STUDENT OF MERIT: Uganda trip was life-changing for Kevin Vandivort of Fallbrook

By GARY WARTH - Staff Writer | Wednesday, June 4, 2008 2:14 PM PDT ∞

FALLBROOK ---- As a child, Kevin Vandivort said he sometimes imagined saving the world with super powers like the ones he read about in comic books.


Students of Merit page

The Fallbrook High School senior is older now, his ideas about heroes have changed, and he accepts that saving the world isn't as simple as he once hoped.

But sometimes he still wants to try.

His efforts in organizing support for a school in Uganda and his outstanding academic achievements were among the reasons Vandivort, 18, was named one of 10 North County Times Students of Merit.

Students were nominated for the $500 scholarships by teachers, counselors, clergy and other acquaintances for accomplishments in academics, community service, extracurricular activities and strength of character. A panel of newspaper employees selected the honorees.

Last August, Vandivort and 13 other members of Fallbrook Presbyterian Church traveled on a three-week mission to northern Uganda to bring aid to people living in the Internally Displaced Peoples camp.

"You hear things about Africa on TV and the media, and we have this idea that because of our status and where we're from, we can go over and influence them and change things," he said. "But going over there and interacting with them, you realize they have much more of an impact on you. It's just so humbling. It's something I'll never forget."

Vandivort created the Schools for Schools program at Fallbrook High to work with the San Diego-based Invisible Children organization to aid Uganda.

Invisible Children has a staff of 30 in San Diego and 55 in Uganda. The group focuses on the war-torn northern part of the country, where fighting between the government and a rebel force has displaced between 1.2 million and 1.7 million people, according to CIA estimates.

As president of the student group, Kevin has organized events to promote awareness about the African nation and has helped raise $15,000 to support a Fallbrook High sister school, Sacred Heart Secondary School in Uganda, an all-girls high school with about 1,000 students.

Academically, Vandivort ranked 14th in his class of 658 and earned a grade point average of 4.12. He was on the principal's Meritorious Honor Roll in 2004-05 and 2005-06 and on the principal's Distinguished Honor Roll in 2006.

He also earned the A Team award for academic excellence at the school for two years and in 2007 was a Chargers Champion Scholarship recipient.

Vandivort played four years for the school's baseball team, including two years on the Warriors varsity team. The 5-foot-10-inch pitcher and infielder said he is going to focus on his studies and not pursue baseball in college.

Vandivort also found time for his faith while at school, even if it meant some early mornings. Besides participating in the Warriors for Christ club during lunch period on Thursdays, he started a Tuesday morning Bible study that met at 6 a.m.

"There was a lot of coffee," he said about the before-school club.

But nothing he did in or out of school had the impact of the trip to Uganda, Kevin said.

"With each child's broken smile, with every hand held, I was discovering my own identity, my limits as an individual, my love for those in need, and was disabused from the naive perception of my place in the world," he wrote in a letter describing the trip.

Vandivort said he was struck by how independent young children were, yet how everybody pulled together to help one another.

"One night we were driving in our bus and got stuck in the mud," he recalled. "Within an hour, we had hundreds of village people out trying to help us and get us home safely. To see people come out of the bushes and help was unreal. It was a night I'll never forget."

Vandivort has one older sister, Kimmy, and is the son of Greg and Laura Vandivort of Fallbrook. His father is a project manager for residential construction projects and his mother is a catering manager at a Mexican restaurant, he said.

"My parents did a lot of traveling when they were younger and always encouraged me to get out and see the world," he said. "They've been supportive of everything I've done."

Vandivort said he plans to attend Pepperdine University and is leaning toward studying business in school.

"I'm really interested in nonprofit organizations," he said. "What I've seen through Invisible Children has given me so much hope about what our country can do to help others around the world."

Contact staff writer Gary Warth at (760) 740-5410 or gwarth@nctimes.com.

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