Matthew Thornton
5th/6th grade teacher 01-02
5th/6th grade teacher & Sub-direct. 02-03
Hello friends of BECA Schools! Greetings from Boston, Massachusetts. It's hard to believe that it has been a year and a half since I left Cofradia. Now the only banana trees I see are the carved wooden ones hanging on my wall that the kids gave me before leaving. I'm currently working for Citizen Schools as a Teaching Fellow, a two year program for educators. It's been great to be exposed to so many people focused on education reform. During the day I support and teach in the after-school program at the Walsh Middle School in Framingham, Massachusetts, offering enrichment opportunities for kids. At night I also teach English as a Second Language in one of the largest ESL programs in the state. Through the fellowship, I am also getting my Master's degree in Education at Lesley University. My experiences in Honduras have had a lasting impact on my teaching, my studies and in the way that I see the world. The families of many of my students appreciate having someone in the school system that they can talk to in Spanish. I'll be finished with my Masters in 2006, and from there I'm not sure if I'll go back into the classroom fulltime, seek to run another program, or get into research...but I'll keep you posted!
In the near future, I plan to see my former student, Christopher, who lives in New Jersey with his aunt. It was great to see everyone down there in Cofradia at the graduation last June; que lastima la tormenta! I hope to visit again soon.
Making A Change: A Volunteer's Perspective
(written in June 2003)
It was early evening on October, 15th, 2001 when we bounced over the rocky dirt roads to the volunteer apartment, and I wondered if my volunteer experience would be this bumpy. In two years, with the support of literally hundreds of people, the metaphorical roads have been smoothed and progress in Honduras made a reality.
When I first arrived there was a building with three and a half walls and a handful of children. Now we're working on building additional classrooms, and talking about a high school! Through all the changes there have been some notable constants, the cultural adjustments, the demands of attention hungry children, and the amazing generosity of others. We have been welcomed like family into the community of staff, parents, and locals. We outgrew those first apartments (and got tired of the noisy neighbors), and we found the current "casa de los gringos," as most of the town calls it. Yes there are still roosters crowing and dogs barking, but these fade into the distance.As part of the volunteer team, we share responsibilities like cooking, cleaning, and making each other laugh and see the lighter sides of our days. It's been great living with a group of diverse people, who all have a common goal. As always, the tougher the job the tighter the bond.
The job is tough. No doubt. The daily challenge is navigating the minds of the children, to find their needs, their logic, and at the same time manage to put some order in their often otherwise disordered lives. What has kept me going is the pure need that exists. Whether talking about the loss of a family member (as many have lost mothers or fathers), or how to treat one another, or just teaching them how to save a document on a computer, I've seen kids grow. They are bright and eager, and can break your heart with a smile.
The broader challenge is creating and maintaining an educational standard that improves the life of our kids, and eventually of other communities in Central America, in a place where the idea to action gap gapes like a canyon in the minds of those who are in places of authority and power. I've seen far too many crowded classrooms (usually they'll have 40+ per), teacher strikes, and elementary school dropouts.
Many programs have begun to improve the overall quality of the education here. My good friend Todd Walton was the first to come and see for himself, and left behind a nice (and still growing) computer lab. I remember fondly the school's various dramatic productions, hours spent rehearsing and making props. With donations our library has grown to more than 600 story books. The 2nd annual science fair was a great success, with visitors from another bilingual school from Copan Ruinas; The Mayatan School. The literacy workshop given by our friend Dick Keis brought parents together to learn about reading with their children, and Sandra Osbourne's (soon to be Thornton) Masters in Ed. project is focusing on our children's responses to reading. The list goes on, as you can see if you check out the rest of the web site. Or like many come and see for yourself, I'm sure next year's dynamos would love visitors. Last year we had approximately 6 visitors come to the school. This year we've had 23 visitors!
The amazing thing is the support we are finding from so many. Parents, locals, and other volunteers around Central America and back home continuously amaze me with their generosity. Some examples include being invited (almost weekly) to dine with a family in Cofradia, food being dropped off at the house for the volunteers to try out, bunking up in Brooklyn with volunteers from another Bilingual School in Copan Ruinas, volunteers in the states who donate their time to help us collect supplies or money and visit us to see for themselves. There are those here we can call upon for just about anything: rides, advice, construction, entertainment, or how to make a flour tortilla. Kindness breeds kindness, no matter where you are.
People sometimes ask me, " How can you work without getting paid?" The fact is that I get paid through my experiences of teaching, language, and culture. I encourage anyone with the means, time, and patience to get involved here or anywhere. Our theme song this year was, "We are the World," which purports that "we can't go on pretending day by day that someone, somewhere soon will make a change." Thanks to all who have stopped pretending and have helped. And for those in the future, there's still work to be done!