JumpStart Sepecue: a community story

JumpStart Sepecue is being held in Liceo Academico Indigena Sepecue, located in Alto Talamanca one hour up river from Suretka.

This camp is being entirely taught and coordinated by students from Sepecue High school. All of the student teachers studied the curriculum during their vacation to prepare for the camp. The PCV involvement was very minimal and only included a little bit of support in the vacation practice sessions, writing the grant and supervising the implementation of the camp (adult supervision was necessary). The principal student coordinators Kevin Reyes and Albin Morales participated in an exchange program to Oregon USA last December and January. They have helped support and train a total of 12 students as co-teachers in the camp. This is the third consecutive JumpStart Camp in this community and many of the student teachers have participated in the previous year's camps. The amount of work and responsibility they have taken on teaching this third camp by themselves is incredible.

Many students drop out of high school because of economic issues, drugs, an inadequate preparation for high school given in the elementary schools (generally elementary schools do not offer many subjects and may only have between 1-4 teachers- many times one of the teachers is also the principal) family problems, alcohol, a lack if parental support and adolescent pregnancy. Generally an incoming 7th grade class numbers around 50 students. About 2-8 of those 50 will end up graduating from high school despite Sepecue High School's continued effort to prevent students from dropping out.

Because of JumpStart, when they are enter the high school they will know more English and English class will be more fun for them because they will have reviewed the vocabulary in the camp. They will also be more social and less shy because they were sharing a lot of time with all the other new seventh graders. Also with the other subjects they might not be as shy because they practiced giving presentations in the camp. I saw that the students from JumpStart were active in the high school last year and I hope this year will be the same.

Kevin Reyes- Camp Coordinator and Teacher - 11th Grade student at Sepecue High School

Here are pictures of the first few days of JumpStart camp 2015!!

  
        

Under Construction - Preparing for JumpStart 2015 Camps!

We are thrilled to have more than 35 camp sites confirmed for January 2015! Please bear with us as we finish preparing a section for each camp on the blog so you can follow your favorite community, teachers and students. In the meantime, please follow us on Facebook for all the latest JumpStart news, or visit our main page, www.jumpstartcostarica.org, for more about the program.

Pictures from Week One!

Student teacher Albin helps his group order sentences

Student teacher Minor reviews vocab

Student teachers Albin and Kevin act out new vocab

Students and student teachers pose in front of the score board

Students perform their team cheer for the group in English

Ordering sentences as a group

10 circle game

Presenting their dialogues

Studying by candlelight in the dorms at night

Number race!

One Week Down!

So we've got a week of JumpStart under our belt and I think we can all agree it went flying by! Our team of 8 student teachers has helped us more than we could have ever imagined while learning at the same time. The kids are spending a total of 7 hours a day in the high school (which is a huge jump for them since local elementary schools tend to have maximum 3 hours of class) but our student teachers are real leaders who keep them motivated and focused. Every day goes by faster. Danilo and I have been having a lot of fun and the kids are really picking it up fast. After class each day I stay in the high school with the kids who stay overnight (the ones from a really remote community). We relax, have Bon fires in the usile (traditional conical house) and review the day's homework (they generally struggle a bit more than the rest of the group). Sometimes, even after I've collapsed into bed I hear them reviewing the day's vocabulary aloud. They will be the first students from thei community to attend high school (ever). We are extremely glad they were able to attend the camp. 

Last week our student teacher team helped us overcome some serious challenges. One day there was no water in the high school. The students all took buckets and went with us to find water so that we could have lunch. Two students volunteered to come on Saturday (today) to help me carry the food for lunch. They each are in charge of a team of 6 students who they motivate, support and help. 

One student, who I taught sometimes in school (once a week for 6 months) was so shy. I literally could not get her to speak during English class, or stand up, or participate or do anything. I tried talking to her about it after class (Was there something wrong? Did she dislike the class? What would she like to do in class?) but she simply wouldn't respond. During JumpStart she has participated in games, spoken in English in front of the group and the other day won two points for her team ( because she listened and remembered what another person said in English ). It was one of the few times I've seen her smile. She's still very shy but she's made some huge steps during this camp in her English learning and willingness to participate. I think this has a lot to do with the team structure of the camp and the positive re-enforcement of her group leader ( a high school 9th grader (one of two students who completed all 35 hours of the extra classes that were offered during the summer to train the student teachers. He has a very contagious positive attitude that he uses to motivate his students.

- Anna Ferris

Nice to Meet You!

Check out the video below of Anna opening her JumpStart camp in Sepeque with a fun activity to helps her kids practice introductions in English!

JumpStart Talamanca

Cruzando el Río Telire hacia la comunidad de Sepeque, Territorio Indígena Bribri

Primero hay que llegar a Bribri, pueblo principal del cantón de Talamanca. Después se coge otro bus para Suredka, donde se encuentran botes para cruzar el río Telire. Directamente al otro lado está el camino hacia Amubri. Tomando otro bote que sube el río y dura unos veinte minutos, uno llega a otro camino, el cual pasa por la comunidad de Sepeque. En estos dos pueblos rurales, ambos parte del Territorio Indígena Bribri, se están realizando campamentos de inglés como parte del JumpStart Costa Rica 2013. 

Estudiante en Amubri describiéndoles a sus compañeros un
monstruo que dibujó para practicar las partes del cuerpo

Aunque no se nota por lo esparcido que son sus casas y tiendas, Amubri es una de las comunidades más grandes de la reserva, con unos miles de residentes. Además de tres estudiantes locales, el campamento alli cuenta con seis de otras comunidades más pequeñas y aun más metidas, de los cuales niños algunos se están quedando con su familia mas cerca de Amubri durante el tiempo que dura JumpStart para poder asistir. Sus profesoras son Hannah, voluntaria del Cuerpo de Paz, quien lleva casi un año como residente de Amubri, e Irma, docente del inglés en el colegio del pueblo. Desde el 7 de enero cuando se inició JumpStart, ellas han estudiado varios temas con sus 9 alumnos desde su aula en la escuela local, entre ellos: conversación básica, maneras de describir el humor, y las partes del cuerpo, tema que pasaron la primera parte de esta semana reforzando. 

Estudiantes es Sepeque armando una conversación.

Mientras que el campamento de Amubri está en su tercera semana, el de Sepeque está apenas empezando. Implementar allí JumpStart según el modelo típico, donde todos los participantes viajan entre casa y campamento cada día entre semana durante un mes de clases, no hubiera sido factible. De los 22 niños inscritos, 4 vienen de comunidades que no son necesariamente lejanas pero que no se pueden alcanzar fácilmente en vehículo. Para ellos, ¡JumpStart será un campamento nocturno! El colegio de Sepeque cuenta con dormitorios que ellos estarán usando. Para que esos niños no tuvieran que pasar la mayor parte de un mes fuera de casa, Anna, otra voluntaria del Cuerpo de Paz, junto con su co-faciltador para JumpStart Sepeque, Danilo, decidieron iniciar tarde el campamento y hacerlo en dos semanas. Aunque será más corto que los demás, no será menos intensivo. Durante JumpStart Sepeque, los participantes estarán en clase todo el día.

     

Colegio de Sepeque, con los dormitorios a la derecha y el usúle, estructura tradicional, a la izquierda

Anna ayudando a uno de los maestros estudiantiles
explicarle una actividad al grupo. 

En todos los campamentos JumpStart, pero especialmente los de Talamanca, procuramos proveer una experiencia que prepara a los participantes para el colegio en general, que tiene el inglés como uno de los varios enfoques principales. La taza de deserción es más alta en las reservas indígenas que en el resto de Costa Rica. En Amubri, una iniciativa que han tomado Hannah e Irma para mejor hacerles llegar a sus estudiantes la importancia de la educación es una serie de presentaciones de líderes de la comunidad, como el director del colegio, presentaciones que ellas han incorporado al campamento. En Sepeque, Anna y Danilo han reclutado a 6 colegiantes para ser maestros estudiantiles. Ellos podrán mejorar su inglés; y los niños a los que apoyan saldrán del campamento sabiendo que alguien les cubrirá la espalda en el colegio.

Hannah con sus estudiantes en Amubri

Al preguntarle por qué se había incorporado a JumpStart, Irma, co-facilitadora del campamento en Amubri, contestó, "me da más ideas para cuando reinicie el año escolar de nuevo en febrero." Kenya, una estudiante de JumpStart Sepeque, ofreció una respuesta más sencilla. "Es divertido," dijo. Eso es lo que JumpStart pretende ser, un programa que enseña el inglés y a la vez quita los nervios, tanto hacia el aprendizaje de otro idioma como a la idea de que se produce miedo al pasarse al mundo desconocido de la secundaria. 

Coming Soon / Próximamente

This coming January and February, here you’ll find regular updates on JumpStart Sepeque from the Peace Corps Volunteer (USA) in charge, Anna, and the local English teacher with whom she'll be facilitating the camp, Danilo. In the meantime, feel free to open the Google map to the left to see where JumpStart Sepeque 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 Sepeque 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 Sepeque de la voluntaria del Cuerpo de Paz (EE.UU.) a cargo, Anna, y el docente del inglés con quien estará facilitando el campamento, Danilo. Mientras tanto, lo invitamos a abrir el mapa de la izquierda para ver dónde tendrá lugar JumpStart Sepeque 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 Sepeque 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.