The Las Delicias school is located on the outskirts of the village of Trinidad . Situated under the lofty branches of the surrounding trees, the school has three spacious classrooms as well as their new library.
The Las Delicias school has been part of the educate. community for some time, as it’s located just down the road from where our university scholarship student Tania Caballero lives with her family. With just over 60 students, classes are taught with grades 1-3 in one room and grades 4-6 in another. One of the mothers uses the third classroom to run a kindergarten, getting younger children involved in activities like drawing and counting during the mornings.
The school is located in a low-income area, where many live along the nearby riverbanks and work in agriculture, as well as construction and shoemaking, and resources are limited. While schools in better-off areas often ask students to pitch in for resources, this isn’t an option for the families here.
“The activities that we do at the school are a result of a lot of hard work, often with a great deal of sacrifice,” says the school’s director, Gueyby Lucila Perez Castillo.
She recognises reading as one of the key building blocks of a strong education, and has brought together the community to make this project possible.
The Las Delicias school library was inaugurated in November 2021.
Mural painting
The community painting process is an important part of educate. library projects.
In Las Delicias , the library was beautifully painted by a group of students and parents, supported by educate. Project Coordinator Walter Dubon. Profe Gueyby was excited that families had come along to help, and noted that her students had been particularly excited, as they had never had the opportunity to do such a large art project before. The whole process of community painting made the students and parents feel part of the project, she said.
Teacher Training
Before the inauguration, our partners at Chispa Project came to give a 2-day training to the teachers at Las Delicias. They had learned about classroom management, teaching multi-grade or multi-level classrooms and strategies that can help them become more creative in their teaching methods, using the library as a resource.
Gueyby noted that the training had been very useful – “the workshop leader had so much energy, and she made us really motivated!” They had learned about classroom management, teaching multi-grade or multi-level classrooms and strategies that can help them become more creative in their teaching methods, using the library as a resource.
The training had also helped them set up a book check-out system, and since the library inaugurated in November, students had been coming to check out books despite the fact that schools were officially closed. One of the sixth graders had already finished three novels!
Using the Library
From March 2020 – March 2022, schools in Honduras were closed. Now, classes have started up again, and each class will visit the library at least twice per week. Gueyby plans to include reading as part of homework this year. She believes this will encourage students to read more, and she is planning to have them do activities like drawing and writing character profiles to show their understanding of the stories. During break time, she also plans for the library to be open so that students have the option to come in and read if they don’t want to play outside.
There is no doubt that this library will be well used this school year and in years that follow. The dedication of the teachers and families and the engagement of students has – in a few short months – created a space of creativity and learning that students are eager to spend time in, and that will shape their personal and academic trajectories.
educate. 