MONTHLY

ACHIEVEMENT REPORT Reading and tutoring in the new classroom.

Manuel Antonio Community Programs, February 2014

Summary GVI Manuel Antonios new classroom is in full use and proving very successful. So far we have
been able to run reading and math classes as well as homework help and one to one tutoring as requested by
the teachers.
Report
One of our major achievements last year was the refurbishment of our new room, turning it from a storage
area to a fully functional classroom/library. One of our major drives since the start of the school year has
been to utilise this new space as effectively as possible and this has been done with great results.
Last year we were able to begin a reading program
with some of the younger students that was showing
good progress and thanks to the new space we have
been able to continue this program and make
improvements to it. Many of the students we worked
with last year still need help and often on an
individual basis. Thanks to our dedicated GVI
volunteers we have been able to give the local
teachers assistance in gauging the levels of the
students and then improving those levels, both in
English, Maths and Spanish. Literacy levels in Costa
Rica are among the highest in the developing world
GVI Manuel Antonio Community Volunteer helping grade 5
with approximately 96% literacy in people over 15
student with his reading
years old but this is not always the case in isolated

communities like El Cocal. Many of the students do not read and write as well as they should be able to and
it holds them back with everything they do at school. In addition to this their parents may also not be
literate, which severely reduces the amount of help they can expect out of school. Having GVI volunteers on
hand to help with this can be invaluable.
So far we have been working mainly with grades 2 and 5 but as the year progresses we are getting more
requests for help from other teachers and we are, as always, delighted to be able to help our partners to
achieve their own goals. One teacher came to us last week to particularly thank the volunteers for their
work with one of her grade 1 students. She hadnt expected to see results so quickly and such a marked
improvement. The students are also very excited about their extra classes and the chance to improve as well
as the chance to spend time with the volunteers who are always popular in the school and the volunteers
love the opportunity to get to know individual students and see real improvement from them over quite a
short time.
We look forward to seeing continued progress from the students and hopefully the opportunity to work
with more of the students over the course of the year.