SITKA, Alaska - Stephanie Cosantino and Jessie Cherofsky hopped on their bikes in Anchorage on July 8 for a 5,000-mile ride that they hope will make a "profound difference" to dozens of girls in a working-class New England community.

The two Wellesley College graduates are trying to raise $20,000 for the Our Sisters' School, a tuition-free, school for fifth- to eighth-grade girls from disadvantaged backgrounds in New Bedford, Mass.

The two women, both 24, started in Anchorage, and spent a few days in Sitka last week, before continuing on their way to Prince Rupert, Vancouver Island and down the West Coast. At some point, they'll turn east, and head to New Orleans where their journey will end sometime this winter.

Cosantino worked for two years at the Our Sisters' School (OSS) as an Americorps volunteer, and saw the difference the program made in the girls' lives. All teachers at the 53-student school are Americorps volunteers. There are a few paid staff members, and some hundred volunteers from the community who donate time to enhance the offerings at the school.

The girls at OSS come from various backgrounds and are a reflection of the diversity as well as the poverty of New Bedford.

The school focuses on academic subjects, but spends about four hours a day on other skills the girls need for succeeding and staying healthy. The academic day ends at 3:30 p.m. or 3:45 p.m. But the school stays open and accessible to the students well into the evening hours.

"Because they're inner city girls we're making sure they're active and healthy," Cosantino said. "We don't provide dinner, but we provide an evening snack, and they stay to do homework. We want them to have a safe and conducive environment for doing work. A lot don't have that at home, and there's no one to help them with their homework at home. It's a great opportunity for extra learning."

What the staff is after, Cosantino said, is an "all-arou nd education."

The first three years of the school's operation the girls on average increased their performance by two grade levels in math, and three in reading.

"It's an exceptionally successful program," Cosantino said.

Despite the religious-sounding name, Our Sisters' School takes its name from the whaling history of New Bedford, when young wives sometimes joined seafaring husbands on extended voyages. The "sister sailors" often kept journals, and when they returned they shared their stories with women who stayed at home.

"It's a metaphor for girls who want to have their own adventure outside New Bedford," Cosantino said.

The two bicyclists come from a background of community service and felt the cycling trip was a good way to get the message out about the school, continue their goals of service, and raise needed funds for Our Sisters' School.

"We wanted to do something more meaningful than ourselves," Cherofsky said.

Cherofsky grew up i n Suffern, N.Y., where her family volunteered at a soup kitchen. Her parents donated to various causes, and Cherofsky went on a service trip to Puerto Rico while she was in high school. After her first year of college, she spent her summer working as an Americorps volunteer on conservation projects through the Student Conservation Association in Massachusetts.

She said she felt the fundraising trip for Our Sisters' School was a good fit for her goals.

While a volunteer at OSS, Cherofsky said she saw a lot of promise in the children there.

Cosantino, who just finished her two-year stint as a full-time Americorps volunteer and teacher at the school, has also been active in volunteer endeavors. Growing up in Hamilton, N.J., she volunteered at preschools and youth summer camps.

"I've always worked with kids in some capacity," she said.

During two summers, she worked in an English immersion program in Istanbul, Turkey.

The two are also relishing the ch ance to see the U.S. from bicycles and make friends along the way.

"Being on a bike, we meet more people, you can smell more and experience more of the environment, more than you can when you're in a car," Cherofsky said. "You're really part of it in a different way."

They have received help already from their sponsors, Taza Chocolate and the nutrition bar company Luna.

Donations can be made to their website www.anothermileanotherstarfish.com. The name is derived from a story about trying to make a difference despite the odds against it. The story is retold on the website.

Cherofsky said that theme fits well with what they - and the small nondenominational school in New Bedford - are trying to do.

"That's our goal," Cherofsky said. "We're raising money for a small school, but we're hoping to make a profound difference."