January Meeting!!

I hope everyone is having a happy and healthy holiday so far! With the new year right around the corner I have secured a date for our January meeting. We will meet on Thursday January 10 at a time and a location that has not been determined yet. It will most likely be at around dinner time in South Deerfield or Sunderland. I'll have more details in the coming days.
Jeff Pluta, the founder of Amped for Education, will be at our meeting to answer any additional questions. We will also be prepared to collect any trip deposits.
To answer some questions from last meeting:
• Medical facilities will be within walking distance while we stay in the city. We will have everyone's medical information as well as a group medical insurance policy for the trip to ensure that everyone has access to the care they may need. There will also be a waiver form later in the planning process. Jeff will have more information on that.
• We will fly out of Hartford after all. We can organize any airport transportation we may want later down the road.
• It will be smarter to buy gloves once we arrive.

If you have any questions before the meeting please let me know!
See you soon!

Joe.costello2@gmail.com

Meeting Thursday Dec. 6 at 5pm!!!

This is a reminder that a more detailed set of information about the trip, and the ability to ask specific questions, will be happening at Wolfie's in South Deerfield this Thursday at 5pm.  Deposits are not due at the meeting, but I do want everyone to be thinking seriously about their commitment to the project.
(Eventually, all checks will be made out to "Amped for Education" which is a tax-exempt charitable organization under tax code 501(c)3.  I will have all of this information and more on Thursday!)

If you are unable to make it to the meeting, I will post some important info and valuable Q & A from the meeting on this blog.  If you have specific questions or comments that you would like to have addressed, please continue to use my contact email: joe.costello2@gmail.com. 

See you soon!

First Meeting!

I have tentatively scheduled a meeting for Thursday December 6 at 5pm at Wolfies in South Deerfield center. The meeting will serve as a more personal question and answer format and also to collect a non-refundable $250 deposit for the trip. We need money to make a down payment on our flights for this summer. Part of the reason we can do this trip for so little is because of our relationship with our travel agent and booking flights early. Although the deposit is not absolutely and finally due on December 6, we need to collect ASAP.
Thank you so much for your initial support! We have a lot of planning and fun ahead of us!
Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

Initial Email

Joe Costello

Joe.costello2@gmail.com

(508) 944-7917

Jeff Pluta

jeff@ampedforeducation.org

It’s conservatively estimated by UNESCO that more than 100 million children under 12 years old have zero access to education.  As an educator, this statistic is a humbling reminder of the privileges of US citizenship.  It has also served as motivation to spread awareness to my family, friends and students.  This motivation is materializing itself as a trip to Central America this summer.  It is my hope that others with a sense of adventure will take the opportunity to gain one-in-a-lifetime experience through service while developing a dynamic world-view.  If we have enough interest, I plan to run a trip this summer with Frontier Regional community.

            We will fly into Managua and spend the week thirty miles away in Nicaragua’s sixth largest city and cultural capital, Granada. While there, we will work with Amped for Education, an organization that was founded three years ago by my friend, and local teacher, Jeff Pluta. Parents and students will have the opportunity to observe and volunteer in a public high school in San Ignacio, a rural barrio of 6,000 people a few miles from Granada. An important part of this experience will be students meeting and building relationships with their international classmates, while gaining a greater understanding of what “going to school” means in a global context.

Educational opportunities include, but are not limited to:

·       A biology-oriented excursion through Nicaragua’s Las Isletas on Lake Nicaragua or on Masaya Volcano with students from the San Ignacio school.

·       Opportunities to learn Spanish through immersion, as well as through lessons taught by a native speaker.

·       Guided data analysis through looking at education and economic statistics of Central America.

·       Learning what obstacles other students around the globe overcome to get to school through visiting and tutoring in a local school.

·       Exploring poetry through visiting museums in Granada that celebrate famous Nicaraguan poet such as Ruben Dario.

·       Take Spanish lessons at a local school.

·       Journaling about social and cultural experiences while in-country.

In Nicaragua, the western hemisphere’s second poorest country, education is only compulsory until the sixth grade. With 500,000 primary-aged students outside of the formal education system, this law is nearly unenforceable because it cannot be implemented nationwide. Thus, any government money used toward education is typically spent to create elementary schools where children do not have access to one. With the belief that individuals need critical thinking and problem solving skills to better their society, Amped for Education focuses on creating opportunities for students to continue their education beyond the sixth grade, through the construction of schools and the partnering with the Nicaraguan Ministry of Education to operate them.

            Since it’s founding in December 2009, Amped for Education has teamed with a local nonprofit organization in Nicaragua to identify communities with successful primary schools in areas where no secondary school exists. Together, they have completed construction of a high school that opened this past February. Students there have such a commitment to their education that they pledge to spend two extra hours each day (four days per week) for extra tutoring. Amped for Education not only focuses on constructing the school, but also ensuring the infrastructure produces the best possible graduates by subsidizing the teachers’ overtime pay, coordinating student sponsorships, and providing school supplies and books to the classrooms. The school is non-secular and certified local educators will teach a general curriculum. Local contractors completed construction with help from Jeff Pluta and Amped for Education volunteers from 2010-2011.

Since then, they have also completed “home makeover” projects. Many homes are made of scrap pieces of plastic, so Amped for Education plans to completely remake a home for a student with top attendance. Because families often would rather see their child in the streets working for the family, this incentivizes learning for students.

Last year, Jeff Pluta led a group of local students and recent high school graduates to help bridge a road drainage system outside of the school to prevent the dirt roads from flooding. This increased accessibility to laptops could be brought to the school for lessons each week. The trip that I am planning for the Frontier Regional community will be in conjunction with Jeff Pluta.

            There are several things that parents should keep in mind when considering this unique opportunity:

This is NOT a school-sponsored trip. Although I am a teacher at Frontier Regional and many trip-goers may be students there, Frontier Regional has absolutely no connection to this organization or trip whatsoever.

The primary language in Nicaragua is Spanish. This is a great opportunity for all to be immersed in another language. Whether you study Spanish or not, everyone will certainly pick up some basic skills. While elementary Spanish and key phrases are sufficient for our purposes, the language should be noted. There are many people in Granada who speak English well. Depending on perspective, Spanish being the primary language could be hugely beneficial to the students, rather than a hindrance.

While Nicaragua is widely recognized as the safest country in Central America and it has the lowest violent crime rate of any country in Central or South America, the State Department recognizes some political divisions among its people and warns against Americans attending any political rallies in the country. Rest assured, we won’t be attending any political rallies!

Depending on how long we go, an 8-day trip would likely not cost more than $1,650 including flight, accommodations, meals, day excursions, and ground transportation. We will stay in dorm-style, hostel type accommodations. We are looking at the third week of June to take the trip. The exact cost of the trip will be released in January at the very latest.

If you think this might be an opportunity worth seriously talking about, please feel free to be in touch with me by phone or email. Rather than answer individual questions, we’d like to get anyone who might be interested together to discuss more details of what this trip would look like. We would look to hold an informational meeting by the beginning of December. Please kindly RSVP if you’d like to join to find out more about this opportunity!

Thanks,

Joe Costello

Jeff Pluta

For more information on:

 Amped for Education, please see www.ampedforeducation.org or “Like” Amped for Education on Facebook!

The US Embassy in Managua, please see http://nicaragua.usembassy.gov/