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Roatan and Bay Islands Discussion List Archive
| Posted On: | 06-Apr-2003 |
| From: | "Brad Warren" [Brad.....org] |
| Subject: | RE: [roatan] Roatan schools |
Hello, My name is Debbie Warren. My husband and I started Child Sponsorship International 2 1/2 years ago here on the island. We were working in Kosovo and Ukraine maintaining sponsorship programs for over 800-1000 children depending on the country. In short, part of our God given vision for Roatan was to develop an educational sponsorship program so that the poorer children of Roatan could attend a 'better' school. (we had been here before, developed relationships with the islanders, and discovered their needs) We are a non-profit org. and have developed a sponsorship program enabling 40 children to reach for a better education, with 40 more on a waiting list, new children being sponsored everyday, and many more waiting to be registered. Please visit our website at www.csiroatan.org. Our 'Recent Happenings' will be updated by the end of this week. We have sponsors from all over the world sponsoring children. Due to the location of the registered children, at this time we have been using the Methodist Bilingual School, (however, working with them for the last two years we have discovered their needs are great too). It's sad though, due to some of the parent's financial situations, they can't even afford the transportation to school, which is the only thing not covered by sponsors. The parents must be accountable for something, and this is it in our program. We do need to work together with the public schools in the individual areas. They really need help and the teachers welcome it. We have been blessed with a network of people coming in on the cruise ships every week. They bring us all types of school supplies so we can reach out to the public schools and help. This is done weekly to the schools from Camp Bay to West End. We have started our own school in Sandy Bay which is a satellite Christian school from Daysprings Christian Academy in Pennsylvania for some of our sponsored children and for children who will be living in our children's home for 'kids at risk', officially opening in late spring 2003. Our school meets the Honduran educational requirements. We do not charge for our school. Our school is fully funded by the children's sponsors. At this time we lack staff for the rest of the sponsored children. However, I am very much for not starting another school and trying to staff and supply text books not just library and resource books, for each child in the public schools. If you are school teachers and can get class sets, this would be awesome but more importantly, committing a year of your time to teach in these schools. It would be wonderful if these children could stay in their communities as much as possible and still get a good education. Most of the time a child's last year is 6th grade and some are 16 years old by the time they are graduating the 6th grade. We are so blessed to be a part of a nation, America, with so much freedom and resources to be able to help "worlds" without hope, how could we not help, given the chance. Many people have sent books, however in our experience the teachers aren't using them much. Here is the situation; a very large majority of teachers are Spanish, solely speaking Spanish, therefore our nice English books from the states are worthless to them. This is what our exposure of 'what's going on' is needed because, there are solely Spanish speaking children and English speaking children (at home) who can not read or write English because all their subjects are only taught in Spanish at the public schools and they are not taught English at all, even if their teacher speaks English. It is not required by Honduras to learn everything in the Spanish language, it's just because that's the primary language of the Government. Remember, Roatan used to be owned by the British and there are many English speaking people here, making learning in Spanish very difficult. The schools need; Spanish speaking teachers to teach Spanish speaking children all their subjects in Spanish with English as a second language and visa versa, with the English speaking children learning Spanish as a second language. I have raised an island teenager for the last two years whom is English speaking and struggles with Spanish therefore, not doing well at all learning Science, Math and many other subjects in Spanish.....how could he. It's an injustice to his intelligence. It's no wonder the percentage of graduates and achievers is very low. Having taught school myself and home-schooled my grown daughters in the states, has helped me with this young man and the challenges we face with the system here. They all deserve this chance. I would love to work together with those of you who would like to help the kids here. The network of people bringing resources is endless. Let me know how I can help your efforts. And thank you to all who have helped the children here already. Thank you Larry, we do all need to work together. I am thankful for the opportunities you have given the children in Flowers Bay. God is Faithful. Serving Him by serving you, Debbie Warren Child Sponsorship International debbie.....org -----Original Message----- From: S ARCH [mailto:sherryahond.....com] Sent: Sunday, April 06, 2003 4:33 PM To: roatan.....com Subject: Re: [roatan] Roatan schools As an islander I'm so glad to hear that there's someone out there in this group that's concerned about the schools in Roatan. As one of the founders of the FIRST accredited, bilingual school on the islands, I suggest that instead of starting another school, help the existing schools. They are in need of help and most is open to suggestions. Sherry >From: "CONSTANCE DIAZ" >Reply-To: roatan.....com >To: >CC: >Subject: Re: [roatan] Roatan schools >Date: Fri, 4 Apr 2003 20:17:40 -0800 > >Welcome, Casey! > >I have been meaning to answer some of the questions regarding the quality >of >education in Roatan for sometime. It's an issue which fires me up when I >am >not deep into other problems. I have been visiting Roatan on a fairly >regular basis since 1982; and I have also been in education in the States >for the last forty years, first as a teacher, and the last fourteen years, >as a high school counselor. My husband is from the island, and I have had >lots of opportunity to observe products of the school first hand. The >students I am referring to attend(ed) the private bilingual schools. I am >convinced that the quality of the schools there is extremely poor. It >continues with those who go to the mainland to study. I have received >written communication from some of these which is almost indecipherable. >On the other hand, I met a young woman from Calabash Bight who received her >RN/MS in the States, and is now in Med School in Washington State. A few >weeks ago while I was there, I met a young man from Jonesville Point, who >said he went to school in French Harbour, who is receiving his MA from >Catholic University in Tegus, so, obviously someone is learning, > whether despite the teaching or on account of it. > >I know there will be more and more Americans moving to Roatan. Some >friends >and I have been thinking of beginning an American school, and have just >begun to check into the possibilities. We have land to do this, but we are >checking to see what is legally necessary to open a school. All of us are >credentialed teachers from California--of various ages. If anyone out >there >knows anything about the legality and procedures of setting this up, please >let me know. We were thinking of running a K-8, using California >curriculum >and standards. We hadn't thought of a pre-school, but there is a huge need >for that. I haven't seen any recently. I remember several years ago, >there >was a small operation in West End, but that was prior to the tourist >explosion. If there is enough interest, we could look into that. I am >hoping that some of you out there might be interested in working with us. >While we would like to provide continuity in the program, we realize that >not all of the teachers will live on the island year round. If we get >enough people interested in staffing the project, we should be able to >organize it to accommodate all---parents, students, staff. > >So, I finally said it; there is a need and there is an interest in >addressing that need. If you have any ideas, help us! It would be a >private school with tuition for any nationality. English will be the >language in which all subjects are taught; Spanish may be offered as an >elective, after the basics of English are mastered. Children without >financial means could be sponsored by individuals or groups. It will not >be >for financial profit, but we will pay our teachers and other expenses. >Volunteer help will be welcome also. > >Please let me hear from you. > >Connie >----- Original Message ----- >From: "intriguelearning" >To: >Sent: Friday, April 04, 2003 5:19 PM >Subject: [roatan] Roatan schools > > > > Hi all, > > > > This is my first post to this board but I've been following it for > > some time. Must say it's nice to have this kind of resource > > available -- wish I could say the same about all islands! > > > > My question has to do with schools on Roatan. My family will be in > > Roatan for 6 or 7 weeks starting in May. Our real reason for > > visiting is we're on a sort of extended journey looking for > > that "perfect" place to set down some roots for a while. We have > > two children ages 3 & 1. > > > > Are there any good primary schools on Roatan, and if so where? > > We've scoured the 'Net and haven't come up with anything, but we've > > heard the local government schools aren't that good -- any private > > schools? Our daughter attended a private Spanish/English school in > > Mexico and loved it, anything like this on Roatan? > > > > Any feedback would be great, especially if there's anyone out there > > with younger children or children in general. Thanks for your > > responses in advance, I think this board is an excellent idea! > > > > Casey > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE* FREE Cell Phones with up to $400 Cash Back! | |
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