VOLCANES COMMUNITY EDUCATION
About
Volcanes is a small community located outside of Puerto Vallarta, at the edge of the mountains. It has limited services and the families who live in Volcanes are very poor.
The Volcanes Community Education Program (CEP) is a fantastic program which now serves over 400 students.
This program began initially in the Magisterio area as the School of Champions with approximately 60 students learning English and computers.
This program has evolved to offer a variety of programs including English, computers, band/music, remedial Spanish, sports, and more. purpose of Becas Scholarship Program is to provide the children of very poor families in the Puerto Vallarta area with the chance of a good education thus enabling them to have a better standard of living than has been available to most of their families.
Details
The Volcanes Community Education Project (VCEP) was started by Club Member Arthur Fumerton in Spring 2011 at the Volcanes Primary School with the support of the Principal, teachers, School Board, Parents Association, the Colonia Council and the City Council. The program grew out of the prior School of Champions which which provided computer, math and English instruction for 200 very poor students in grades 3 to 6.
In Mexico, the government fully funds the cost for children are required to attend public school only until Grade 6. For children to continue their education through Secondary School and High School, the families must help pay tuition costs. For poor families, funds are simply not available to allow the children to continue school beyond grade 6. Fifteen years ago, 70% of children in public schools in Puerto Vallarta did not finish grade 6!
VCEP supplements the school’s curriculum with essential skills including English, math and computer classes. The program is staffed with qualified teachers and many volunteers also lend their expertise and assistance.
Currently, classes are offered to approximately 400 students of grades 1 through high school. These students also attend public school daily. Today, 100% of students in Volcanes continue to Grade 7, and almost all go on to high school. A significant number of students also carry on to universtiy or technical school upon graduating high school. The are currently 80 students in Volcanes who participate in the Becas Schoarship Program.
Program Highlights
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400 students, grades 1 – 12, volunteer before/after school program. Hours 9 am to 9 pm
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Renovated old primary school building; one computer lab, two English classrooms, two room library, Spanish reading Intervention classroom and music classroom. All rooms have large TV screen with internet/Skype capabilities and A/C
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7 full time Professional Teachers and 2 part time Teachers
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Computer lab with 20 laptops
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English classrooms with a large TV screens and computers
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Library: 4,000 books Spanish and English, large TV screen and 20 laptops for student homework. Hours 10 am to 9 pm open to the entire community.
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Character Counts classes for all students once a month
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Music class 4 to 6 pm Mon. through Fri, 45 new wind instruments
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Book Club: 30 Amazon Fire readers, 35 members, meet every other Saturday morning.
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Special Assistance Math Class for Grade 7 students
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Advanced Math for High School students.
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Advanced Computer Class teaching Coding.
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Kids Club: 30 members grades 1 through 6, meet every Saturday morning
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Soccer Teams: one over 14 years and the other under 14, total 50 players play in a local league
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Scholarship program: students grade 7 through university; must maintain a grade average 8.5, perform service to community 4 hours per month. 80 scholarship this year, 14 in university (2 in 3rd year medical school).
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The Community Brigade is made up of 40 scholarship students who do their service in the Community Brigade, cleaning the school and areas in Volcanes that need their help. They can be seen on Saturdays around the neighborhood cleaning and helping people in need.
