One Email Sparks a Movement: Sarasota United Through Trek
It started with a simple subject line: “Want to build a school with me?”
When Sarah Soboleski reached out to her friends in 2014, she wasn’t trying to launch a movement. She was inviting a handful of people to take a chance on something bigger than themselves.
Today, that single question has grown into one of the most powerful student-led buildOn movements in the country, uniting schools across the Sarasota, Florida area, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars, and sending students around the world on Trek.
What you’ll learn in this story:
- How one Trek experience sparked a region-wide movement.
- The impact Sarasota students have already made globally.
- Why more students are choosing to go on Trek—and how you can too.
If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like to turn purpose into action, this is that story.
Ready to take the first step? Sign up to go on Trek today.
Where It All Began
More than a decade ago, Sarasota’s connection to buildOn started with a simple but powerful moment.
Sarah Soboleski was helping children in Haiti through another organization when she realized one of them couldn’t go to school. That realization led her to search for a way to help. And she found buildOn.
She couldn’t fund a school on her own, so she turned to her personal network. “I don’t have $30,000,” she recalled thinking. “But what I do have is 15 friends who are compassionate and can come up with a piece of that.”
Together, they funded a school in Haiti. Then another. And then something bigger began.
The Spark
What started as a small group effort didn’t stay small.
Pine View School math teacher Summer Grantham went with Sarah on that first Trek to Haiti and realized how powerful it would be to bring that experience to her high school students.
Over the following years, Summer helped turn that early momentum into something lasting, introducing students to global service and creating opportunities to lead beyond the classroom.
She launched a buildOn club at Pine View. Starting in 2018, students from the school began leaving their mark in small communities across the globe, first in Haiti, then Malawi, Nepal, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Senegal.
From there, the movement spread across Sarasota. Students who experienced Trek brought it back to their own schools, launching clubs, recruiting peers, and building momentum year after year.
What began with one person became a connected network of students, educators, and families all working toward the same goal. A true ignition effect.
The Movement Spreads
For many students, joining their school’s buildOn chapter is about building something new.
At Sarasota High School, Reese Stroud and Addison Hays helped launch a chapter after seeing the impact at Pine View.
“My brother went on Trek two years ago with Pine View students. They let him tag along even though he went to Sarasota High,” Reese explains. “He liked it so much that we brought it to our school.”
“Last year we only had three people go,” Reese shared. “And then this year it’s about 17 people. So that’s a super big jump.”
That kind of growth reflects something bigger than a club. It’s momentum.
Why Students Say Yes to Trek
For many students, the decision to go on Trek begins with curiosity but quickly becomes something much more meaningful.
“Our friends from Pine View told us about it and it sounded really cool and inspiring,” Bella Thomas, a Junior at Riverview High School, explains. “I feel like a lot of clubs at school can tend to be similar. buildOn sounded really unique.”
Bella and fellow classmate Kinley Meislahn jumped in headfirst and are going on Trek to Malawi for the first time this summer.
“I’m expecting it to be a little tough, but I think it’ll toughen me up,” Kinley says. “I think it’s going to be a really rewarding experience.”
For students who have gone, the experience can be hard to quantify afterwards. “It was more magical than I thought it was going to be,” says Sage Bellaire, a Junior at Venice High School. “It was an experience you can’t get anywhere else.”
For Noah Stewart, buildOn Club Co-President at Pine View, the Trek experience lived up to the hype.
“I was like, I can do this because it seems like something that would be an incredible experience. And I’m glad that I was right because it was.”
Trek is where service becomes real and where students begin to see their role in something bigger than themselves.
“It was an experience you can’t get anywhere else.” –Sage Bellaire, Venice High School Student
What Happens on Trek
On Trek, students travel to rural villages in countries like Guatemala, Senegal, Nepal, and Malawi to build schools alongside community members.
They live with host families, share daily life, and experience a new culture in a way that goes far beyond tourism.
“Once we were there, I don’t think we thought about the showers or any of that because we were so engaged in the community,” Reese recalls.
The work can be challenging. The environment is unfamiliar. But those are often the moments that stay with participants the longest.
“I’ve traveled a lot with my children,” Sarah explains. “But there’s been no experience richer than the ones I’ve had with them mucking through the mud in Guatemala, watching my son play soccer and my daughter braid hair and paint toenails.”
Trek isn’t just about what you build. It’s about what you take home.
“One thing I learned is that nothing I have is permanent,” Greyson Dawes, Pine View’s other buildOn Club Co-President, says. “And that I need to value friends, love and community so much more than money or materialistic things.”
The experience also deepens students’ commitment to education. “It made me a lot more grateful for my education,” Addison says. “I feel like now I go to school with a whole new mindset. Some people don’t have the opportunity to read the way that I do or learn the things that I do.”
“I feel like now I go to school with a whole new mindset.” –Addison Hays, Sarasota High School Student
Want to experience Trek for yourself? Sign up today.
A Movement Built by Students
Today, the buildOn movement in Sarasota is stronger than ever.
Students across the region have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, helped fund schools serving thousands of students. They’ve helped fund Adult Literacy Programs that have helped hundreds of parents learn to read and write in the same schools their children attend.
But the numbers only tell part of the story. Behind every dollar raised is a neighbor who decided to donate to make a change, and a student who chose to step up, lead, and take action.
From One School to Many
Sarasota is unique in how consistently the community has been showing up to make lasting change.
Pine View students have been going on Trek year after year, creating a foundation that other schools have built upon.
Grayson and Noah had the opportunity to speak at a local conference to spread the word about buildOn after they returned from their first Trek to Guatemala. “Telling our story about Guatemala and how we were able to raise money really opened the eyes of these students who had never heard about Trek before.” Greyson recalls. “It made it so we could expand buildOn all the way through Sarasota. Hopefully they can keep expanding it through Florida even more.”
As students graduate, new leaders step in. As new schools join, the network expands. Each year, the movement grows stronger.
Why This Matters
What’s happening in Sarasota serves as an example for other communities across the country.
When one person takes action, it can spark something much bigger. When students are given the opportunity to lead, they rise to meet it. And when communities rally around a shared purpose, real change happens.
“Our goal at Pine View is to fund a school a year,” Summer says. “And we have been able to do that, which is amazing. Every year is a challenge, but somehow, it always magically happens.”
“Summer started this club at Pine View,” Sarah explains.”Then word got out. Kids talk to each other. And now there is a chapter at Sarasota High School. And at Riverview High School. And Venice High School. So now we have four local high schools who have a buildOn chapter. And that is transforming our area and making us a more emotionally intelligent community.”
“There are a couple of other high schools in town,” she adds, looking to the future. “I once had a dream about building 50 schools. And I believe it’s possible.”
Sarasota shows that an incredible transformation can start with something as simple as an email sent to a few friends.
“Trek is transforming our area and making us a more emotionally intelligent community.” —Sarah Soboleski
Your Turn to Take the First Step
Right now, students across Sarasota are preparing for their next Treks, continuing a movement that began with a single email.
They’re fundraising. Leading. Building. And you can do the same.
Whether you’re a student, educator, parent, or just someone who believes in the power of service and education to change lives, there’s a place for you in this story. There’s a spot for you on Trek. There’s a place for you in the buildOn movement.
Ready to take the first step of your Trek journey? Fill out the form on this page to get the process started.