By Michael Estill | Program Director
This month our project was featured in the latest edition of the popular Que Pasa magazine. Here's what we had to say about our mission in Guatemala...
* * *
Did you know that more than half of Guatemalan children don’t begin school until the ripe old age of seven? By that point, children are already at the tail-end of their formative years for cognitive growth, making their ability to integrate into an educational environment and quickly process information a daunting task. In 2015, 27% of Guatemalan children either failed or gave up schooling entirely after the first grade. We know that children are far more likely to have success in the first grade (and later grades) if they have access to preschool education, so why aren’t there more kids enrolled?
For one, there simply aren’t that many graduated preschool teachers living in rural communities. Without locally sourced teachers or salaries that can justify traveling long-distances to reach rural children, too many communities find themselves at a perpetual educational and developmental disadvantage.
After years of curriculum development and on-the-ground experience, the twin non-profits of Let’s Be Ready and Magical Classroom have created a model designed to overcome these issues and ensure access to quality preschool education in even the most rural and inaccessible communities throughout the country. Through cooperation with partners both local and international, Magical Classroom and Let’s Be Ready will provide free, quality preschool education to 600+ students whom otherwise would have had to wait until first grade to begin school, in 40+ classrooms spread throughout five departments. The goal is to lead a movement towards eradicating the preschool deficit in Guatemala in hopes of forming brighter minds capable of leading towards an even brighter future. With a model that has proven to be both effective and affordable, our mission is to partner with NGOs, foundations and other concerned stakeholders to improve and replicate our program in as many underserved communities as possible. The movement towards universal preschool coverage in Guatemala is already happening, the question is: will you be a part of it?
If you or your organization is interested in supporting or partnering to eradicate the preschool deficit in Guatemala, please write MagicalClassroomGT@gmail.com today.
Links:
By Fred Zambroski | Founder
By Michael Estill | Program Director
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
