Ryan Kyle didn’t expect her School the World trips to change her career trajectory. She thought she was going to be a lawyer.
But somewhere between mixing cement for playground construction, celebrating her 16th, 17th, and 18th birthdays with Guatemalan communities singing happy birthday on stage, and teaching a bit of English in an unfinished school, Ryan discovered something unexpected: working with kids in educational settings wasn’t just a hobby—it was her calling.
Ryan traveled to Guatemala three consecutive summers from 2016-2018, drawn initially by an interest in Spanish, travel, and education. Her mom had worked with School the World founder Kate Curran years earlier and wanted to support Kate’s new venture.
“It was a really nice merge of all those interests,” Ryan recalls. Each summer brought new communities and new faces, though the work remained consistent—painting schools, making concrete for playgrounds, spending time with local kids during breaks.
What made the deepest impression wasn’t the construction work itself, but the investment School the World made in each community. “You could tell when we got there School the World had already been there for a long time,” Ryan reflects. “It wasn’t this experience where you’re just popping in for 10 days and then you leave and they never see this organization again.”
Ryan vividly remembers her “little squad”—three kids named Denzel, Teresa, and Maricela. They’d hang out together during breaks, building connections that transcended language barriers.
One particularly meaningful experience was visiting a family’s home, where Ryan encountered something she’d never experienced before: double translation from K’iche’ to Spanish to English. “It was very cool to actually get to hear some of the K’iche’, which I wasn’t familiar with at all,” she says. The families opened their homes, cooked food, and showed the volunteers their daily lives—an intimate glimpse that went far beyond typical tourism.
At the end of each trip, the communities would make a celebratory meal for all the volunteers and families of the community, making tamales—a gesture School the World staff emphasized was a significant investment of time, money, and care.
After high school, Ryan majored in Law, Jurisprudence, and Social Thought at Amherst College—a program she jokes “convinced you not to go to law school.” It worked. What she thought would remain a passion on the side kept pulling her back to the classroom.
“School the World sort of started that,” Ryan explains. “The sad part is you’re only there for ten days and then you leave. What I really wanted to do is go somewhere and be there for a significant period of time and really live in the communities.”
That desire led Ryan to pursue a Fulbright in Uruguay after college, where she taught English for eight months in both urban and rural schools. “I don’t think without that exposure of how great it can be to interact with kids in an educational setting, that would have happened,” she reflects. “School the World sort of started that.”
Today, Ryan is completing her master’s degree through American University and City Teaching Alliance in Washington, DC, a program that trains teachers specifically for urban schools. She’s student teaching third grade at a dual language school—bringing together her passions for education, language, and intercultural learning that first took root in Guatemala.
Ryan and her family remain connected to School the World not just through memories, but through ongoing financial support. “With School the World, you really know where your money is going,” she says. “They do a very good job of creating a tangible representation of what a gift does. Having gone on the trips and knowing the organization, I know that money is going to the right place.”
Recently, Ryan and her dad even returned to Guatemala for another service trip, this time working at a school in Antigua, while practicing their Spanish. Full circle indeed.
For Ryan, those three summers mixing cement and celebrating birthdays on stage weren’t just service trips—they were the beginning of a career devoted to education, language learning, and building bridges across cultures. Sometimes the most transformative journeys happen when you’re not planning on being transformed at all.
Ready to discover your own path? Check out our upcoming spring break and summer service trips to Guatemala, Panama, and Honduras.
Ryan Kyle participated in School the World trips to Guatemala in 2016, 2017, and 2018. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree in education and teaching third grade in Washington, DC.
We just reached a historic milestone! Thanks to our community of supporters and local partners, we’ve officially dedicated our 200th school in Central America.
This isn’t just about a building—it’s about 17 years of community-led transformation and the start of a five-year commitment to the children of Tululché II.
From Guatemala to the Philippines, our co-investment model ensures every dollar you give creates a self-sustaining foundation for education.