Fund a teacher and support more than 250 students

This year 11 teachers from 9 different public and private schools and four departments of Guatemala, have joined the Teacher Development Program. As a pilot project, three teachers from the rural area of Guatemala were included in the program who assist the classes online. Despite the distance and sometimes weak internet signal, they were able to successfully participate in the program and achieve the empathy of their classmates. 

Between January and May, the teachers attended 14 theoretical and 4 practical sessions where they were trained in public speaking, maintaining eye contact with their peers, body posture and the ability to persuade under solid and well-supported arguments. On the 7^thof May, a semifinal and final debate between the participants will be held at CasaSito’s offices in Antigua. 

The empowerment of the teachers throughout this process has been tremendous! They have strengthened their responsible and empathetic listening skills, the ability to formulate solid arguments through the various investigations they carry out on certain topics of interest, strengthening critical thinking, analysis, synthesis, and resolution capacity of both personal and social conflicts. And they have finally given voice to their thoughts and lost the fear of speaking among equals.

In the coming four months, the teachers will implement a debate club within their classrooms. It is estimated that at least 110 students from both urban and rural areas will participate in the activities. The teachers will be accompanied and supported during the process of implementation. The Program will culminate with a final debate festival focused on the topic of non-violent communication between the participating schools, in October.