The
days and weeks are flying by! There is so much excitement in the
community about the wonderfulness that is taking place in JumpStart
Quepos.
As a recap:
Week
one was filled with nervous energy which later blossomed into a steady
rise in confidence. All of the students have completely dominated
understanding of self introductions and greetings to make light
conversations. In having a 37 person choir of which to chat, the
students realized that their English was understood and communication
was possible. At the concert that night, they brought over 70 people to
hear the classical music of the choir! With the concert, and a Raffle
fundraiser, students and parents were able to raise enough money for
their 2 field trips!!
They
have become quite the competitive bunch as the positive reinforcement
of Participation Points are a daily! Our high school readiness lesson
was extremely effective in understanding how reaching hopes and dreams
are in direct proportion to the clarity that we have of what we want in
our lives as well as having an action plan to get there.
Week
2 we focused on identifying family members, body parts and describing
what they look like in English! We struggled a bit with remembering
which descriptions use 'I have' and which use 'I am' but after giving a
couple of examples with the Spanish hat such as "I have old" vs "I am
old" and "I am 2 eyes" vs "I have 2 eyes", they mostly understand! They
really enjoyed the Head Shoulders Knees and Toes competition: students
vs adults!
We also shared laughs in taping body parts and facial
features to our volunteers!! To top off the week at Si Como No where we
enjoyed a bilingual tour through a butterfly garden where they were able
to see crocodiles, followed by watching Madagascar in English in the
hotel theatre!
Week
3 now has flown by!! Highlights of this week include the restaurant
simulation!! Each group had to create their own menu and restaurant
settings! English speakers then came in the following day to order and
eat at their restaurants! After asking for orders and writing on their
whiteboards, students went to "the kitchen" where they asked for
Spaghetti, Omlettes, coffee, tea etc... Also they had their mid camp
assessment and they have improved drastically!!
As
close as La Inmaculada is to Manuel Antonio, there are many who had not
been to the National Park; until this past Friday that is! The park
gave an incredible discount as well as a guide an the students were able
to have an experience of a lifetime!!
JumpStart
Quepos has been fortunate to have amazing volunteers visit the camp
which has contributed greatly to its success! We have had residents and
visitors from Manuel Antonio and Quepos areas along with other Peace
Corps Volunteers and daily support from Global Visions International
volunteers! :-)
More to come soon!
-Ramona, Peace Corps Volunteer
