This model will help K-12 schools to achieve academic excellence by placing bio/mental/emotional health at the very foundation of all educational programs. It will integrate the acquisition of social-emotional skills with academic performance. The effect of this initiative is to reduce the incidence of mental/emotional dysfunction in children and adolescents with the added value of a program that will transfer to them valuable life skills.
The problem is multidimensional. One in five children in Guatemala have chronic malnutrition. This in combination with trauma from family dysfunctionality and a broken public health system greatly aggravates the problem. The result is that our K-12 schools are filled with children who are very often afflicted with mental / emotional problems, and psychological assistance is almost non existent.
This is to be done working concurrently on four angles of the problem: (1) A solid foundation of bio/mental/emotional health, (2) The use of exploration, art, and play as vehicles for learning, (3) an emphasis in language skills and (4) using a STEAM approach to transfer science and technology skills.
This program has the potential to impact and transform whole communities. The benefits of the project reach students, teachers, administrators and parents (currently 890 people). As the time passes and as a result of the cumulative effect of all these lines of impact, the school can strongly influence other institutions and individuals in the community and eventually the whole country. This project will mitigate the deficiencies of the current educational and mental health system.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
