Volcano and Hot Springs

Friday the group went to a volcano hike. Unfortunately as soon as we got onto the bus to drive to Volcano Arenal it started pouring. Because of the weather we we not able to go on the hike. Instead the tour guide told us some facts about the volcano and history about the creation and life of the volcano. In place of the hike the bus driver took us to look at Lake Arenal. Lake Arenal is a man made lake near the volcano. After hearing a breif history of the lake, the bus took us to the Baldi Hot Springs. The group spent the rest of the afternoon and evening at the hot springs. The hot water is all natural water off of the volcano heated by the volcano. The hot springs were separated into many different pools with different levels of hot. Starting at the enterance at the bottom were the coolest pools and they springs got progressively hotter as we moved up. There were also some water slides the group tried out. It continued to rain the entire time the group stayed at the hot springs. When we finished our swim we ate at the hot springs buffet. Although the group could see the volcano up close and personal, we all had a relaxing time at the hot springs and a wonderful meal to finish off the day.

Escuela Corazon de Jesus

After our trip to the Children's Museum, we made our way to one of the local public schools, Escuela Corazon de Jesus. One of the teachers at this very small school, Ms. Damaris, greeted us warmly and showed us around. We first toured the 2nd-6th grade building. This building had 5 classrooms, one for each grade level, a teacher's lounge/lunch room, a student lunch room, a gym, computer lab and "La Soda Escolar" which is a "snack bar" run by a third party inside the school. We then walked across the street to the Kindergarten and first grade building. This building had two classrooms, one for each grade, and a playground/ramada area where the kids could play.

After our last two school visits, Escuela Corazon de Jesus was a very welcome surprise. Lincoln and Country Day Schools were very kind and welcoming and featured beautiful campuses, but Escuela Corazon de Jesus gave us our first real look at what an authentic Costa Rican public school education is like. This school spoke Spanish in the classrooms (a practice forbidden at both Country Day and Lincoln) and had nowhere near the same amount of funding. Four hundred students in grades K-6th attend the school under a two session system. In this system, students attend school during one of two sessions: either 7 am - 12 pm or 1 pm - 5:30 pm. Ms. Damaris said that because of restricted access to resources and this two schedule system, the school does not have any extra curricular activities. The students at this school were all local Ticos and Ticas who walk to school daily. It was very interesting to learn that two of the teachers had to take a sick leave for two weeks ane, because the Ministerio did not provide the school with a substitute, these two grades simply are not in school for this two weeks. Although it was immediately apparent we were not in the private Country Day or Lincoln Schools anymore, it was truly inspiring to see how much this school does with the minimal resources it has.

Overall, we really enjoyed this school. The students and staff were so friendly and welcoming and immersing ourselves in a school where Spanish, not English, is the primary language, was a very unique experience for the majority of us. We're excited for the last of our school visits as we continue to note the differences and similarities between the United States and Costa Rican systems of education.

CHILDREN'S MUSEUM - 4th de Junio, 2009

This morning, we visited the Children's Museum in San Jose. Rock and roll. Very similar to the science center in AZ, the museum had a lot of hands-on learning experiences. All kinds of fun learning activities were displayed: art, environmental science, biology, physics, music, and so on and so forth. We were there from about eleven until two, and Jorge drove us once more (Woo Jorge!). On account of the sickness incident a few days earlier, he came prepared with baggies, but luckily no harm was done. We then enjoyed a sub-par meal at the cafe in the museum, with "chili dogs" and "nachos", but I'll stop talking about them, on account of the fact that they were super-nasty. Otherwise, the venture was a blast, and I am totally digging Costa Rica. :)

Lincoln School

Bright and early again we enjoyed pancakes, fruit, eggs, and the never ending beans and rice. After breakfast, we took the van to Lincoln School where we were greeted with open arms. The campus is immaculate, the teachers and staff were welcoming, and the classes were awesome. A group of us went to the elementary school and the rest of the group went to the secondary school.
First we went and talked with the special education and ESL ( English as a Second Language) directors. They were very helpful and we learned that there are about 38 students in the program this year for elementary. Also we learned that the school works with inclusion, which means that the students are worked with in the classroom, and maybe pulled out of class 2 times a week.
The next class that we visited was a 4-5th grade Spanish class. The group of us all really loved the way that the class was run because the class was integrating Spanish with the culture and history of Costa Rica. The students were working on posters all about Costa Rica, and they were all written in Spanish.

The next class that we observed was Mrs. Kathy’s 2nd grade class. Mrs. Kathy graduated from Arizona State University and did her student teaching at Lincoln. Her class was writing about magnets for science, and they had lovely cursive. We found out that the students at Lincoln learn how to write in cursive in a grade they call prep (which is an extra grade between kindergarten and first grade which all student take).

We ate lunch in the cafeteria and it was awesome!

At Lincoln we also attended an art class, a 9th grade Spanish calss, a music class, and we went to the technology lab.

When we returned home we found out some really great news “Steven is back!” We are all very happy to have Steven back with the group because we were not complete without him. I hope that he continues to feel better!
We had the great opportunity to go to the soccer game for the world Cup tournament tonight in San Jose, Costa Rica vs. USA. We all had a great and safe experience here and rooted for Costa Rica who took the lead in the tournament 3-1. The excitement was overwhelming and spectacular. Once in a life time chances!

Country Day School, Day 2

Today was our second day visiting the Country Day School. We woke up early, had a delicious breakfast at the Costa Verde Inn, and then walked to the school. The classes were mostly pretty small and personal, and it wasn't too unusual to find a class with less than five students. The teachers all seemed to have high expectations for their students, and they really seemed to listen to their ideas and give them some freedom to do things their way. Everyone was very welcoming, and no one had any problem with me sitting in on a class to take notes and pictures. We were informed, however, that we should avoid sharing pictures of the students, because many of them have high-profile parents and need their privacy. Towards the end of the day we got to sit down in the library with the class of 2010 and ask them about what it was like going there for school, how they liked their teachers, how it compared to other schools they gone to, their backgrounds, their plans for the future, and other things. It was great having a chance to interact with students and spend some time in a classroom.
Afterward we went to lunch at a place called Azafran, then spent some time relaxing at the hotel.

COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

Country Day School day 1

COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL
Our morning started bright an early with an amazing breakfast and perfect Costa Rican coffee. The weather so far has been phenomenal, making our walk to Country Day School pleasant. We were welcomed by the college counselor who gave us a brief description of the school. Country Day School is a prestigious school that takes pride in the number of students who enter American and Canadian universities every year. CDS is k-12 and has students from 41 different countries! After our welcome, we were able to pick what classrooms we wanted to observe, depending on our major. The teachers were highly motivated and the students were always participating. During lunch we were able to get to know some students and faculty who were more than interested in learning about ASU. CDS is surrounded by amazing scenery and rich vegetation. The students are held to high expectations with great curriculum offered by the teachers. It was a great experience visiting a private school in Costa Rica.