Dear Futuro Verde staff, teachers, board, parents and students,
The final week has come of what, for our family, has been a seven year adventure here on the peninsula and in Costa Rica! It has been over 15 years since we first made the plan to take our lives around the world, to join school communities in far off lands, to learn as much as we could, to give as much as we could, and to do our very best to live deliberate and full lives, replete with diverse experiences and enriching challenges. Finding Futuro Verde was a perfect fit over these seven years and we move on now with very full hearts and an enduring love for this inspiring school community!
When we came here our kids were still so little and we leave now with three teenagers in tow, growing taller each day, and excited for the adventures ahead. As parents, we are grateful that our own children leave with their hearts planted firmly in the rich soil of this beautiful land, with a love for the oceans, rivers, waterfalls and jungle. It has been an enviable childhood for them, by any accounts! As educators, we are grateful to each and every teacher at Futuro Verde who has shaped our children’s lives and has inspired in them an insatiable love for learning and a curiosity about the world. Thank you all for the big and the small moments- for teaching them to read, how to master long division, how to hook a reader into a story…and for the much more important teachings: how to be good people, to be kind and polite, to listen and to care. And, to our school’s loving auxiliary staff we extend our warmest appreciation. You have been like extra moms for our kids- finding their lost items, cheering them on when they try something new, and loving them even when they arrive early each day and hang around until late, waiting, like teacher’s kids do, for mom and dad to finally head home. We are firm believers in the village that is needed to raise all children and we thank you all for being part of our children’s village of caring and loving adults!
As members of the school staff, we send our love and appreciation to the Board of Directors for keeping this amazing school front and center in their lives, breathing air into its lungs and keeping the wind beneath its wings when it has been needed. You are the true, unsung heroes of the school and though many may not perceive just how important the work you do is, as your Head of School these past six years, I can attest to how important you all are- representatives of a broader association of parents, giving of your time and your energy, with no benefit but knowing that what you do truly matters. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for everything you have done, and will do, to support Futuro Verde!
Alejandro and I will miss the parent community dearly! Thank you all for all you have done for us throughout the years, for your kind and friendly nature, your commitment and support and for raising these beautiful and special children that are our Futuro Verde students! Parents are the first teachers and you all are doing a fantastic job- committed to sacrificing so much to ensure your child lives in an amazing place AND has a top-notch education, leaving the doors open for endless future opportunities! We salute you and we reaffirm for you that the most important investment you will ever make, hands down, is the one you make in your child’s education!
But, as a teacher, it is always your students you most remember and miss and we have been fortunate to have made such a meaningful connection with all of our FV students over the years and we will miss you all! Thank you for joining in sport and song with us, for the heartfelt conversations, the laughs and for aguantando nuestras regañadas! We hope the best for each and every one of you- that you may be happy, fulfilled and that you learn as much as you can so that you can go off into life and do important and good things in the world, that you think of others before yourself and that you live purposeful lives.
Our Futuro Verde school community has come so far and the future is bright for this little school, with a big heart and big dreams, here on the tip of the Nicoya Peninsula! There is nothing more powerful than joining together, united behind a cause like good education and we hope the community continues to unite and to support one another, bringing this dream of a school for all, united in peace and sustainability and determined to develop the leaders of tomorrow, and that you all hold our school forever in your hearts and in your minds because a good school is a game changer for the entire community and yet it must be prioritized, tended to and loved as we all strive to, as Barack Obama has said, ¨belong to ourselves, while belonging to others, in just the right amount.”
Thank you all for these incredible years and for your support and love! Happy Holidays, take care and be well!
Sincerely,
The Ramírez Family
Lural, Alejandro, Joaquín, Santiago and Quetzal
