EDUCATION COMMITTEE

Introduction

At its meeting of February 23, 2009, Los Amigos de La Peņita established an Education Committee with the following objectives:

• To provide better education in our community;
• To empower parents and teachers to help their children to a better education; and
• To develop leadership skills of students, parents and teachers.

Raising the grade of the school yard and building a new bathroom at J. Cruz Bautista Escuela Primaria in La Colmena was the first project completed under the auspices of the Education Committee of Los Amigos. Since then, four additional projects have been completed: building a shelter for the play area at Miguel Hildago Kinder in La Colonia and repairing the washrooms at Juan Escutia Primaria in La Peņita, construction of a new kindergarden at Patria Kinder and replacing the dangerous entry cupola at Kinder Guadalupe Manautou.

Classroom Based Initiatives

Class room based projects are projects focused on motivating students and helping teachers. This includes essay and art contests and placing English speakers in schools to help the students learn English.

• English Speakers in the classroom:
  This project helps teachers in their efforts to teach English to their students. A teacher may have limited English skills especially when it comes to pronunciation.
  
  
• Murals La Penita:
  
  This is an effort to beautify our community, teach pride of ownership to the students, stimulate their creative talents and raise funds for other projects. This project will be initiated in September 2009 along with an essay contest.

The Education Committee approached all of the schools in La Peņita and La Colonia and asked them to both participate in the work of the Committee and to submit projects for consideration for funding. Eight schools initially indicated an interest in submitting potential projects and, of these, six schools completed the process of making a formal application. The Committee then prioritized the projects through a process which involved the Parent's Council from each school, as well the Director (or a representative) from each school.

Raising the grade of the school yard and building a new bathroom at J. Cruz Bautista Escuela Primaria in La Colmena was the first project completed under the auspices of the Education Committee of Los Amigos. Since then, two additional projects have been completed: building a shelter for the play area at Miguel Hildago Kinder in La Colonia and repairing the washrooms at Juan Escutia Primaria in La Peņita. Work has also commenced on the construction of a new kindergarden at Patria Kinder.

The initiative also has another more lasting benefit. It has empowered parents by not only having them set the priorities in terms of funding but also by assisting them to initiate their own funding activities. Their major fundraiser was a Gran Bazar in the Fall of 2009 which raised 13,000 pesos. Besides undertaking fundraising, parents are providing volunteer labour and, along with local businesses, contributing supplies.

In addition to these projects, at its February 8 meeting, Los Amigos allocated $10,000 pesos to the Education Committee specifically for the Las Cabras Kindergarten Project. Photo Credit: Thanks to Johan Neilson

This was in recognition of the members of the Education Committee who volunteered their time at Fiesta 2010, refusing payment for the work they did at the day of the event. Funds have also been donated to this project by the parents, the Rotary Club and others.

The four projects completed in the first year are as follows:

		1. J. Cruz Bautista Primary School: This project involved raising the grade of the school yard so children can get to the bathroom without wading through 12 inches of water during the rainy season and the addition of a second bathroom. This project has now been completed.
		2. Miquel Hidalgo Kinder: Shade and protection from the rain. This project has now been completed.
		3. La Patria Kinder: Soraida, the teacher of this tiny kindergarten, has worked tirelessly to acquire land for the school and now needs help to get the construction started. In collaboration with parents, local suppliers and government a new school will be constructed. This project has now been completed.
		4. Juan Escutia Primary School: This project is a renovation of the bathrooms at the school. This project has now been completed

The three projects approved for the second year are as follows:

		1.Guadalupe Manautou Kinder: The entry cupola was deteriorating and presented a danger to the children. This project has now been completed.
		2. Las Rosas Kinder: This project aims to build a new kindergarten with one classroom and bathrooms.  There is no other kindergarten in the area.  Currently 7 students meet in a borrowed room but will be moving to another borrowed space shortly.
		3. Justo Sierra Primary School:: Security needs to be upgraded by repairing and raising about 40 meters of perimeter wall.

The Jaltemba Bay Foundation recently agreed to provide funding specifically for the La Patria Kinder project through the proceeds from the Fashion Show

• For more information and photos for these projects go to: http://jaltembajalapeno.com/la/school-construction-projects/all-projects-summary/

• For more information on the Jaltemba Bay Foundation, go to: http://www.jaltembafoundation.com/