Camino Claro Blog

Dear Raphel ,

Happy 26th birthday!

I hope you had a feliz día , even though I made you get out of the water for your “surprise cake party.” I hope you forgive me.

Sincerely, and with LOTS of love,

Haley

It’s 7:30 on a Monday night and I’m sitting in Escuela Camino Claro waiting for the last class of the day to wind down. Gerardo is in the next room leading his adult English class in basic dialogues (“Hello, how are you? I’m fine, thank you, and you?”), so I thought I would take a moment to reflect on a few things that have happened during the first week of classes.

ECC started its 2010 school year on Monday, March 8th.  It feels amazing to see the tangible results of weeks of hard work and organization. Arranging class schedules, recruiting students, and integrating new teachers for the past month and a half was like putting together a tedious puzzle, but now that ECC is back in action, Raphel and I can unwind for a moment and enjoy being in the role of administrators. At several points last week I smiled and said proudly to myself “It’s working!” There are dozens of students of all ages learning under ECC’s roof!

A few highlights from week one:

1) Gerardo’s evening adult English class overflowed our limited teaching space when 20 students, some returning but mosty new, arrived last Monday night! We barely had enough chairs to go around, but a few people didn’t mind sitting in the kiddie chairs and everyone was able to squeeze in. Raphel and Gerardo’s bike recruit around town the week before definitely paid off! The challenge will be to keep all those students coming every week.

2) Stellar success for Lisa’s Pre-K, or Bilingual I class. Lisa also wasn’t expecting such a great turnout- thirteen 3½  to 5 year olds in one class- so she’s already hired a local high school student to be her assistant. These smallest students get the award for being the most excited to be in school. 

3) Never thought it would be such a joy to be a teacher’s assistant again! No lesson planning and less preparation time, but I still get to hang out and participate in the education. It’s great. I love my job, especially when there are good people working with us.

4) By taking on this new role as “supervisor”, and not “head teacher,” I’ve been able to realize how much teaching experience I’ve gained over the past years and that I have useful insight for the new teachers (who are actually, in many ways, much more qualified than me). Though we may be good teachers, I know Raphel and I can agree that our lack of business experience has made us not so savvy in this arena, but we learn as we go along and make it work somehow.

Up and coming

This week, as the teachers and students settle into the schedule, Gerardo will start his Spanish for Gringos class and Raphel and I will continue to help out, meanwhile getting other activities organized. Computer classes are in the mix (again, high speed internet, yippee), as well as developing community improvement projects for our intern Jacob to help coordinate.

Like I said, off to a great start!
Cheers, Haley

Sunday was the last minute teachers meeting to fine-tune a few things before Escuela Camino Claro’s classes started the next day- and they’re in session as we speak! In the past, of course, the prep work has been done by Raphel and me, but with Gerardo and Lisa as part of the team now, this meeting was actually worthy of documenting. Just take this post as a “practice” for me to jump back into blog-world (meaning, more tantalizing posts to come, so don’t worry).

At our “kickoff potluck” we cleaned, organized, and set up (and went a little staple gun-happy!) until we all felt that we were ready for this week to begin. It’s amazing how a little goes a long way: with the few resources we have here at ECC, as well as all the creative minds working together, the building continues to transform into a positive learning environment for an increasing number of students.

Also worth noting is ECC now has broadband high speed Internet that is working beautifully! A couple years ago no one here even had phones, so imagine the cyber madness that’s now taking place. This town is small enough that everyone is practically already at shouting distance, but when people discover Facebook, they really don’t have to leave the house. Pictured here are Raphel and Gerardo joyfully watching a YouTube video.

In the next room, the students from the Bilingual II class are doing an art project involving cutting out the days of the week in English and Spanish, must go take pictures!

Blog readers, allow me to introduce you to one of Escuela Camino Claro’s new additions this year:

Jacob Smithers, intern and volunteer teacher

Raphel and I are ecstatic to finally find ourselves able to open ECC’s doors to other individuals and expand the school’s reach into the community. We were connected with Jacob, who arrives in Pavones in April, as alumni of Seattle University. With his non-profit experience and enthusiasm (he has the travel bug too, much like Raphel and I did when we came to Costa Rica almost four years ago!), he is an excellent candidate for helping out at the school. During his six-month commitment, ECC will keep him busy while volunteering with our head ESL teacher, Gerardo Mendoza, as well as teaching one or more ESL classes of his own. In addition, he will be running the computer lab, tutoring home school, AND doing several projects at the public school’s library. Jake, we’re anticipating your arrival!

Let’s hear from Jake:

I was born and raised around Seattle, Washington. I graduated from Seattle University with a passion for understanding and building communities, which has increasingly become extended internationally. After my studies at SU, I found that the concern for our world’s environment went beyond an awareness of the human-nature relationship and is strongly seated in a need for communities that work together for justice both socially and ecologically. During and after my studies, I have been involved in many non-profit organizations, most of which concentrate on youth education. I have volunteered as a teacher and a documentary photographer for Seattle Tilth, the Seattle Arboretum, Bridges to Understanding, and Helping Link. I also worked with Divertigranja, a sustainable animal farm in Oaxaca, Mexico, for several months and spent a month working with Tram Chim National Park in Vietnam. After my time in Vietnam, I was a Fulbright scholarship finalist, intending to return to Tram Chim to work with the youth environmental education programs. I am currently studying Spanish and teaching English at the Seattle Refugee Women’s Alliance. My travels through the South Pacific, Southeast Asia, and Latin America have been invaluable and I’m excited to work with the community of Pavones — sure that my eyes will be opened and my mind expanded by the thoughts and views of the people there. I spend my free time with family, friends, and fútbol!
Indeed, we are excited to have you working with ECC!
Stay tuned for more posts as classes start next week…