February 17th - Altagracia School

Although the time difference is only an hour, we had a pretty groggy breakfast. I’m struggling to remember what we ate, because it was followed by a few necessary cups of coffee that set the precedent we needed; confidence, determination, and creativity.

Our hotel is a very short drive to the Altagracia School where our work began. With some quick defensive driving maneuvers by our amazing bus driver, Glen, we somehow avoided all the children when we arrived into the school yard. To everyone else in the world, it was just another Monday, but to the students, it was almost like a holiday. They could not hide their excitement and ran to greet us with high fives, hugs, and gifts. If the coffee hadn’t woken us up already, this definitely did. 


We were overjoyed at such a warm welcome, only to find out that Maria Del Carmen, the principal, and the English teacher, Maribel, had arranged an extraordinary welcome ceremony. Starting off with the national Dominican Republic anthem, and then ours! Some of the students even knew the words! To follow, some of the children read some handwritten readings aloud, sang a song (in perfect english) and then performed a traditional dance in extravagant dresses and costumes they wear during Carnival. 




When the music ended the students were whisked away to their classes, but not before each and every one stopped to give our group a high five or fist bump. We followed Maribel’s English class up to their classroom and started working on vocabulary.


We are working with 4th, 5th, and 6th grade classes this year. She very kindly printed us out some vocabulary sheets to study, and we dove in. Our students with the DRP worked for most of the morning finding their voice while presenting their names and different vocab words while simultaneously instilling confidence in even the quietest students at the Altagracia School to do the same.


After a quick lunch, we took the next few groups of students outside to work in small groups. It is impossible to oversee both our group and the classrooms of thirty or more students, so Maribel gave us creative freedom over how we wanted to work with the students. We were reminded very quickly about how fortunate we are for the resources we grew up with in our school districts back in the US. Many students had white boards, but the markers were dry. Other students had no notebook and only a pencil. Without instruction or direction, every one of us found a way to both teach and keep the students focused. 







After dinner the young adults and students with our group played cards and laughed all the way up to their rooms to sleep. Another amazing Dominican day in the books.





Written by Emma Taylor

Comments

  1. shelties11February 19, 2025 at 4:22 PM

    What an exciting Introduction to your school! Your visit is obviously important to the children and adults of the school. Great pictures!

    ReplyDelete

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