"Life in the Peace Corps will not be easy. There will be no salary and allowances will be at a level sufficient only to maintain health and meet basic needs. Men and women will be expected to work and live alongside the nationals of the country in which they are stationed - doing the same work, eating the same food, talking the same language.
But if the life will not be easy, it will be rich and satisfying. For every young American who participates in the Peace Corps - who works in a foreign land - will know that he or she is sharing in the great common task of bringing to man that decent way of life which is the foundation of freedom and a condition of peace." - JFK

Monday, February 10, 2014

JS Over and the New School Year Beginning

Well, JumpStart is officially over and the new school year has begun.  Not going to lie that I would have liked slightly longer than a weekend of “summer vacation,” but I couldn’t have been happier with the success of JumpStart Santa Cruz.


Pendulum Science Activity


Presenting their conversations
After two more weeks of English-learning, it was time to get ready for graduation.  During graduation the kids were going to present short conversations on the different topics we had learned.  After assigning the pairs and topics, the kids set to work writing out their conversations.  Only about 20 minutes later when they all said, “Finished!” I had them come up to the front of the room to present.  In my mind, they would come up with their notebook and read what they had written.  The first group strolled up to the front without their books, recited way more than I was expecting, and without a single error.  The pattern continued and I honestly could not believe that not a single student asked to use their book.  The kids didn’t just memorize something, they knew enough and were confident enough to not need their books.  For me, it was at that moment that I realized I would have happily gone through all the work it took to put this camp together all over again.  The kids really did learn so much and I can only hope they will go into high school more confident and ready to learn even more! 



Thank you for all of the support from Costa Rica Mutilingue and the United States Embassy.  Without their support, this project would never have come together.

 Congratulations to ALL the Peace Corps Volunteers here in Costa Rica that put on these amazing camps (29 in total!).  I think I can speak for all of us in saying that it was an extremely rewarding project, but we are also breathing a sigh of relief that it’s all done (until next year!).

My Camp
All of JS Santa Cruz


Happy first day back at school!  I’m certainly intrigued to see what this upcoming school year has in store…




Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)