Second Week of Jumpstart Coocique Monterrey!

Practicing new vocabulary words

Our second week has flown by! Our students have sustained the energy and enthusiasm for learning English that they had the first week and continue to amaze and inspire us with their hard work and effort! Many thanks to Coocique for sponsoring Jumpstart Monterrey and letting us be part of this experience. I just love watching our students practicing new words and phrases as they learn them and try to incorporate what they're learning into new contexts.

Asking for and giving personal information- phone numbers

The students have all really been pushing themselves to try something new even when they are unsure and it's also amazing to watch how they work together and encourage each other!

They have been showing us how dedicated they are to learning by coming not only on time, but early every single day since the camp has started. It rained all last night and we woke up to more rain this morning and for us to get to school and see the students cold and wet but smiling and eager to start class was such a bright, beautiful sight this cloudy morning!

Practicing conversations

While it can be a challenge to work with students who are true beginners and have never had any instruction in English before starting this camp, it is also incredibly rewarding to see how fast they progress and how proud they are of themselves when they are able to master the skills we are teaching them. There is nothing better than watching the furrowed brow of a student struggling to remember turn into a huge smile of self-satisfaction as they are able to hold a conversation in English!

Using homemade whiteboards

One of my favorite moments from this week was when I was casually asking the kids during the break if there was anything else they specifically wanted to learn in English that we hadn't taught yet and one student answered, very enthusiastically, "Everything!"

So... we'll be taking next week as one more day at a time towards learning Everything! I'm looking forward to it!

Greetings From JumpStart Coocique Monterrey

Hello, everyone. I am Arelys; I'm working with Katia (PCV) at Jumpstart Coocique Monterrey, San Carlos.
We both are so happy with our group, they do really want to learn; they are always willing to participate. It was so exciting when we listened today how, on their second day, they were saying good bye to us.....in English!!. Can you imagine that? It is amazing because we are talking about 18 kids who have never had a single English lesson in their lives, their level is zero! But when you see students who do really want to learn, you remember the meaning of being a teacher and how important this camp is.

These kids have the right to have some basic knowledge before they start high school, and with this camp they are going to have it. And, eventually, their transition from Elementary School to High School is going to be a little bit easier. They will feel confident during English lessons, they will not feel isolated or sad because they do not know how to answer something as simple as “What’s your name?”

We are more than happy of being working here, and give our best every single day. To know that students are learning and trying hard to learn more and more every day is great. And they are giving us the inspiration to teach, give our best, and go the extra mile to help them as much as we can!

First Few Days at JumpStart Coocique Monterrey!

We've in the middle of our first week of JumpStart Coocique, in Monterrey de San Carlos, and things are going great! On the first day of class, we had all of our students at school early, waiting for us to start class at 8:00. What a nice way to start! We knew that none of our students had received English classes before, but while conducting the assessment interviews in English, we realized that we were really starting from the very beginning as almost every single one just stared at me while I asked, “How are you?” “What is your name?” We were a little worried that our students might feel self-conscious and might be hesitant to try to speak English, but after the first day, we found out that we had no reason to worry about that! Our students have been trying so hard, asking lots of questions, testing out new words and phrases, and practicing new words over and over again until they get it. It’s been incredibly inspiring to see the effort that they’re all putting into learning English! Arelys and I are very lucky to have the opportunity to work with such great kids and they are motivating us to do all we can to keep up with their thirst for knowledge and teach them as much as we possibly can in this month! 

It's Almost Here: JumpStart Coocique - San Carlos!

Hi! I'm Katia and I'm the Peace Corps Volunteer who will be teaching the Jumpstart English classes along with my counterpart, Arelys. I've called all the parents of the students who will be attending the class this weekend and have heard that the students are ready and excited to start classes on Monday! Arelys and I have also been working hard to prepare for the first week of class and are really excited to meet our students tomorrow morning!

Coming Soon / Próximamente

This coming January and February, here you’ll find regular updates on JumpStart San Carlos from the Peace Corps Volunteer (USA) in charge, Katia, and the local English teacher with whom she'll be facilitating the camp, Arelys. In the meantime, feel free to open the Google map to the left to see where JumpStart San Carlos will take place and learn a few other details on the camp. Additionally, we ask that you please consider donating to CRML to help us raise the remaining funds we need to make the JumpStart camps being prepared for San Carlos and 13 other communities across Costa Rica a reality for the roughly 300 students who have signed up to participate. For information on how to help, see the column to the right. Even a small contribution makes a big difference!      

Este próximo enero y febrero, usted podrá encontrar en esta página las últimas noticias sobre JumpStart San Carlos de la voluntaria del Cuerpo de Paz (EE.UU.) a cargo, Katia, y la docente del inglés con quien estará facilitando el campamento, Arelys. Mientras tanto, lo invitamos a abrir el mapa de la izquierda para ver dónde tendrá lugar JumpStart San Carlos y aprender algunos otros detalles del campamento. Adicionalmente, solicitamos que por favor considere una donación a CRML para ayudarnos a recaudar los fondos que todavía necesitamos para hacer los campamentos en San Carlos y otras 13 comunidades alrededor de Costa Rica una realidad para los 300 niños que se han inscrito a participar. Para información sobre cómo ayudar, vea la columna de la derecha. Una contribución pequeña hace una gran diferencia.