by Rico Reolon | Oct 30, 2019
The Futuro Verde educational project has always been a labor of love for our board members! Having been on the board from the beginning and having overseen all of the construction, remodeling and development projects our school has taken on, I can attest to the hard work and concerted effort facilities development has been at our small, community school.
The positive news is that our facilities continue to improve each year and this has been the product of the support of school families, generous external donors and the careful planning and quick initiative of Futuro Verde leadership team and board members looking to act quickly and in favor of ongoing development, growth and improvement.
Some highlights from our governing body and from my tenure as board president include:
Overcoming Development Setbacks- From a lack of funding, to a lack of consistent governmental support, to the delay of planned projects in order to address urgent needs, our development has not been a continual line of success. But, through it all, I am proud to say that our board of directors has worked together to problem solve, address urgent issues and to work diligently toward the best facilities we can achieve at any given time.
Strategic Plan- I am proud to say that our board has followed a strategic plan for years now. This plan has focused the board’s efforts and ensured that we continue to seek development of our student population and facilities with intention and drive. A new, full day board retreat scheduled for November 9th will have us reviewing and updating our current strategic plan.
Leadership and Guidance- The board of directors takes its responsibility of leadership and governance seriously and this includes a sustained focus on the support and counsel of our fantastic school leadership team as they strive to ensure that our programs develop in a measured way that matches our ability to improve and build new and needed facilities. The positive relationship we have sustained with the school leadership team has allowed for courageous conversations and collegial interactions in which the well-being of our students and our school stay at the forefront of our decision-making.
Septic System Process- One of our most recent achievements has been a major improvement to our septic system, which will improve our waste water management school wide. We are proud to be collaborating with Ecotanks in the installation of a system that fully treats our waste water and releases into the environment waste that is 100% potable (although Futuro Verde will use this water only for watering purposes, not for drinking). As our student population grows and our facilities multiply, adequate waste water treatment has become a pressing and urgent need we are thrilled to have solved at this time.
Future projects:
As many of you know there are many projects yet to come:
- construction of our multi-use sports court
- construction of new, permanent classrooms to replace our remaining temporary buildings
- remodeling and expansion of our administrative building
- completion of our staff parking lot and remodel of our visitor lot to make arrival and dismissal safer and more efficient
by Stuart Millar, IB coordinator | Oct 3, 2019
11th grade is hard at work, raising funds for their upcoming trip to Guatemala at the end of November. Students will experience the sights and sounds of Antigua, climb a volcano, visit local villages, and be responsible for making meals for the group! This trip will be the culmination of fundraising activities that started at the beginning of last year. It is a fundamental part of Futuro Verde’s philosophy that students should be responsible for raising the money for their field trips. This way, families are not burdened with an extra cost and students learn about the results of effort and the value of money.
However, fundraising isn’t easy. Sodas are the traditional method at Futuro Verde, but you need a lot of sodas to raise $5,000! There have been lots of good ideas, and some very successful events, but sometimes putting these into practice has been a challenge. Across all grades we have been seeing some interesting initiatives: the chance not to wear uniform in exchange for a donation, raffles, garage sales, movie nights, and sponsored field trip t-shirts. One of the main challenges is that fundraising efforts normally target students and staff. As that is a relatively small population, all these initiatives are looking to benefit from the same limited pot of financial resources. One suggestion to all classes looking to pay for their field trips is to consider holding events that reach a wider audience. Also, maybe we’re missing a trick if we don’t involve parents, families, and friends and ask for their ideas and support.
So what’s next for 11th grade? A great collaboration between a student and his parents. Look out for an announcement about a raffle with a prize of dinner at Restaurant Montezuma!
by Tee McDougal | Oct 3, 2019
Who would have known that during the BHS conference here at Futuro Verde the staff would be offered complimentary registration for the 2019 La Cosecha Dual Language Conference! On November 13-16 Futuro Verde staff members Lural Ramírez, Khalida Lockheed, Paola Grijalba Araya, Vidhi Gada, Alannah Anglin, and Tee McDougal will travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico to attend and present at this important conference for dual language education. When the director for Dual Language Education in New Mexico, David Rogers, presented as the keynote speaker for the BHS conference he asked that Futuro Verde presenters consider presenting at the dual language conference in New Mexico. La Cosecha brings together educators, parents, and researchers from across the U.S. and several foreign countries. It offers a unique opportunity to share best practices and resources to educate children in multilingual and multicultural communities.
With this in mind, teachers from Futuro Verde will be presenting two different workshops at the conference. On is called, “Reflection and Metacognition Strategies in Upper Elementary and Secondary Grades.” This presentation, by Vidhi, Khalida and Tee, will focus on metacognitive strategies that teachers can use to help students identify error patterns and better retrieve information and skills learned. The other presentation, “Translanguaging Done Right: Transcending Traditional Additive Language Instruction” presented by Lural, Vidhi and Tee, will share with attendees the innovative “World Language” class that a team of teachers have developed here at Futuro Verde. There will also be opportunities to visit other presentations, network with dual language teachers and researchers, visit dual language classrooms in Albuquerque, and shop for new and innovative bilingual classroom resources. An exciting opportunity for Futuro Verde staff in New Mexico, “The Land of Enchantment.”
by Irene Jover | Oct 1, 2019
Written by Khalida Lockheed and Irene Jover
With only a few months before the school year comes to an end, 12th grade students are preparing for their exams and internal IB assessments.
IB Music
Dilana Campos, the only music student in 12th grade, has been working hard these past two years and presented us with a small sample of her work in a final concert held at the school. She was accompanied by 11th grade students while all presented solo pieces as well as a group piece.
Dilana has also shared one of her musical compositions and her research on the musical links that can be established between two totally different cultures.
To meet the requirements of the subject, the music students of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program must interpret pieces of different styles and periods in public, compose three musical pieces, investigate the differences and similarities between musical cultures and take a written musical perception examination.
We are very proud of Dilana, who is very close to finishing her International Baccalaureate and the 11th grade students, Rachid, Alejandro and Axel, who have started the music course by working very hard and awarding us with the opportunity to enjoy their performances.
IB Visual Arts
Visual Arts students in 12th grade, Elian Gonzalez, Mateo Avila, and Lawerence Scheda, presented their body of work at the IB Art Exhibition in the Cultural Center of Cobano on August 29th. The Exhibit comprised their internally assessed portion for IB. Each student had their own personal gallery space with works ranging across media, including pinhole photography, painting, drawing, ceramics, graffitti, stop motion animation, and interactive installation.
Entitled “Tiquicia Online”, Mateo’s exhibit was an exploration of social media and the impact of technology and development in our rural “third-world” community. In his Curatorial Rationale, he writes, “My artworks attempt to expose the negative assumptions that social media use to try to incentivize on people. Exposing how special it is to focus on being an ethical rather than being beautiful person, being different and original rather than being fashionable and enjoying the small things rather than wishing for an opulent life.”
Elian’s exhibit was a similar exploration of modern life and social isolation through media and technology. In his words, “Isolation. That is the theme that connects my exhibition. Be it social isolation, not fitting in, or not feeling understood, or physical isolation, isolation can take many forms. With my art I tried to explore the ways and reasons why isolation has become so common in the present day. “
Lawrence’s exhibit, on the other hand, focused on connection and synergy, “or the idea that the combined power of a group of things when working together is greater than the total power achieved by each working separately.” His intentions were “to break traditional barriers into a oneness or feeling of belonging to the world without having to enter in pre established categories, this is why I often allude to duality and gender.”
Selected works from students of all grades were also showcased at the show, with special highlight to the 11th grade IB Visual Arts students’ work, giving us a taste of what will be in store for next year’s show!
by Karol Madrigal | Aug 29, 2019
During the month of September, at the same time as our fellow Central American nations, we celebrate our country´s Declaration of Independence. As a result, a series of activities are organized, such as decorating the classrooms with patriotic symbols, creating lanterns, and rehearsing for the colorful parade of marching bands, flag bearers and twirlers, among others.
This holiday, in particular, is highly valued at a national level as it represents a special opportunity to reflect on how proud we feel of our political stability and pacifism, which is evident in the fact that our parades, throughout the country, are organized and spearheaded by our “army” of teachers and students.
This year, all our students are already preparing for their participation in the parade on Sunday, September 15th. To this purpose, we have formed a variety of groups preparing different types of presentations and dedicating time and effort to our weekly rehearsals.
In addition, at the beginning of September, our classrooms and corridors will be decorated with patriotic symbols and lanterns will be made for the nightly lantern parades held in each community on Saturday, September 14th. In conclusion, our students will have the opportunity to enjoy all the ongoing activities while developing their civic awareness.
by Stuart Millar, IB coordinator | Aug 27, 2019
On the morning of November 4th, 2019 our first cohort of IB diploma students will start their exams. Exams are spread over three weeks with Spanish and English in the first week, business management in the second week, and math studies, biology and music in the third week. By lunchtime on Thursday 21st November, after twenty hours of exams, we will have some very happy and relieved students, teachers and parents!
For some of us it’s been a long time since we did high school exams, and the IB exam format might be new and of interest to some of you. IB uses a range of exam instruments including essay answers of more than 1,000 words, analysis of music scores, and extended answers where students are required to demonstrate high-level analytical and evaluative thinking. It’s a far cry from the traditional exam format of multiple choice, short answers, and regurgitating memorized facts. For example, in business management, paper 1, the 2 hour and 15 minutes exam is based on a case study about a fictional business. The students have already received the case study of nearly two thousand words and are working to understand it, analyze it, and identify all the topics they might be asked about. In the exam they will be given additional information about the company and will be asked to recommend appropriate and effective business strategies for the company’s growth.
Before the exams even start the IB cohort is finishing off business, biology, and math projects as well as preparing for a visual arts exhibition! We’re very proud of the graduates of 2019. If you happen to see Elian, Lawrence, Mateo, or Dilana please be sure to wish them luck!
