La Escuela Los Algarrobos building community

When you talk to English teacher Aaron Loft about the most effective way for the students to learn English, he sums it up in one word. Projects. Cooperative learning projects such as dioramas, prepare students by teaching collaborative behaviors and skills that they will require to become productive members of a team. It is more likely in the real world that people will work together toward a common goal, which is why cooperative or collaborative learning is gaining in popularity. This real world education goes a long way here in Ecuador. Encouraging students to reach out to each other, to solve problems and share knowledge, not only builds collaborative skills, it leads to deeper learning and understanding. The concept of collaborative learning may be new to the students of Los Algarrobos, but collaborations themselves are actually the backbone of the school. Just like the Diorama Project, most of the programs in place today at Los Algarrobos are a direct result of successful collaborative efforts. With international and community volunteers, dedicated board members, generous benefactors and students all working together, La Escuela Los Algarrobos is raising the standard of education in the community of Canoa.

James Dean Byrd FOUNDATION

Newsletter March 2014

Aaron, along with masters trained educator Matt Zimmerman, decided to work with groups of English students in creating dioramas. A diorama is a three dimensional model which depicts a certain scene. Aaron and Matt, along with the English students decided to create three different dioramas. They decided on a town, farm and the seasons. In teams, the students created their dioramas from used materials and supplies they found in the supply cabinet. Once completed, they wrote about their creations in English.

James Dean Byrd Foundation

411 Walnut St. #4267 Green Cove Springs, FL 32043 Jamesdeanbyrd@gmail.com

To facilitate children becoming global citizens through language and knowledge in an atmosphere of inquiry and responsible actions.

Layout and Design Martine Carlina Editorial Sheryl Benson-Pender & Martine Carlina Photography Sheryl Benson-Pender & Maria Velasquez Translation Christine Michelet Hauptfeld

community

La Academia Latinoamericana de Espanol

Kristen and Esther both attended The Academia Latinoamericana de Espanol in Quito to learn Spanish, followed by a two month internship at Los Algarrobos. While at La Escuela Los Algarrobos, both interns assisted in English classes and participated in school activities. Both girls commented on the warmth and energy of Los Algarrobos. When not at school, they found themselves enjoying meals with their host family, napping and enjoying afternoons on beautiful Canoa beach. Although the volunteers are from all over the world, they can all agree on one thing. Teaching English in Ecuador takes more patience and creativity than they had ever anticipated. There are many cultural challenges to overcome, but the rewards are well worth it. When students can have simple conversations in English about their lives in their community, you know these young teachers have done an amazing job!

When Kristen and Esther met each other in Quito in the fall of 2013, they had come from two different continents and cultures. Although they are from two different worlds, they share a common goal. To learn and practice Spanish in a teaching environment.

volunteers teach

Each year volunteers arrive at Los Algarrobos to teach English. They often come from the US and Europe, but wherever they come from, they always promise a fresh and creative spirit. Interacting with other cultures is rare for most Ecuadorian children, but not for the students of Los Algarrobos. Isa, Paola, Aaron, Marieke, Rachel and Monica not only bring their passion for teaching to the table, they also have a vast repertoire of other skills to share. They range from sales, electrical engineering, working with autistic children, leading youth groups and involvement in adventure sports.

Universidad Central Del Ecuador De Quito

Who better to teach dental hygiene to kids, than dental students dressed as clowns! The fourth and fifth year dental students from Universidad Central Del Ecuador De Quito, recently ventured to Canoa to treat 70 students at Los Algarrobos.

Disguised as clowns, the dental students arrived at Los Algarrobos wielding toothbrushes, toothpaste and dental floss. Each student was examined, had their teeth cleaned and learned how to brush and floss their teeth properly. These creative interns put the children at ease with their costumes and games, allowing them to learn valuable new skills.

www.jamesdeanbyrdfoundation.org

Datacom

community

Datacom ACT is based in Australia and is an important benefactor to La Escuela Los Algarrobos. The staff of Datacom have embarked on numerous fundraising activities and now the company even has an official fundraising committee.

We believe that every child is entitled to a good education and we can see that the money we send to the school is doing this.
Kayla Hamilton, Lisa Thorburn, Robert Van Rensburg, Susie Barratt, Tyson Hack and Kevin Olsen, have organized BBQs, poker and trivia nights, as well putting together raffles and book exchanges to raise money for the school.

parents pitch in

For the past four years, the Parents Association has funded projects such as water dispensers for each classroom and a projector for computer classes. They also fund events like audio visual presentations and Christmas gifts for the childrens holiday party.

The Parents Association of La Escuela Los Algarrobos play a big part in the annual Mercado de Pulgas. Together, they provide fresh, local food to the crowds, in order to raise money for various projects at the school.

We are so fortunate to have parents who want to help and to learn and contribute to the activities of the school James Dean Byrd - Founder

Each year Latin American countries celebrate the Day of the Child and the Parents Association use their funds to provide activities and lunch for the event. The Parents Association recently purchased a bingo set up, which they will use for future fund raising.

moms investigate
When Gladys and Jenny agreed to help with the School Lunch Campaign at Los Algarrobos, they were not sure what they were going to be doing.

What Gladys and Jenny found was that the cost of a healthy snack was more economical than many of the convenience snacks the children were bringing to school. Both were given a list of healthy and not-so-healthy snack foods and went off to determine the costs. They visited vendors in Canoa and recorded the data. They presented their findings to the parents at the educational sessions held during the week of the School Lunch Campaign.

From their findings, Gladys created a menu of daily snacks that were both economical and healthy for the children. The participation of the parents in endeavors such as the School Lunch Campaign, is key in their long term success.

www.jamesdeanbyrdfoundation.org

healthy
Healthy living has become a dominant theme here at Los Algarrobos. It all started with talks and activities about community health issues such as the importance of hand washing. Wellness Wednesdays were born and since then issues such as sugar, salt and fats have become a primary focus. The Lunch Campaign was inspired by the observation of hyperactive behavior by students following snack time. Lunch in Ecuador means a snack.

snacks
The kids also joined in by venturing off to local stores investigate and price out healthy and not so healthy snack options.

These snacks, which were provided by parents, often consisted of convenient processed foods. Similar to North America, parents in Ecuador are also challenged by a cooking and eating culture where white refined sugar is simply overused. Even perceivably healthy snacks such as yogurt can contain as much sugar as a Coca Cola. The children were also bringing snacks like chips and cookies to school. La Importancia Lunch Escolar was born, to seek out healthy and nutritious snack foods for the children and increase knowledge of these dietary issues.

As a result of this effort, snacks now include less cookies and more strawberries, grapes, carrots, pears and apples.

Collaborative learning is a method of teaching and learning in which students team together to explore a significant question or create a meaningful project.

teaching tradition

Diana Reina de Aveiga is the 5th year teacher at Los Algarrobos. Diana doesnt come by teaching lightly. She had an excellent role model in her own mother, Germania Rosado. In fact, Germania is the first teacher Canoa ever had. For over 45 years Germania has taught wherever she was needed. She travelled to remote areas and often had to travel by donkey and pass through knee high mud, while serving rural communities such as Zapayo, Rio Canoa and Rio Muchacho.

Continuing in the familys teaching tradition, Dianas daughters are working with their mother at Los Algarrogbos as well. Paola is the 1st and 2nd year English teacher. Being bilingual enables her to teach the youngsters the basics of English, with an understanding of the childrens Spanish communication.

It makes me very proud and happy to be an example and mentor to my daughters.

Anais is Paolas younger sister who substituted as the full time 1st and 2nd year teacher. Between moms and daughters, their commitment to teaching the children of Los Algarrobos is an inspiration to the community.

www.jamesdeanbyrdfoundation.org

preserving culture

This year at La Escuela Los Algarrobos, English and Spanish werent the only languages on the agenda. The Ecuadorian government recently added Quechua to the school curriculum. All seventh year students are now required to learn this indiginous language. Quechua is currently spoken by ten million people in six South American countries.

Although Quechua is still not recognized as an official language in Ecuador, the government has taken many steps to incorporate Quechua into the national conscience. At Los Algarrobos, teacher Maria Elena is using new technology to teach an ancient language.

Armed with her tablet, Maria Elena connected to the schools WIFI where she could pull up the Quechua words and Spanish equivalents, as well as the proper pronunciation right in class. As the students wrote the words down in Spanish, English and Quechua, they were surprised as to how many words they used daily that were actually Quechua, and not Spanish.

Dont judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.

planting
This past school year, Diana spearheaded the Garden Project. Her goal was to teach the students how to create and grow a small garden. The Garden Project had two parts. First, the students would learn to grow a garden at school. They would then take their gardening skills home and teach their families the same. Although Diana lead this two month project, she had a lot of help from students Melany, Eddy and Jesus. They, along with their parents helped to teach the students about each aspect of farming, from cultivation, planting and harvest.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Dianas approach to agriculture is very holistic. She chooses to rely on organic methods of land management that promote and preserve soil health, such as crop rotation. They planted carrots, ava (a type of bean), cucumber, tomatoes, corn and green peppers. They also grew some ornamental flowering plants like portulaca and hibiscus. A local herb ruda, or ruta graveolens in English was also planted. Its leaves are used to make ear drops. For part two of the Garden Project, the students took their new skills home with them, along with seeds and real life experience in small plot gardening. Now, they are teaching their brothers, sisters and parents how to grow a garden of their own.

www.jamesdeanbyrdfoundation.org

culture days

sustainability

At Los Algarrobos, education often takes place outside the classroom. Projects and events like Culture Days engage the entire community, while hilighting important community issues. This year a recycle event was added to the festivities.

The community of Canoa struggles with the problem of trash. It accumulates on the beach, which is very visible along the highways and tide lines. With increased tourism and a ten kilometer coastline to contend with, awareness of environmental issues is becoming increasingly important to the development of the area. Together, students, parents and teachers expressed their immense creative skills in a grand display about the need to collect and recycle the garbage locally.

Remnants of fishermens ropes were braided to create macram plant holders. Cars and trash cans were designed from recycled bottles. Suits and dresses were made from old newspaper, aluminum, potato chip bags and bottle caps. The sheer level of creativity and effort by all involved, leave little doubt about their ability to work towards change in their community.

mercado de pulgas
Its hard to believe that Mercado de Pulgas has been going for six years. What started out as a simple fundraising venture for the school has taken on a permanent place in the hearts of the community. The flea market operates exclusively from donations. Originally, donations were from friends and family of JDB Foundation members. Now participation includes other clubs and organizations. The Club de Autos Classicos from Quito has donated many items as has the Ponce family. Donations encompass all genres including clothing for children and adults, toys, shoes and even household goods. Paperback books are particularly popular with the gringos of the area, who travel far and wide to attend this event.

La Escuela Los Algarrobos is very fortunate to have a number of very committed community volunteers. These volunteers come from all over the world and have only one thing in common. A love for the school! Much love to Watson Morgan, Moya Foley, Andy Taylor, Dave Crane, Judy Brum, Wayne & Cher Hill, Maija & Pete Stromberg, Arturo Servidio, Christine Michelet, Emilia Servidio Michelet, Becky Hall, Jessica Coello, Miriam Velasquez, Maria Elena Briones, Diana Reina, Maria Velasquez, Victor Angulo, Tony Rich, Marieke Behrens, Rachel Isser, Jimmy Byrd, Monica Jones, Toni Cook and Virginia Salazar.

Community Volunteers

www.jamesdeanbyrdfoundation.org