The role of sport in society and in the future of the next generations is often much more relevant than we sometimes think. Sport is not only related to health, it also means companionship, respect, discipline, sacrifice, cooperation, competitiveness, teamwork, coexistence, equality, justice, empathy, creativity, perseverance, humility, fun, self-discipline, and self-knowledge. These are values and virtues that are essential, not only in the areas of sports, but must be applied to our daily lives, in order to live in a society that is constantly developing, and in which peace can prevail.
With all these attributes, we can confirm that sports have a wonderful impact in changing people, and why not, in changing the world. Sport should never be a privilege only for some, sports are a right, to which everyone, from a young age, should have access, and we should be encouraged to do so. If we know how to take advantage of its benefits, sports will be a fundamental tool to strengthen bonds, objectives and solidarity.
During the International Sports Day Month for Development and Peace, which is celebrated on April 6 each year, we will encourage our children to participate in physical activities that improve our health, well-being, and quality of life as individuals and as a community. Sportsmanship and teamwork is a very powerful tool for learning to overcome difficulties and challenges, such as those we have had to experience in the past year as we have gone through the Covid-19 pandemic, which we are still fighting against.
On this special occasion, for those of us who are passionate about sport and healthy living, we take the chance to reflect and give the deserved recognition and value to sports and the role it plays in our lives, in the development of our children, and in the peace of our societies.
I come to you today with some reflections on educational response to the global pandemic, specifically an argument for why curricular enrichment should always be prioritized and, during times of immediate crisis, why it is needed more than ever.
For years, national governments, pedagogical leaders and individual school leaders have battled with the choice of curricular structure.
What is best for each and every child? What is most important? And, most often, where should we invest our limited budget?
During my 7-year tenure here at Futuro verde we have journeyed through these exact questions and pedagogical ponderings. We have arrived at the conclusion that “everything is equally important”. But, what do we mean by that? Many schools place extraordinary emphasis on specific subjects or areas of expertise, but at Futuro Verde we are strongly committed to a holistic curricular commitment. That is why, when you divide our subjects between academic and what are often referred to as “specials” classes, you find a much more even split than can be found at most schools. If there is imbalance, it can often be found to be skewed toward more specials than not with classes such as: Comparative Language Study, Mindfulness, PE, Music, Art, Environmental Education, and the like. The culture of our school is strongly aligned to the notion that, even if I love math and want nothing more than to be an amazing mathematician, I also know that physical and mental strength and health is important and so I practice that too and I ensure a healthy and balanced mind and body during my PE and mindfulness classes. This same approach permeates throughout our school, with an approach very similar to that often championed by elite Liberal Arts colleges and universities around the world.
But, how has our holistic curricular approach translated to crisis schooling in response to the global pandemic?
We continue to self-reflect on this throughout our response to the crisis and our implementation of our COVID-19 protocol, but what we have seen is that, whereas a holistic curricular approach is what we consider best during normal conditions for learning, it has become a lifeline during a time of crisis. And so, we have strengthened our commitment to our holistic values and we maintain our commitment to the liberal arts development of all of our students, from preschool through 12th grade. This commitment has brought with it some inspirational student growth, processes and products during our online model, including:
A whole school music project to create a virtual choir that is currently in the works and will bring our student voices, instrumental and technological skills together across all grade levels in our unique interpretation of “Where is the Love”. How will we do this? Watch an interesting instructional video on the process here.
Participation by our Visual Arts students in the #gettymuseumchallenge, which challenged them to recreate a famous work of art and, in so doing, express their worldview and perspective or reality through art. See some of their inspirational recreations here.
Commitment to the theoretical and practical aspects of physical conditioning and activity through challenges, research and resources for a variety of physical activity, at-home options.
These are only a few samples of the way that a holistic curricular approach has brought balance, peace and creative development to our students during this difficult time we are all living. As a school, we remain committed to a holistic curricular approach and we hope that our school community joins us in this doubling-down during the hardest of times on ensuring a well-rounded approach to learning and to life.
For further exploration on why holistic learning is important in education, please enjoy this Ted Talk from Sir Ken Robinson and shared with me from our own IB 12th grader, Tristan.
If you love our holistic programming and you want to help us through this difficult financial time, please consider contributing to our fundraising campaign at chuffed.org. And, in advance, thank you for supporting an example of what education should look like around the world!
As usual at Futuro Verde, the 2019 school year was full of sports and recreational achievements. From circuit to national levels, our students proudly represented our colors and demonstrated that everyone’s effort and perseverance are the basis of athletic success.
Both in team sports, such as volleyball, and in individual sports, such as swimming, chess and cross country, our institution´s name has been very well represented by our athletes. Among the highlights are two of our students reaching cross country nationals, where they had an outstanding participation, and nine students qualifying for swimming nationals, where they won gold, silver and bronze medals. For the first time in our history, we also managed to classify a team to the national chess tournament, with our team achieving an honorable fifth place.
The competitive season of the Ministry of Public Education is over. However, this does not mean that opportunities for our students and families to get involved in sports activities have come to an end. We will be closing the school year with our annual trail run during which all our students run all parents and community members are invited to participate. Futuro Verde Trail Fun Run 2019 will be on December 13, save the date! Come and enjoy exercising your body in the company of the entire Futuro Verde community.
If you have any questions or would like to get involved in the Trail Fun Run 2019 race, do not hesitate to contact me at alejandro@futuro-verde.org
Have you heard about Futuro Verde’s annual education conference held on our campus on the last Thursday and Friday of June each year? Attendees from years past can attest to how unifying the conference is with attendance by educators, community members, parents and students from around the peninsula, Costa Rica and the world.
This year’s conference is gearing up to be another great experience! Click on the link below to register and read the flyer below for details on the basics of registering and getting involved in this year’s conference! And, don’t forget! Our Call for Proposals is currently open for submissions. If you are an educator or community member with something to share in the area of bilingual, holistic or sustainable education, submit your proposal today!
For over a year now Futuro Verde students, staff, parents and our greater school community have worked together to raise the funds needed for a multi-use sports court for the school. With our efforts thus far we have raised over $5,000. The total cost of the court is estimated at $40,000, which would include the court base and roof. Our board president, Rico Reolon, has been working hard to secure an external donor willing to support the funding needed for our court and just this last month the good news came in- a Swiss donor has committed to $20,000 toward our sports facilities!
We held a surprise announcement with our staff and students and filmed the moment to share with our social media community and as a thank you to our donor. Students and staff celebrated in full- overjoyed to have achieved such impressive progress on this important goal for our school community! It is never lost on our school community that we have and continue to thrive thanks to the support of generous donations just like our current Swiss donors and we are tremendously grateful for this ongoing support.
Phase one of construction for the sports court will begin as soon as possible. This phase will complete the court base and will boast a purpose-built facility designed for:
School Enrichment
Basketball
Indoor football (soccer)
American 5-man football
Handball
Goalball
Acrobatic gymnastics
Artistic gymnastics
Volleyball
Tennis
Hockey (roller skate and tennis shoe)
Badminton
Community Enrichment
Pilates classes
Yoga classes
Zumba
Dance classes
Crossfit
Group recreation activities
Multipurpose Uses
Community and school events
Assemblies
Guest speakers
Civic events
Band practices
Graduation
We would love to achieve Phase 2 of the sport court construction, primarily the construction of a roof over the facility and bathrooms, showers and lockers, and encourage donors interested in supporting this to contribute to our current online campaign. Thank you!
This year’s athletic season, and swimming in particular, has prompted some confusion amongst our community. “What national competition are you talking about NOW?” In an effort to clear up some of the confusion, the following is an explanation:
MEP – Student Sports Games
Every year, since 2014, Futuro Verde has participated in the Student Games organized by the Ministry of Education which is overseen by the Costa Rican Sports Commission (ICODER). We have won medals in swimming at the National level in both individual and relay events since we first entered these games. In 2016, after winning a gold medal in her individual event, Emma Garcia was invited by ICODER to join a selection of Student Games winners at the Central American Student Games in El Salvador. This year’s national events for primary and secondary took place in June with gold and silver medals. Emma Garcia won gold medals in both the 50 meter breaststroke and freestyle, the relay team in Category B (Elana Jiménez, Emma Garcia, Maya Salazar, and Samantha Fonseca) won silver medals in two relays, and our combined relay team in Category A (Leandro Salazar, Kai MacKenzie, Quetzal Ramírez, and Solana Chiaverini) won gold!
ICODER National Sports Games
This year, several of Futuro Verde’s more senior swimmers were invited to join the team of the district of Nicoya (ANANI) to participate with them in the National Games, also overseen by ICODER. These games include a wide array of sports and the finals take place in June and July. Accompanied by our Athletic Director, our swimmers participated in two Eliminatory competitions, with only the top 8 swimmers qualifying in each event. The final for swimming will take place in Cartago from July 9-12th. Four of Futuro Verde’s swimmers qualified for the finals: Sebastian Bravo, Fiona Jiménez, Elana Jiménez, and Emma Garcia. (Soleil Michaud qualified as a substitute). Fingers crossed for our swimmers in this prestigious event!
FECONA National Championship
As if the above weren’t enough, four of Futuro Verde’s swimmers, Soleil Michaud, Fiona Jiménez, Elana Jiménez, and Emma Garcia, also became “federated” swimmers with the swim club “El Milenio” in Escazu and had the opportunity to participate in the nationally recognized competitions associated with FECONA (National Federation of Swimming). During the course of the season, they competed in swim competitions which took place around the country providing the swimmers with the opportunity to post official times with FECONA. Swimmers who achieved times qualifying them in Mark A or B were invited to participate in the National Championship which took place in Cartago in May. All four Futuro Verde swimmers qualified to compete in the Championship and Fiona won the bronze medal in the 50 meter breaststroke event.
The sports program at Futuro Verde, often under-resourced and without adequate training facilities, has nevertheless offered our students a base from which they have sprung to achieve national success. Enormous credit for this success is shared by all involved – our dedicated coaches, our strong and resilient athletes, our committed parents and the Futuro Verde school philosophical commitment to the development of holistic student-athletes. We look forward to seeing an even larger group of Futuro Verde athletes in more sports participate in national events in the future!
