MONTHLY

ACHIEVEMENT REPORT
Quepos Community Programs, March 2013

The end of March is already here and with it Easter and a school break, providing the perfect opportunity to
reflect on the successes of our school year so far. One of the biggest developments we have seen is in our
English teaching program and our increased presence in the classrooms of El Cocal primary school.
This is a country where speaking English is not a prerequisite for teaching it and consequently children do
not have an easy time in their lessons. With volunteers coming in from a variety of backgrounds, all with a
good level of English, we are able to provide much needed support to the teachers and students in the
school. In addition to helping out with the classes we have also made steps to take small groups of students
out of the class and work with them on certain themes including foods, body parts and directions. This
allows a break from the standard teacher centred classroom style and encourages more interactive lessons
for both students and volunteers. Having this support in the dedicated time for English gives the students an
opportunity to be immersed in the language and learn it in conversation with English speakers, something
that any volunteer here in Quepos will tell you makes a huge difference. It is the same thing that helps the
volunteers to improve their own Spanish abilities through interaction with students, teachers and locals.
The school had exams before the end of term and we were asked to help with the preparation lessons and
to provide worksheets as homework, particularly for the English lessons. We were delighted to see some of
the students coming straight to our community centre with their homework and even more delighted to see
the results of the exams. Several students achieved very high marks. One was so pleased that he came
running into the centre to show all the volunteers his 99%!
Of course not all of the students have improved so rapidly and our contribution to this part of the school
curriculum is very much in the early stages. We are very lucky to have one of our interns taking on this part
of our program this month and we look forward to seeing where she will take it over the next 3 months.
Nick Herrick- Quepos Community Programs