Global Friendships

The last week on the Monteverde campus has flown by at a rapid pace.  However, it seems like ages have passes since the student arrived in the cloud forest.  This isn't surprising with all of the activities the students have participated in the last three weeks.  

On Wednesday, students from the local high school came to visit and participate in activities with our students. They shared the classroom and learned how to use the iNaturalist app on their devices.  They worked in small groups that consisted of both Costa Rican students and the US/Canadian students.  The language barrier was a hurdle to say the least!  The students were still able to work together in a scavenger hunt to find local plant and animal species.  It was so interesting and fun to watch all the students communicate using the knowledge that have of the other language.  It was a cross-cultural and cross curricular success! The Costa Rican students hosted a few games after the scavenger hunt activity. These games didn't require talking but movements and hand signals.  Everyone had a great time!  

The students have been working tirelessly on their final projects.  The assignment was to develop a solution for an ecological problem. Some of these ideas they researched and designed were compositing, vermiculture, balcony gardening, how to make teabags ecologically friendly, and protecting birds in the ever expanding "urban jungle". They brainstormed how to educate the public about their ecological solution and found ways to make it accessible to the people of their community.

Later that afternoon, the students took a trip to the nearest town, Santa Elena.  They were able to take a little more time shopping in the local stores and soaking in the small town Costa Rican culture. 

The Women for Environmental Action, or WEA for short, completed their capstone project on their last day.  They drew a self portrait and wrote what they learned, how they are going apply what they learned, and what they are going to to do in the future with this experience.  Afterward, they all were given a group picture and were able to sign each others folders.  Strong friendships were made in the last three weeks!  

These students are going to accomplish wonderful things in their life!