Students eagerly gather to see a science project at the Academy's science fair. |
| "We want our students to be able to know and think critically
about the world they live in, and most importantly, propose
solutions and act upon the problems facing their communities." |
Karina (left) and INTECAP instructor Luis (right) install electrical equipment atop power poles during INTECAP training. |
The Academy also enables students to earn a technical
certification while pursuing an academic degree through
a recent alliance with the Technical Institute for Training
and Productivity (INTECAP). Karina, a high school
student at the Academy, is simultaneously working
toward a career as an industrial electrician.
The effectiveness of the Academy's core academics and
leadership training is paying off. In 2006, the Academy
was ranked among the top 10 percent of private schools
in Quetzaltenango. "Those schools have larger |
Each morning Karla receives technical training for an
industrial electronics degree at INTECAP and attends the
Academy in the afternoon. |
| budgets
and are serving children of privilege,” Jorge notes. His greatest source of pride is that the school's graduates are socially conscious and engaged. "They are leaders in their communities," he says. |
Derik reads in his first-grade class. |
Adella (center) receives a full scholarship to attend the
Academy. The students are making basket hangers in their
weaving class. |
Candida (left) and Gloria (right) learn to play the flute in
the seventh-grade music class. |
Professor Ariel teaches ninth-grade math at the Academy. |
As a private educational institution, the Academy does
not receive government funding. The school relies on
donations for 60 percent of its $75,000 USD annual
budget, with tuition comprising the other 40 percent.
Jorge would like to reduce the Academy's reliance on
foreign donors. He thinks education should be the
responsibility of the government. "How can we make the
project financially self-sustaining? How can we deliver
quality services to people unable to pay for them?
. For 13 years I have wrestled with [these] question[s],"
he says.
With insufficient financial resources, the Academy has
not been able to pay its teachers salaries competitive with the government-run schools. As a result, the school
has faced difficulty retaining experienced teachers, and
the frequent staff turnover has hurt students. "This
converts our institution into a training camp of sorts,
in which young teachers come to our school, gain
experience and training, and then move on to public
school positions," Jorge says, adding that public schools
pay better and are less demanding.
Because of the lack of funding, Jorge has also had to
step in as school principal, janitor and counselor. "I
wear many hats," he laughs. "As one of the volunteers
keeps telling me, I have a lot on my plate." |
The Academy's vice principal, Onnie, teaches fourth-grade. |
The Academy's curriculum sometimes challenges
Guatemala's rigid social hierarchy. Jorge offers the
example of a parent who lodged a complaint with
the Ministry of Education upon finding out that the
Academy had taught his son a greeting in Quiche,
a language widely spoken by the local indigenous
underclass. A member of the Ministry of Education
took the complaint seriously and came to the school
intending to reprimand the teachers. "Often our work
is at odds with the general culture. We are trying
to make a change, and often that effort is met with
resistance," Jorge says. |
A substitute for the preschool and kindergarten classes. |
David (left) receives a full scholarship at the Academy. |
Students work in the Academy's newly donated computer lab.
Students sing a school hymn "paz, queremos paz," or "peace, we want peace" at an assembly. |
The Miguel Angel Asturias Academy
13 calle 24-43, Zona 3
Quetzaltenango
Guatemala
The Miguel Angel Asturias Academy-US
c/o Stone Church of the Brethren
1623 Moore Street
Huntingdon, PA 16652
USA
360.312.7679
info@asturiasacademy.org
www.asturiasacademy.org |
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