Members of an organization at Wyandanch Memorial High School are hoping to raise enough funds for an educational trip to Africa.

Principal Paul Sibblies started Kappa League at the high school eight years ago to keep young male students out of gangs. He says the mentoring program has been successful and now he is on a mission to enrich their lives further with a trip to Ghana to put them in touch with their roots.

"That's where slavery was and there was passage there that each slave went through in order to get to Europe, so they're going to experience that walk as well," Sibblies says

Wyandanch alum Daryl Matthews went to Ghana for the first time in 2020. He says the experience will be lifechanging for the students.

"For the boys to learn their history, learn where they came from, learn their culture," Matthews says. "It's one thing reading it from a book or looking at it online, and it's another thing to go to a whole different continent."

"We came from Africa a long, long time ago," says Justin Henry, a student and member of Kappa League. "I think it's important to know our history."

The students are planning to leave for their trip on April 1.

To help them reach their financial goal, you can donate here. So far, they have raised around $45,000 of their $60,000 goal.