s “Beachside Service Adventure,” one of seven volunteer assignments in Costa Rica.

“I was really excited. I was looking forward to helping people, and it seemed like a really fun trip,” said Allison of Cranberry Township.

Although she has been outside the United States before, Allison said this was the first time she went alone.

Among the many activities she and her 34-member group did included building a park, laying down cement for a community center and preparing an area of a school to cement.

“They (locals) were really receptive. They helped us build those things, talked to us and gave us drinks when we were thirsty,” Allison said.

Allison said before going to Costa Rica, she only knew it was tropical and teeming with mosquitoes.

“I went down there with an open mind, ready to learn new things,” she said.

She also said she applied bug spray “twice an hour” to keep mosquitoes off.

She thought Costa Rica was a great place: “I really loved it. It was overall a great place to be.”

Allison’s parents, Rich and Katie Spear, said the Young Leader Program was an opportunity for Allison to “get out on her own.”

“We travel frequently. She’s done a lot of travel, but it’s always been with us other than band trips,” Katie Spear said. “We thought it was good for her.”

Allison has been involved in the community since she was 12.

For more than four years, she has volunteered with the Miracle League in Cranberry Township.

In eighth grade, she was president of Helping Hands community service at Seneca Valley Middle School.

She also performs in community concerts with the Center for Young Musicians as a guitarist.

She will continue to volunteer for the Miracle League and look for other opportunities to help out.

Allison and her family will soon be in Ecuador, exploring the Galápagos Islands.