Three Rabun Gap Nacoochee-School teachers traveled to Honduras to do outreach work at a preschool through eighth-grade school over February 22-29.
Upper School Spanish teacher Maribel Aguirre, Lower School pre-school teacher Dori Childs, and Middle School humanities teacher Stacy Caro stayed at Rancho Paraiso, a ranch owned by Honduras Outreach, Inc (HOI). HOI is an organization that owns a medical clinic and school and hosts groups who travel to Olancho, Honduras to do mission work. Rabun Gap partners with HOI by donating much-needed supplies and by sending teachers to help with professional development.
Collaboration
For the last three years, teachers from Rabun Gap have traveled to Olancho to collaborate and support the Honduran teachers at HOI’s Esperanza school which teaches students in preschool through eighth-grade. Last year, Rabun Gap teachers helped the Honduran teachers develop centers in the primary and middle school and organized the library. This year, their focus was more on preschool and kindergarten.
“Unfortunately, the preschool and kindergarten had been somewhat neglected and there was one teacher with 41 students ages three through five so, during this trip, we spent most of our time in the kindergarten,” said Caro. “The day we arrived, an additional teacher had just been hired, so it was perfect timing. We taught the teachers the concept of using centers so that they could manage the large number of students in the classroom. We also took some much-needed supplies and decorated the classroom so that is was educational, child-friendly, and literacy-rich.”
“I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to go with Maribel and Dori to work in the HOI school,” added Caro. “They were a great team to work with, and I learned so much about the important work and contributions that Rabun Gap makes to the HOI school.”
Olancho is a very rural area of Honduras and many children only have access to a sixth-grade education in one-room schoolhouses where often there is just one teacher for 35 or more students. The Honduran government does not provide school supplies, so those needs fall on the teachers and parents.
Learning from each other
During their visit, Aguirre, Childs, and Caro had the opportunity to visit a village school and saw first hand the difference between the village schools and the HOI school. Currently, the HOI school goes through eighth grade, has a full school day with enrichment classes like art, music, and English, as well as teachers for each grade level.
HOI has plans to build a high school, which is sorely needed in the area. Currently, students are forced to travel to bigger cities – sometimes as much as eight hours away – if they want to attend high school.
Caro is excited about how partnering with the Honduran school also creates ways to enrich the education of Rabun Gap students.
“The Honduran HOI teachers are so grateful for our help, but being partnered with a school in Central America is also a great resource for us at Rabun Gap,” said Caro. “Currently, I’m planning to have my eighth grade English students write letters to the English students at the Esperanza school. We all have so much that we can learn from each other.
Aguirre only regrets that they didn’t have more time to accomplish things.
“I am so thrilled and grateful to have spent an unforgettable and wonderful time with Dori, Stacy and the amazing HOI colleagues. Every year we are left with the same dilemma – time our worst enemy. There is always so much we want to achieve and not enough time. All we can do is our best, enjoy every moment and be proud of being part of the education of so many amazing children!”
