question and answer

Lately my days have been filled with classroom observations and house visits. It's really given me a window into San Antonio Silva, and I'm grateful for all that this community has already provided me.

The school is enclosed by a huge brick wall, 8+ feet high, and topped with barbed wire. It would be imposing, if there weren't the bright blue and white painted school name and crest on the walls, the trees poking over the top, and the sounds of children playing floating overhead. The school is very large. As in any school, matriculation drops as the year continues, and since school ends in November, the classes are smaller than normal. Right now there are about 800 students in the school. Next school year (which starts January 10th or so) they are expecting a matriculation of almost 1000 students!!!

There are 4 "pavilions" of classrooms. (Complexes of classrooms.) There are about 15 classrooms in the school, as well as a stage, a cantina (food stand), cocina (kitchen - where the food provided by the government is prepared and given out to the students everyday), futbol cancha, basketball court, playground, bathrooms, gardens and garbage piles, administrative offices, computer room, and the aula de apoyo. (This means support classroom, literally. It's where the students with learning difficulties go to receive extra attention. I like that they call it a “support room” here, and I really like the teacher! They also have an accelerated learner’s classroom that I'm really excited to observe.) But I digress.

Students either go to school in the morning or the afternoon. For computer classes, the students come during the opposite time once a week to receive that class. Morning classes start at 7:10 and end at 11:30 or so, and afternoon classes start at 12:10 and end around 4:30. There are six periods, each lasting 45 minutes, with two recesses, one of 10 minutes and one of 15. I think if you check, you will see that the math doesn't work out, but it doesn't really matter because no one seems to follow the schedule, not even the school director or the teachers!

Classes regularly start 5-10 minutes late, and even then, that's when everyone is sitting down – it sometimes takes a while for the lesson to begin. In younger grades, one teacher usually gives all the classes, but in the older grades, there's a science teacher, social studies teacher and English teacher that rotate. This rotations cuts out of class time as well. The topics range from the periodic table to Central American Independence, long division to why and how shadows are formed. At times I’m amazed with how basic and slow moving the classes seem, and at other times I’m inspired by the motivation of the teachers and the way they tackle their material, especially given their relative lack of resources. Some of the students are clearly attending classes for reasons other than to learn (my primary guesses include – nothing else to do, mom and/or dad make them, it’s where all their friends are anyway, and it’s a chance to get a snack.) That’s not to say that those are invalid reasons for being at school – if anything, those are the kids that I’d like to work with the most, to try and encourage them to continue their studies for other reasons as well.

I originally commented that I think this community is fairly well off, and I think on the average that is true, but if my house visits have taught me anything, it’s that as in any community there are a range of home conditions. Some people are living in fairly basic housing – packed dirt floors, wood panel or corrugated metal walls, tile or thatched roof while others live in two story homes with beautiful fences, fancy metal bars on the windows, gorgeous fruit trees and flowers etc. But even with these differences, everyone is incredibly welcoming. When I show up a new house to do an interview, it always begins with some platicando (chatting) and then we move in to the interview part. It’s just some basic questions about who lives in the household, how old, occupation, level of education etc. I also ask some questions about garbage management, whether they have an agricultural land or animals (besides the obligatory dog or cat). The interview itself usually only takes about 5 minutes, but I always give a little bio at the beginning and answer any questions at the end. The most common questions are – “why are you doing this interview/ what is this information for”, “where are you from”, “are you family of Carolina” (my host mom), “how old are you”, and, “are you married”! I love meeting the people in this community and can’t wait to continue my interviews. Hope you all are well.