Yo Puedo Leer / I Can Read
Open a book and you open the mind and the world January 2021
Continuing our new monthly news bulletin format, this month we focus on our reading program - Yo Puedo Leer/ I Can Read (YPL). The program has been in place since 2013 and is generously supported by Ty & Deb DeBelser - Canadians who own a home in Telchac. YPL is a program that works with grade school students who need additional help with reading, comprehension, and writing. We have many success stories and readers in Telchac Puerto!
The Classes
This year YPL has 34 students with classes not being held face-to-face, due to the pandemic. Instead, the students’ parents go twice a week to receive and deliver books and homework. We are happy to report that the parents are participating and are working with us in this new modality. They’ve been very understanding and are committed to this dynamic, so that their children may continue to learn from home.
We have three groups of children, covering grade levels from 1st (ages 6-7) through 6th (10 to 12 years old.) Our director, Wendy Acosta Cen, works with Jaqueline Cano Pech, and Litzy Villanueva Ramos, a Telchac Education student who is in university studying to be a teacher. The student assistants from TE that worked previously are not working at this time due to the new protocols.
Wendy giving parents the weekly books and work.
The door at the Casa de Aprendizaje for summer reading camp and a parent picking up books.
All the students' names on the yellow board and positive qualities written on the pencils.
Arts & Crafts
Once a month, Michelle Forsyth - our Arts & Crafts Director- designs handicraft activities for the students. These are both fun and strengthen their manual skills and ability to follow written directions. The arts & crafts were initially introduced as part of our summer camp curriculum, and became an instant hit with both the students and instructors alike. Over the years, we have had guest artists present projects and many volunteers assisting us. We always strive to come up with new and exciting projects and to incorporate recycled materials. Throughout the years we have made mobiles, masks, stepping stones, and puppets - to name a few.
Michelle explains, “Watching the students approach the projects with such excitement, creativity, and care and then the pride of exhibiting their work on the final day of camp to their parents encouraged us to add an annual Christmas ornament workshop.”
Due to the pandemic, we had to become the creative ones in designing a program
during the summer camp in 2020 without being there physically. The solution for Arts & Crafts
was weekly kits. Simple paper crafts made with glue, pencils, scissors, and adornments were created. As always, the YPL artists excelled with their paper masterpieces and have inspired
us to continue planning new projects for 2021.
Donations
We were so fortunate to receive a generous donation of books for the YPL program from Tanya & Glenn Hodgson. Each of the 34 students received a book as a holiday gift - just as our students in Telchac Education do. Our little book exchange houses around town provide free books for the community as we strongly believe in getting books in homes. A number of Meridanos have kindly donated books and magazines in Spanish for both children and adults that have been quickly taken and never returned. Our hope is that they are being read, shared, and respected.
Some of the donated books!
Keep In Touch!
Please join our Facebook page ‘Yo Puedo Leer/I Can Read’ !