2020-21 Enrichment/Workshops for 120 Scholars

Guatemala has been hit hard by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and schools and teachers had to reinvent teaching either via online school, on TV, or by providing weekly worksheet guides. After another tough year, the country is completing its second academic school year with remote learning. Although, the Guatemalan government stated in January 2021 that the new school year would start with a hybrid model, the majority of public and private schools didn’t have the conditions and infrastructure needed to guarantee a safe return to school.

These last two years have meant living through various financial, physical and mental crises. The remote learning, isolation from friends and peers, and the canceling of extracurricular social activities have severely affected our adolescents.

Due to the poor quality of education and the lack of face-to-face classes in the schools, CasaSito´s enrichment activities and psychological support have become even more important to our scholars. The classes, such as Math, English, Debate, Art and Theatre of the Oppressed amongst others, allowed our scholars to follow their passions and talents, obtain and build new skills and knowledges outside of the “classroom” and share their fears, worries and insecurities with our staff.

We are convinced that our program helped our scholars to overcome the negative emotional and social effects of the pandemic and hope that we can go fully back to face-to-face classes in 2022.

Since the start of the pandemic there has been a lot of discussion about digital learning methods and the academic development of students. Especially, vulnerable students who have little access to digital tools and resources and a proper environment to study at home, experienced high learning losses during the last months.

The biggest gap that widened during these last months and that is key to our kids’ wellbeing is their creative, social and emotional development. Enrichment classes are typically offered as voluntary or elective courses and allow students to follow their passions and talents. They learn to identify problems, think out of the box and form strong bonds with their peers and coordinators.

At CasaSito, enrichment classes such as English, Math, Theatre, Art and Debate, have been always an integral part of the program. Apart of the creative, social and emotional benefits, the enrichment classes also have positive impact on the academic development and achievement of our scholars. Students are more motivated, become more engaged in their academic classes and are able to retain more information.

Since the new school year started, some enrichment classes have been implemented in a hybrid learning model with some classes taught in presence and others via video conference which allowed our scholars to socialize and interact with their peers. In addition, vocational orientation, mentoring, and sexual health education have been offered to the Junior High and High school students. The program includes life skills training, tutoring, coaching, personal and social development that aims at inspiring and equipping youths to overcome and strive.

Several scholars mentioned that their participation in the enrichment classes, helped them to overcome feelings of fear, anxiety, depression and demotivation. Others highlighted that they missed meeting friends and having social contacts and that they felt connected with their fellows during the times of lockdown although they only met virtually.

In the coming months, we will continue mentoring, guiding and supporting our scholars with workshops and enrichment activities so they can develop their personal and artistic skills, and emerge as strong and resilient young people.