 In 2000, an Alaskan Airlines flight from Puerto Vallarta to Seattle went down off the coast of California with no survivors. On board were a missionary couple, Joe and Linda Knight, who had been helping Perdon y Amistad and the children who lied in the dump. They had recently installed a shower in the middle of the dump for the use of those children.
As a memorial to the Knights, their son started a fund to raise money to build a recreation center for the children. The center is two blocks from the entrance of the dump and is called the School of Champions. The building has three floors and each floor has a classroom with air conditioning. The property has a large basketball court and large bathrooms with showers.
The School of Champions offers an after school program for 300 students in grades 3 through 7 from the schools that surround the dump. These students are selected by their principals on the basis of their academic achievement and their desire to study and learn. We teach classes in math, English and computers skills. There are two sessions; one from 10 am to 12 noon and the other from 4 pm to 6 pm. We are building two new classrooms which will be finished by the start of our school year in September 2008. This additional space will allow us to accommodate the students in grade 7 who completed our course last school year.
These classes are intended to reinforce math and to introduce the students to computers and English so that they will be better equipped to enter the labor market and secure a good job in the one basic industry in Puerto Vallarta – tourism. At this point, the primary schools do not teach English or computers, and the secondary teaches these classes only on a very limited basis.
To encourage students who are enrolled in our programs, we offer incentives (prizes) to those students who achieve certain levels or goals. For example, those who have perfect attendance are rewarded as are those who achieve certain academic levels. At other times we will reward an entire class or the entire school when large donations are received as was the case when bicycles, tennis shoes and back packs were donated in large numbers. |
