Since Hillary and I are in the same classroom setting, and she has spoken about how the school environment is, I want to tell you guys about how life for students is here from what we have seen. There are 6 classes of first form students of about 20-30 students in each room, when you get to a higher level, like forth form (senior year) there are only 4 classes of students. This shows how high the dropout rate is at the high school. Most of the schools on the island are not free so the students parents have to pay tuition, which gets more difficult as the parents get older and have more and more children. The 6 or 7 primary schools in the area all converge into one at the high school so all types of education and levels of wealth are found in the same building. Once the students reach first form they are spread out but not by any sort of class level, so there are many different learning levels in one room with no sort of differentiation set in place for students who may need more help. What surprised us the most in the classrooms was that there would be students ranging from 12 years old up to 17 or 18. It is easier at the high school to keep students back for an entire year than to find out the best way to teach them because the teachers have so many students.

We found that usually once a child is held back so many times or they don’t make a connection with school or the work that is done there they drop out. The island of San Pedro is a tourist destination where the sad truth is that you make more money in the hospitality industry than if you were to stay in school and become a teacher. There is not much incentive for students here to get their high school diploma other than to fulfill wishes for their parents or if they plan to move onto college. The only colleges in Belize are on the mainland and offer no housing, so even if a student does graduate high school they must find a relative or friend to live with in the city while they attend University, which is easier said than done. Most of the teachers we met on San Pedro were amazing and truly want their students to succeed but with the very little resources they have it is difficult to make all your students interested in lets say 1oth grade social studies.

Many of the high school students have siblings at home, usually younger, that they have to take care of sometimes. Their parents are either working all day and night or there are just so many children in the household they just need the help. A lot of our students also help their parents with their work. We saw one girl many times out late at night helping her mother in the park selling food. We now understood why so many students don’t perform well at school because they are so tired. The island is also extremely small and mostly impoverished. The homes that we did get to see inside were very small inside with entire families living in them and sort of makeshift to whatever materials were available to build with at the time. Most people here don’t know any better that their situations are not ideal, and they feel very fortunate for what they have but it makes sense why so many children seek a life out of school for the appeal of quick and easy money. These children grow up around tourist spots and see people partying and drinking every weekend and that is more of a fun lifestyle than staying at school.

Though there are many obstacles facing these children beginning in primary and lasting all the way through high school, the teachers do their best. They offer night school for students who want their diploma but would like to work during the day and they also serve as counselors for students who have no one to talk about their issues with. We are very fortunate to have met the amazing staff and students at San Pedro High School and wish them absolutely nothing but the best, it was such an amazing experience. Hope to visit again soon!

xoxo

Hello all!

We’re finally beginning to acclimated to island life! Since we are right in the heart of a very touristy town we can hear loud music most nights until past midnight. It has been a little difficult when trying to fall asleep at night to wake up for school but we close the shades and manage. After a two week Easter break we began school again last Monday. Hillary and I are at the San Pedro High School and it is definitely a different experience than teaching in MA. The classes are larger than what I have been used to and it is very hot during the day with just a breeze to cool everyone off. We walk about 15 minutes on the beach to the school everyday arrive at 8 and leave between 2 and 230 everyday.

This week we were fortunate enough to witness a few special events hosted by the high school. We taught Monday through Wednesday then Thursday morning we arrived and the school was setting up for a parade! The boys softball team from the school had won their national championship the week before so they were celebrating the accomplishment by parading the whole school through the bustling streets of San Pedro accompanied by the drum line and a DJ. Hillary and I had also been invited to chaperone the boys and girls regional track meet, hosted by San Pedro, and we were leaving that very same day.

Since the island of San Pedro did not have the facilities to host a track and field competition they were going to use the fields at Corozal Community College in the north of the mainland. An hour after the parade ended Hillary, myself, and about 50 students and staff from the high school boarded a boat heading to Belize city. When arriving in Belize city we then got on buses (separated by boys and girls) and took the 2 hour ride to Corozal town in the north. When arriving at the hotel we were put in charge of students to watch. The thing that we found different was that we actually stayed in the same hotel room as the students we were put in charge of! We figured this would not happen in the U.S. but things are a little more relaxed here.

Friday morning, the day of the meet, came and all the students were so nervous! Each staff member had a different task assigned to them at the field. It was great to be able to cheer on the San Pedro students. Everyone really made us feel like we were apart of the school. Many activities and medals later we left at about 6 p.m. It was a very long, hot, and tiring day (about 90 degrees in an open field all day) so everyone was grateful to get some rest on the ACed bus. All the students that had won either gold or silver was invited to compete at the nationals, including the best of the best from the entire country the following week. We finally arrived back in San Pedro Friday night around 1030 p.m. Overall it was a great two days where me and Hillary had the opportunity outside of school to have conversations with the students and teachers and feel apart of their community.

Until next time!

 

Today marks a week that we have been in Belize! It feels like we haven’t even explored half of the Island yet, there is do much more to discover. Every necessity is within walking distance of our hotel but to see the whole island we need to rent a golf cart which we were told should never cost more than $50 US a 24 hour period. There are many options for supermarkets and quick convenience stores so we have been trying to see which ones have the best prices.

One thing that we have noticed is that the heat makes us very tired during the day. It is always around 80 degrees with some humidity and it was normal for us to come home from a school day and take a 2-3 hour nap before dinner. The locals have told us that we will eventually get accustomed and not be so tired all the time! As for food and drink, there are a few coffee shops on front street that are good. Simone and I tried The Coffee Bar, a three minute walk up the street, and we both ordered frappuccinos. They were reasonably priced (about $4 US) and strong but not very sweet. Hillary tried a strawberry smoothie from there in the morning…not recommended. While taking a walk we stopped at a closed hair salon with ladies sitting outside and Simone bought some homemade cream cheese dip from them. From what we know it has sausage and chiptole in it, other than that it is delicious!

Kay, Christina, and Julee took a trip to Caye Caulker today. They left early in the morning and haven’t come back yet so we will get to hear how it was a little later! Tonight we are thinking about renting a golf cart and possibly going to a drive in movie (we hear they’re playing Moana) on the north side of the island, past the bridge.

 

Until next time…Kayleigh signing off!

Good morning from Belize! S

After day light savings in the U.S. we are 2 hours behind, but finally getting acclimated to the time