By David Nathan

If Mylena Bovo ’26 (pictured above, right) could share with Atch Stapper ’56 the impact that Lasell’s service-learning trip to Antigua in January had on her, she would summarize it succinctly: life changing.

Bovo joined a dozen other Lasell students on a week-long Shoulder to Shoulder trip to the Caribbean nation, where they taught classes of students and engaged with educators and community members.

“For me, Shoulder to Shoulder helped me become a better teacher, and a more confident person,” says Bovo, an Honors Program student and elementary education major. “It also helped me understand that people in different cultures are really more alike than different.”

While in Antigua, Bovo helped lead a special-education classroom at an elementary school. She challenged herself to adapt her lesson plans and teaching style to ensure that she was reaching every student regardless of their abilities.

“I learned that, at the end of the day, kids are kids and teachers are teachers wherever you are,” says Bovo, a native of Brazil who moved to Massachusetts when she was 11. “All teachers have a similar goal: We want to build a foundation so kids can reach their potential.”

Bovo enjoyed her experience in Antigua so much that she promotes it while leading campus tours for prospective Lasell students and their parents. “I didn’t do study abroad, but I went abroad and had the most rewarding experience,” she tells campus visitors.

Atch, a Lasell Village resident who died in 2024 (pictured above, left), and her husband, Erik (pictured next to Atch), former chair of the Lasell University Board of Trustees and Lasell Village trustee, have supported Lasell students like Bovo for decades. They established the Mary McNamara ’56 and Antoinette Ruinen ’56 Scholarship Fund for International Students or Studies in 1996 and generously supported the Shoulder to Shoulder program.

Atch was born in The Netherlands and later lived in Indonesia, Curaçao, Virginia, Texas, and New York.

“Atch was immensely proud of being able to provide so many Lasell students with the opportunity to travel internationally and learn about other cultures,” Erik says. “Travel enriched our lives, and we wanted Lasell students to have the same experience.”