On Thursday I had the pleasure of visiting the Escuela Americana where my La Crosse buddy, Holly, works with the high school's seniors arranging their service projects and internships. Salvadorans refer to this school as for the 'privileged.' And alfer seeing how the majority of Salvadorans are educated, today I saw how the elite live.
Set in a beautiful suburb on manicured grounds with lovely gardens, ponds and all the latest in computer labs besides good cafeteria food, makes some US college campuses look inadequate. Their sport teams excel as top notch coaches are contracted and American teachers are recruited yearly in the States along with local hirers too to not ignore their Spanish studies. The students are fluent in English by graduation and I was so impressed by the projects that they have done this year. These projects take them out of their suburbs to show them their own city and I commend Holly on the conscious raising that she is achieving. If we have everything and are sheltered from the rest of the world, we haven't really received an education. I was fortunate enough to be privy to a day of senior intern presentations. Many of the students have been with the same classmates since they were 3 years old so having an internship in a 'community' work place that is not family owned was out of their comfort level. After listening to some power point presentations, I know that these students will go far in whatever they decide to do. They learned so much from their internships including how to meet new people... their reflections revealed a lot of heart. Most will be going to college in the States. One gal who's going to Costa Rica for her medical school training wants to return to help her people. My hope is that many/if not all of these graduates will follow suit because their country needs them...
Did you just work in a Buddy Holly pun here?
ReplyDelete