by Lural Ramirez | May 22, 2017
Living and working in the middle of the jungle of Costa Rica, next to some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, is an invaluable gift that we are fortunate to enjoy each and every day here at Futuro Verde. However, living in such a far flung location can mean that at times we can feel isolated from the rest of the world. For this reason, every year we open our school to the community, to parents and to educators across Costa Rica and the world during our International Conference on Bilingual, Holistic and Sustainable Education. We share our school, our model and the knowledge of our teachers with other educators who join us for two days of fun-filled and meaningful professional and personal development.
This year’s BHS conference is our 3rd Annual event and it promises to be more unique than ever. Day 1 on June 29th of the conference will focus entirely on sustainability, with interactive sessions, a Feria Verde and a one of a kind Trashion fashion show! Day 2 on June 30th will feature our keynote speaker, Shahnaz Sahnow, and a full day of sessions focused on bilingual and holistic education.
We would love to see more parents attending our BHS conference this year! As parents strive to best support their children’s learning at home, they are well served to more deeply understand the underpinnings and philosophy of our unique style of education as well as have the opportunity to strengthen their understanding of how to best work with their children at home. If you haven’t signed up yet, spots still remain! Follow the directions at the link below and sign-up today for this unique and beneficial opportunity at BHS 2017!
BHS Online Registration
by Webmaster | May 16, 2017
Did you know that clothing industry has been labeled the second largest polluter in the world? The only industry that pollutes more is OIL! (http://www.alternet.org/environment/its-second-dirtiest-thing-world-and-youre-wearing-it) So what can we do about it? Wearing used clothing is one option. Not obsessively following fashion is another. Something else that we can do which is much more fun is… making Trashion! Trash+Fashion=Trashion. Students have begun to work on Trashion in their art classes in preparation for the first Futuro Verde Trashion Show!
Wondering what you can do to help our students with their fashion creations? We need all your cool, interesting, weird trash and any used clothing that you no longer want.
Visiting the beach? Bring along a plastic bag to fill with all the strange and amazing trash treasures that the ocean deposits on our shores.
Have a business which produces clean trash, like boxes, or bottles, or other packaging material? We can transform your packaging garbage into stylish wrappings!
Want to clean out all that old computer/technology junk lying around that you don’t know what to do with? Our students can turn that junk into fashion gold!
Futuro Verde’s Trashion Show will be held on the Day One of the 3rd Annual BHS Conference, on Thursday, June 29th, 2017. We will also host the Preview (dress rehearsal) on Thursday, June 22nd, before the mid-year vacation begins. We welcome one and all to cheer our students as they vogue down the runway in their finest Trashion!
by Noelia | May 15, 2017
Albert Einstein said: “Art is the expression of the profoundest thoughts in the simplest way”. ‘FV’s got talent’ is an opportunity for students to show off their talents and express their feelings through visual, literary, scenic and musical arts. ‘FV’s got talent’ will be holding auditions from the 15th to the 19th of May. The big day is the 9th of June. Winners will be selected by both the judges and the audience and can move on to other competitions to showcase their talent at a national level.
by Fundraising | May 15, 2017
This Thursday, June 29, we will be hosting the 3rd Bilingual, Holistic and Sustainable Conference. As part of this event, we will be organizing our Feria Verde, to which national producers from both in and outside the peninsula will be invited.
The aim of the fair is to promote the art and national design and share with the guests who will attend the conference. Also, to sell different products that are aligned to sustainable practices and good health.
Come, participate and enjoy a day full of innovations!
by Noelia | May 9, 2017
The Students Global Awareness Committee (S.G.A.C) is a non-profit small committee striving to make a change. We are five girls, Maya Reolon, Soleil Michaud, Emma Rupert, Ariadna Lopez, and Georgia Udall, who are well aware that one person can make a change. Our goal is to raise money for global, national and local crisis. This month’s focus is on the crisis happening in Syria that has been going on everyday for 6 years now. Each month we will focus on a different objective, with the exception that we don’t raise enough money at the end of the month, our main focus will be to reach the amount necessary. To reach this, we will not be sitting on our bums doing nothing expecting the money to show up, we will work our way up until we have what we need to fulfill our month’s purpose. For those who want to help a cause of their choice will find the boxes at the front office as they enter the school. Always remember, a dollar can change a life.
“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”-George Bernard Shaw.
by Stuart Millar, IB coordinator | Apr 26, 2017
“Good judgment is learned, but you can’t learn it if you don’t have the necessary hardware.” Dr. Yurgelun-Todd
“But I’m old enough to make my own decisions!” is something that parents often hear from their teenagers. Unfortunately for them, science doesn’t necessarily support our students’ claims.
Well developed sections of a teenager’s brain include the amygdala, responsible for immediate actions and aggression, and the nucleus accumbens, the area that looks for pleasure and reward (the more, the better!). The prefrontal cortex in the frontal lobe – responsible for impulse control, evaluating, understanding cause and effect, forming judgments and controlling emotions – is the least developed section of the brain, not maturing until our 20s. There, in a nutshell, is the scientific reason for all the stereotypes that teenagers are judged by and sometimes live up to.
As a result, teenagers are more likely to: act on impulse, misunderstand social cues, indulge in risky behavior, and get involved in accidents and fights. They are less likely to think before they act, consider consequences of their actions, or adapt possible dangerous behaviors.
Molly Edmonds, in her article Teenage Brain Development, sums it up in a humorous way.
“Think of the teenage brain as an entertainment center that hasn’t been fully hooked up. There are loose wires, so that the speaker system isn’t working with the DVD player, which in turn hasn’t been formatted to work with the television yet. And to top it all off, the remote control hasn’t even arrived!”
My fellow parents, guardians, teachers, and students too. Hold in there! Some weird decisions, emotions and lack of impulse control are a normal part of the teenage years and students’ development. Knowing this will make your life easier and might make you more accepting of your teenager’s outbursts and shenanigans. It’s normal, it will end, and we will all come out the other side.
References and further reading:
Talukder, Gargi. “Decision-making Is Still a Work in Progress for Teenagers.” Brain Connection.
Edmonds, Molly. “Are Teenage Brains Really Different from Adult Brains?” HowStuffWorks Science. HowStuffWorks, 26 Aug. 2008.
Aacap. “Teen Brain: Behavior, Problem Solving, and Decision Making.” American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
