The greatest challenge in education is maintaining relevancy to the demands, needs and opportunities in a dynamic and constantly changing world. While this reality has motivated has motivated an entrepreneur economic focus in recent years, it is very clear that we must now seriously consider peace, both social and individual, as a prerequisite for social economic development.
At Center for Integrated Development, Amún Shéa, we have taken on that challenge, incorporating real-world situations into the study plan. After all, is education just a mind game, or a support and preparation for taking on the world and all it has to offer and throw at you? At Amún Shéa, we do learn math, science, language and other tools to apply, but to real situations, to real needs and to real opportunities.
El Salvador, as well as much of the world, is currently going through a serious test of character and will. Educational programs must incorporate these tests into the curriculum or risk irrelevancy, and even complicity, with the current state of affairs.
Quality Learning is learning real-life skills in real-world situations. Join us as we integrate peace, productivity and personal expression into the study plan... and watch the results. Invite your friends to join in as well, as we break with the traditional status quo.
Amún Shéa priorities for 2015 are math, technology and English. While at the national level our students are well above average, we have now set the bar a bit higher, to international standards. A careful review with participation from volunteers of the US Peace Corps and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), along with collaboration from staff of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) determined the need to set these priorities.
This process has allowed us to build institutional relationships which provide valuable expertise, strengthens our program and enhances our impact in education. We continue to seek out new partnerships for that very purpose, as in the case of the South Korea International Agency for Cooperation (KOICA) and others.
The aim and purpose of these relationships is to improve the quality of education and elevate our program to international standards, as we strive to create the needed spark for development in the area.
We are grateful for your support and for your sharing this project with friends and family. This caliber of program would be completely out of reach for everyone within the region, without your help. Partner with us on the financial side so that we may focus fully on the educational aspect. Thank you!
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Our Amún Shéa educational program has just passed an important milestone, with the graduation of our first ninth grade class. In El Salvador, this stage between middle school and high school is a highly celebrated occasion; many young people will not pursue further education from this point. Beginning in 2008 with kindergarten through the third grade, our quality learning program has expanded one grade per year, to reach this momentous stage finalizing the third cycle of basic education, known elsewhere as middle school.
Your generous support through this scholarship project has made it possible for Marvin, Ingrid, Ana Milagro, Melvin and Abigail to complete ninth grade, well prepared to enter into high school. As our first graduates of the hands-on application of an integrated learning program, we are confident they have an excellent start towards success in life.
You have also made it possible for a new group to begin their learning journey, namely the 2014 graduating kindergarten class. They are Zaydi, Diana, Eduardo, Alex, Celeste, Sarah and Belen. We look forward to their development in the coming years through our program and hope that you remain an important part of the team making that possible for each one.
Thank you!
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Just as your financial support allows access to a quality education in this remote area of El Salvador, a quantitative leap in the process occurs as partners join in and share their expertise with the students. Each exchange opens our horizons and brings a new part of the world to our students and to our school, Amún Shéa.
We recently had three interns from the University of Michigan chapter of GlobeMed sharing six weeks of their summer break to assist with our Nutrition program. They supplied resources, time and expertise for our vegetable growing project, our Tilapia fish farming and our hygiene program. Katya, Haben and Darci became part of our community and to some degree, we became part of theirs.
Always great to have MoverMoms, from the DC area coming to share with us. A lot of fun and games, and some serious cooking classes.
NOMAD is a Portuguese organization that returns several times a years, bearing fun and gifts. The last group supplied us with musical instruments, including violins. Joanne from England was in the area, so she stopped by and gave some classes on the new violins.
Gernot is a German computer/communication businessman who upon hearing about Amún Shéa decided to bring equipment and give a week-long training course to our students.
Each one of these contacts, and other like them, greatly enrich our educational program. Their support, coupled with your continued financial support makes our goal of a quality education into a reality.
We are counting on you, and a big THANK YOU!
We believe that education must assume responsibility for local economic growth and social health. Education benefits the community not only by developing well-prepared citizens for the future, but through the learning process itself, which has positive impact on present-day challenges.
Many understand the importance of linking education to local settings or surroundings, but we go one step further: we maintain that real learning must not and does not stop at observation, but must include interaction.
Simply put, we learn by doing and doing the activity for real.
Your support to this program is changing the very concept of education and development in northern Morazán. We sincerely thank you for your support and would further help us by spreading the word to your friends and family.
Thank you
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