Provide Quality Education for 850 Youth in Panama

HOLA AMIGOS! Thank you for your donations! Due to your generous contributions, Enseña por Panamá has been able to grow, reach more students and prepare better teachers. We want to share the journey and story of one of our teachers, Isaacs who is in his second year of the program and teaches history to 7^th, 8^thand 9^thgraders.

 Isaacs was born and raised in a rural area and when he was in the 8^thgrade, he was awarded a placement in one of Panama’s top public schools for his academic excellence. He recalls that his favorite professor was his history teacher because he captivated the classroom with stories. Whenever I visit Issacs I see that same spirit in him, he truly brings history to life. One day he was giving a class about historical era’s and when talking about the Modern Era and the Age of Discovery he asked around for a quarter to show his class how history lives in their pockets! His students were looking at Vasco Nunez de Balboa, a Spanish explorer and conquistador. It is safe to say that none of his students will ever look at a quarter the same. 

After teaching for a year Isaacs recognizes that to this day, the biggest challenge he faces is helping students realize the value of education. Isaacs tells me that students are not interested in most of their classes because other professors usually stand in front of them and read directly from a book. Isaac’s students often challenge him asking “why do I need to know this when I can simply look this up online?”Isaacs sparks his student’s curiosity in history by incorporating dynamic exercises. He makes learning fun by reimagining how he would have liked someone to teach history to him. For instance, when teaching his students about rock art and cave paintings he did not just have students read about them, but he made them relive history. Isaacs covered his classroom with manila paper and had his students communicate with each other using only a marker. He asked his students to communicate that they were hunters and after the exercise he showed them actual cave paintings. His students were surprised to see how what they drew was similar, if not the same as actual cave paintings and were eager to learn more about cave dwellers. 

If you would like to reach Isaacs or get to know more about his story and that of his students, please access our website, www.ensenaporpanama.com or write to us at info@ensenaporpanama.com.