Creating Educational Opportunity for Maya Children

The school year is nearing its end in Santiago Atitlan and while most schools are getting ready to close the gates for the 2 month recess, Panabaj School is still working hard to make the buildings and outdoor spaces welcoming and attractive for the over 200 students that study here. This month, as part of Pueblo a Pueblo’s Organic School Garden project, Panabaj School participated in a fun competition centered on the concept of sustainable urban gardens.  The garden competition encouraged the use of small spaces, and inspired children to start thinking about innovative re-uses for materials that they encounter every day at home, on the street or at school.

Pueblo a Pueblo’s Organic School Garden project serves as a tool for enriching the learning environment for children, and is based on the idea that a school garden and a classroom should be complementary and interchangeable spaces.  We love working with teachers and students on fun hands-on projects where the children can learn and take their new knowledge home! 

Together with the 4 other schools that participated, Panabaj School did an amazing job transforming small corners of the campus into beautiful garden spaces. The competition was based on four categories: the use of recycled materials, creativity, quality & functionality, and student-teacher participation.

The school community of Panabaj once again demonstrated how, when they come together for a single common purpose, so much can be accomplished. Now the school not only has electricity in the classrooms, fresh paint, and working bathrooms with doors, it also has an array of plants to warm up the school. And even better, everything was planned and directed by the school itself, showing students’ and teachers’ creativity to shine.

Thanks to donors to the reconstruction project, the students and teachers can now be proud of the beautiful school they have knowing that they too have contributed to its improvement!