SCHOOL OF CHAMPIONS
In 2000, an Alaskan Airlines flight from Puerto Vallarta to Seattle, went
down off the coast of California with no survivors. On board was a missionary
couple from Seattle, Joe and Linda Knight. They had been helping Perdon y
Amistad and the children living in the dump in Puerto Vallarta. They had recently
installed a shower in the middle of the dump for the use of the children.
As a memorial to the Knights, their son raised money through donations from
Americans, Canadians and Mexicans to build a recreation center for the children.
The center located two blocks from the entrance to the dump, is called the
School of Champions. The school is located on land donated by the city of
Puerto Vallarta. The building has three floors, each floor has of 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 approximately 150 students in grades 3, 4, 5 and 6 for the 8 schools around the city dump. These students are selected by their principals on the basic of academic achievement and their desire to study and learn. The hours are from 4 to 6 pm each school day. We have classes in Math, Computer and English.
This year we have expanded the School of Champions program and started another
campus in Volcanes where we teach about 80 students Computer and English courses.
We are currently using the primary school classrooms from 4 to 6 pm but we
need to build our own facility to accommodate the expanding school enrollment
in the primary schools in the barrios in that area; Volcanes, 12th Octubre
and Progreso.
These classes are intended to reinforce basic Math skill 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 the main campus of the School of Champions we are planning to extend the
hours of the school from 10 am to 12 pm each morning to include 2nd shift
primary students and later in the year to expand the school to include secondary
(middle) school students who attended our program when they were in primary
school.
In addition to expanding the number of students attending the school, we also
plan to start a special “homework club” to help those students
who need extra help in their homework from their regular school classes.
To encourage students who are enrolled in the School of Champions, we offer incentives (prizes) to those students who achieve certain levels or goals. For example, those who have perfect attendance are always rewarded, as are those who achieve certain academic levels. At other times we will reward the entire school as in the case when new running shoes were donated. In another case, a large number of new bicycles was donated and distributed to the students.
The School of Champions has a trailer on the school property which is used
as a dental clinic. The trailer has all of the equipment found in a regular
dental office, including dental chair and drills. Local dentists offer their
services to the children and their parents who live around the dump. Every
few months the trailer is moved to another location to service children in
different areas. The dental trailer has been a great success and is very popular
with the children and their parents. Unfortunately, the floor of the trailer
collapsed rendering the entire trailer unusable. We are currently looking
for funding to refurbish the trailer (see Capital Projects 2008), so we can
continue to offer dental services throughout our areas of operation.
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Special Trips
The Feed the Children school bus has been used to transport the children on special field trips throughout the Puerto Vallarta area. It was a well known landmark throughout the city. Unfortunately, it stopped running and is in need of a major repair and refurbishing. We are looking for funding to complete the resurrection of the bus (see capital Projects 2008). We will also ask Marcela Lepe to touch up the art work on the outside of the bus which she originally painted for the children.
We take the children on special field trips to visit hotels, restaurants and local business.
The idea is to show the children the many excellent job opportunities available in the local area if they continue their education and learn computer and English skills. Many of these children have never left the local area to visit the “other side” of Puerto Vallarta.
Our objective is to make sure that these special children break out of the cycle of poverty and continue their education beyond grade 6 through middle school and high school.
