Severino Polanco was born and raised in the Cibao, the mountainous heartland of the Dominican Republic, in the outskirts of the small rice-growing town of Cotui. He was one of five children born to a poor but hard-working single mother. Tall, athletic, and assertive, he played basketball for his community and at the basketball Club San Lazaro in the capital, Santo Domingo, gaining the nickname "Jordan" and renown as the best athlete ever to come out of Cotui. He used his basketball skills to get out of the knee-deep-in-water, mosquito-infested rice fields, to get to the Capital, where he could go to better schools than those available in Cotui. Severino had decided very early on that education was the key to his future. Severino played basketball and worked and attended school, he went to the Dominican Air force and he played at the military Athletics, all at the same time. He established a small comedor (workers’ dining room), working there and at a variety of odd jobs, mostly in security for local hotels, casinos, and nightclubs. Eventually Severino left basketball to join the Dominican Air Force, which provided educational discounts as well as medical benefits for him and his entire family back in Cotui. He graduated from secondary school with high marks in all his classes--no mean achievement for a poor young moreno on his own, especially one who was in the Air Force and working multiple jobs.

After graduation Severino enrolled in private language academies and the national Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, excelling not only in French, but also in English and Italian. Earning his Licenciatura in French whetted Severino’s appetite for advanced education. He determined to earn another Licenciatura or a Masters degree in Tourism Administration, but to do so without leaving his beloved island for the 2-4 years such a degree would take in France or the U.S.A., where he could attend university on scholarship. So he joined the National Military Police’s brand new tourist division, Politur. (Severino was the student leader in charge of the division’s first 40 cadets at the National Police Academy in El Hatillo, San Cristóbal, all of whom were hand-picked for this elite new branch.) Severino graduated from the Politur program with honors in May 1999 and took up his "beat" in the Zona Colonial.

Today: In June of 2000, Severino left the military to accept the position of Night Manager and Auditor for the remodeled Hotel Mercure Comercial in the Zona Colonial (the historic hotel built by Trujillo is now owned and managed by the French firm ACCOR/Sofitel), while he attended university during the day, working on his language skills and toward an advanced degree in Hotel and Tourism Administration at the Universidad Dominicana O & M. When he was not at work, in school, or studying, Severino was working toward his future in a different way--he's the president and founder of the Centro Cultural Turístico Guanín--better known as Grupo Guanín!  He also likes to work, play and converse with international visitors, teaching them to dance merengue and bachata, to enjoy Dominican people, food and culture.... He is constantly charming them and showing them first-hand the best of what it is to be Dominican. In January 2002, Severino left the Hotel Mercure to focus on his university studies, Grupo Guanín, and his full-time position as co-director of STUDENT & RESEARCHER SERVICES and he funded the Tour Agency “SAS TRAVEL AND TOUR”. In the summer of 2002 we  inaugurated our program educational  program  ¡Espanol en la playa!  “Spanish at the beach”

In 2006, Severino When to Canada and work like volunteer at the Boys and Girls Club for more than 6 months and he was the Manager for the Youth Center of Hinton for 4 months. After all his trip to Europe, France, Spain, Germany, Canada an USA, he back to his own land in the Dominican Republic to work and his own company.

· Co-Director of STUDENT SERVICES CxA. And Executive Director of SAS TRAVEL AND TOUR. To date, Lynne Guitar and Severino have worked with student groups from Vanderbilt University, Western Michigan University, Michigan State University, Central Michigan University, Cornell University, Fisk University, Ithaca College, the University of Rhode Island, Millikin University, DePauw University, COUNSEL and FLASCO university consortiums, and Putney Student Travel. We also have worked with individual students and researchers from the U.S., Canada, England, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Japan, Spain, Brazil, and other Latin American and Caribbean countries, and with various church-related and project-oriented youth groups who have come to the Dominican Republic. We are the unofficial guides and on-site orientators for staff, family visitors and VIP guests of the U.S., Canadian, and British Embassies, and have run intercultural exchange programs for the Dominican Secretaria del Estado de Turismo’s tourist police.

· Licenciatura (B.A. equivalent), Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, Aliance Francaise, and Casa de Italia--French, Italian, and English.

· Licenciatura  Hotel and Tourism Management, La Universidad Dominica O & M, Santo Domingo.

· Founder and President of "Grupo Guanín," the Centr Cultural Guanín. Inc.

Resume.