In the first week of May we had the pleasant visit of our Executive director M.s Laura Manship and President of Shoulder to Shoulder for Children, Dr. Richard Buten.
During their time with us, we took the opportunity to meet with the coordinators of each program and thus specify ideas for the future of each project. Also we met with some of the municipal authorities from the country to give continuity to the signed agreements and implement new ideas. Here is a summary of some of the activities.
First, we met with Mayor Carlos Tosta from the municipality of Jesús de Otoro. Mayor Tosta is very grateful for all the support he is getting from Shoulder to Shoulder. It is worth mentioning that in 2022 , Mayor Tosta invested $41,000 in equipment (computers, routers, and televisions for the schools). It is part of his commitment of partnership to bring high quality education to his communitis. Our next project is about the expansion of our robotic program. Prior to the execution, together with some leaders from the community, mayor Tosta will visit the STEM Center in Camasca to gather ideas and implement something similar in Jesus de Otoro.
In the picture, CREE team and Mayor Tosta en in the middle.
Second, we visited the school in las Chorchas Concepción Intibucá school. This school uses kolibri in the third cycle; three dedicated teachers coordinate with each other to use the tablets in all subjects. There are 27 students in the third cycle from 7 surrounding communities. Our next expansion of Kolibri in this school is to focus on kindergarten.
Third, we took our 7 hours ride to Tegucigalpa to meet with Lic. Gloria Sofia Centeno, she is the Director of External Cooperation. We made her aware of the achievements obtained through the Kolibri platform in Intibuca(15,000+ students); and the acceptance it has had by the teachers, parents, students, and mayors. Also we emphasize that our investment in in education so far goes beyond $ 7,000,000. Our goal achieved is an alliance that allows us to renew the agreement with the Ministry of Education (SEDUC) to continue using and strengthening our national curriculum with more digital content.
In the picture, CREE team with Lic. Gloria Centeno y Lic. Nolvia Flores from External Cooperation Department
Fourth, we had an important talk with Lic. Gloria Albertina García, Departmental Director of Education in Intibucá. After a long conversation we have reached several agreements that include,
- Create a chart of use of the kolibri platform with teachers in each municipality.
- Have a monthly meeting with the departmental authorities to analyze the results provided by KDP.
- With the educational centers that remain inactive for several consecutive months, the municipal directors together with the mayor will have the power to move the technological equipment to the schools that make better use of it.
- Effectively execute the reading program at the departmental level.
- We donated Two brandnew laptos to the Departamental
In the picture, Lic. Gloria García receiving the computers
Finally, fulfilling our commitment to support the Intibucá Border Municipalities Association (AMFI) with robotics equipment, we donated 3 (three) complete Lego kits to the president, Mayor Rodolfo Santos.
It was a short visit but we acomplished a lot.
Thank you very much to our donors for continuing investing in the Education of our children!