Amanda: An Educational Experience

To be honest, I was pretty apprehensive about this day. Our first spot for the day was the elementary school. We had some activities planned for the kids, and then played games after. I thought our lesson plan was going to be a disaster because not a lot of us know English, but it turned out to be awesome!

Briana and I were group leaders for the Purple Team. The lesson plan was pretty fun, but I thought that getting to run around and play games with the kids was even better. It reminded me of last summer when I was a camp counselor for a bunch of crazy eight year old girls. The language barrier didn’t matter as much; we were all just kids being kids, playing around outside. Even thought I’m terrible at soccer, I still had a blast.

In the afternoon, we visited the high school and they gave us a presentation. Even though it wasn’t as interactive, it was nice to see the effort and time they put in to show us a bit of Pacayitas. It made me feel very welcomed. Kevin also rocked the flute playing, which I thought was super awesome because he taught himself how to play the flute because they don't offer music classes at the school.

The last thing that we did was meet with the school board. I thought it was really interesting to hear about their education system. I found myself especially interested in what the community valued in a quality education system. I thought it was very cool and even innovative how they are trying to go for more student-centered education. However, I was shocked when I heard that while the elementary school has a 100% graduation rate, the high school drops significantly to almost 50%, mostly due to economic reasons. It made me wonder how this happens, and is something I’d be interested in learning more about. Another thing I found fascinating was how important education is to the community, but the farmers in the community want to pass down their family businesses. I wonder how they will confront that issue in the future. Despite a few issues, Pacayitas seems to have a quality education system where students are motivated to learn.

Recently, education and its implications has become is an intriguing and relevant theme in my life, so I am delighted that today I got to really focus in and see what’s going on here with the Pacayitas education system. It makes me wonder what really matters in an education. What is important to teach our children? What makes them the happiest?