Aquaponics Solution to Climate Change

Normally these reports are designed to keep you updated on the progress of our aquaponic greenhouses: how they fit into our educational methodology, what new things we are adding and how much we need your help to keep this all going.  Of course, these things remain true. Students continue to play a vital role in our productive area, our new greenhouse is quickly approaching full productivity, and we very much still need your help to keep this all going. With all this focus on the what and the how, though, I am afraid that we have lost a little bit of the perspective on the most important part of this whole thing: the why. Why we do all of this and, more importantly, why you have chosen to continue supporting us.

This has been a momentous year for Amún Shéa and PEOF. New partnerships with Pestalozzi and FIAES, the CIAC and Brinker Science Lab, and the construction of the Casa Comunal are all huge steps forward and undoubtedly reasons for celebration. With all this expansion, we are becoming able to do more good for more people, which is exactly what PEOF stands for and exactly why you stand behind us.

A cornerstone of all this work, one of the most important projects that truly set PEOF’s work into motion at Amún Shéa, was the aquaponic greenhouse project. It remains a pivotal part of Amún Shéa’s work and influence in the community and your support of the greenhouses is perhaps more important than ever before.

One of Amún Shéa’s core principles has always been that application is more important than just theory. Ever since its inception several years ago, our aquaponics greenhouse has provided a wonderful venue for our students to make that happen. This year, however, the connection between our “Área Productiva,” or productive area, and the classroom has grown even stronger, something that we’ve only been able to do thanks to your continuing support.

Amún Shéa this year has entered a period of rapid growth and change in just about every facet, spurred on by the school-wide adoption of our Problem Based Learning methodology. At the center of this move is the desire to systematize our approach to learning so that it can be applied throughout the Integrated School System of Perquín. As a central part of our methodology, the hands-on aspect of learning at Amún Shéa has undergone the same treatment.

What this means in concrete terms for our students is that at least once a week (though often more frequently, especially for the older students) the students from each community spend a block of time working in the productive area. Tasks range from helping water plants and plant seedlings for the younger kids to developing the infrastructure for the second greenhouse for the older kids. Other projects include developing organic fertilizer, creating a system of water filters for the aquaponics system, and organizing the entire productive area to work together smoothly.

The steps forward that we have taken in the productive area have also allowed for further individual work to be done within the project-based framework of our methodology. This semester, for instance, has seen our high-school community focusing on developing our own super-efficient fish food for our tilapia pond and our second community (comprised of third through fifth grade) developing a system of traps for the same tilapia pond.

We’ve only just gotten started with the school year and we’ve got lots of exciting plans in store for our productive area and all the opportunities that it brings to our students. Just don’t forget to keep supporting us!