Author: General Admin

Our Julia Roberts Moment
“You like me! You really like me!” Like Julia Roberts in 2006, we were thrilled last week to cross the milestone of 1,000 Facebook friends (up from 807 in August). And we were interested to learn about the diversity of our online friends, such as:
- 68% are women
- 37 countries, led by Costa Rica (460), US (443) and Canada (34)
- 10 languages, led by English (627) and Spanish (361)
- Most popular cities outside Costa Rica: New York, Austin, Philadelphia, Seattle, Arlington and London (UK)
- Pretty even age distribution (see graph below)
And perhaps most importantly, our “post reach” is growing. That is an indicator of how many people actually get to see our posts – Facebook only shows it to a limited number of our followers, then increases that release as more people like, share, and comment on it (so please do that!) Our most popular posts of the past year have been:
- Staff photo – 2,300
- Photo of our outdoor meeting – 1,700
- Photo of Marisella – 1,500
- Benito Guindon teaching about puma safety – 1,300
- Thanksgiving Day activities – 1,300
- Heather Livingston, volunteer extraordinaire – 1,200
- Celebration of 100 days – 1,100
Thank you to everyone for following these blogs and our facebook posts, and for sharing/liking/commenting to make sure they reach even more friends. You bring diversity, fresh perspective, and creative ways of supporting Monteverde Friends School.
April 12, 2016
Financial Aid – The Hardest Committee

If you ever want a tough job in a small community, join your school’s Financial Aid committee!

This dedicated group of volunteers has been working diligently over the past months to consider how best to serve the many families who have applied for financial aid. Every family has a different situation, but each believes that Monteverde Friends School is the best for their child, and each family is working incredibly hard to raise their share of the tuition.

The committee has to balance our commitment to never turn away a local child due to lack of funds, with the need to be financially diligent. To balance their deep compassion with a healthy dose of diligence, fact-checking and discernment.

Not content with numbers on paper, they call new families in to get to know them personally. The committee wants to develop a trust relationship, so they can feel confident that the family truly is doing all they can on their end. They look parents in the eye and find a way to work together for the good of the child and the school.

Thanks to this hard work, we are thrilled to announce that, once again, we did not have to turn away a single child due to lack of funds. Every eligible applicant was granted what the committee believes to be an appropriate level of financial aid, allowing the child to attend school without placing an untenable burden on the family. And there is still a reserve for new applicants or families in crisis throughout the year.

MUCHAS GRACIAS to our generous donors who create this opportunity, and to the volunteers on the financial aid committee for doing the hard, hard work to responsibly and effectively steward these precious funds. These flowers are for you!

April 4, 2016
Musical Theater Summer Camp in Costa Rica!

Looking for a summer camp in Costa Rica that is fun, cultural, musical, sunny, lets you practice or learn Spanish/English, and throws in the occasional beach or volcano? Look no further than Monteverde!

For the full month of July (in fact, starting June 17 for local youth), we are partnering with the Far Corners Musical Theater Society to create a one-of-a-kind summer camp experience. Mornings we’ll explore Monteverde’s unique mix of Costa Rican and Quaker culture, work on Spanish/English, play, sing, explore the rainforest, and enjoy. Afternoons we’ll work on a full-scale Broadway musical production – Les Miserables (School Edition), to be performed July 28-30.

Click here for cost and registration details. Read on below for more enticement…

Musical Theater Production

The centerpiece of the Costa Rica Musical Theatre Camp is a full production of Les Miserables (School Edition), performed primarily in Spanish. Working alongside local students, you will spend your days rehearsing, sewing costumes, building sets, and immersing yourself in every aspect of the production.

All participants who want to perform (except one week participants) will be cast in the show. If your prefer to spend your time behind the scenes, you may choose to focus on technical theatre, play in the pit orchestra, or assist with direction or choreography.

Past productions have included The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, In The Heights, Once On This Island, and Little Shop of Horrors.

Morning Program

The morning program is designed specifically for international and local students by the Monteverde Friends School. With a focus on learning about Costa Rica culture, it will include Spanish practice, bilingual games and activities, and outings to the cloud forest. In addition, the program will include campfires and a trip to the beach or volcano (July 21-22).

Homestay

“My Spanish is so much more fluid and I am 100 times more confident than I was before staying with my host family. Maybe it was just that my family was so wonderful, but I can’t think of anything that could have gone better.” – Katherine

Many of our international participants find that their homestay experience is the most powerful element of their time in the community. Through your new family, you will have the chance to enjoy local food and customs, see the town from a uniquely intimate perspective, improve your language skills, and make lifelong friendships that cross cultural boundaries. You will be placed with an experienced host family connected to our partner school, the Monteverde Friends School.

This is a fantastic opportunity to truly experience another culture and feel like a local. If you want to improve your Spanish fluency, your homestay will provide true Spanish immersion. However, if you not yet confident speaking Spanish, we will place you in a household where at least one family member is fluent in English.

About FCCMT

Far Corners Community Musical Theatre (FCCMT) stages musicals in communities where, due to economic limitations or geographic isolation, opportunities for participation in the arts have been limited or nonexistent. FCCMT volunteer staff members act as the producers, directors, musical directors and choreographers. The cast and crew are drawn from the local community as well as international program participants. FCCMT has been putting on musicals in Monteverde since 2005.

Click here for cost and registration details

Also, note that we are offering Academic Summer Camps from June 15-July 1. Whether you’re looking for some catch-up remedial help, enriched learning challenges, or just to brush up on your Spanish or English skills, our new summer academic camps are for you. Don’t worry, there will be plenty of games and activities and outings to make it fun as well as educational!

March 28, 2016
Outdoor Classroom

[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” text_font_size=”14″ use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]

When your school is nestled in the cloud forest of Costa Rica, the whole world is your classroom. Even when inside, we’re often visited by toucans, pizote and other exotic creatures outside the windows, and can hear/feel/taste the clouds blowing right through the school.

The other day, Emmanuel Hemsi took his young class out for a very quick Nature Appreciation walk. Nothing long, and nothing spoken. Just walking single-file, stopping to see, touch and smell a variety of plants. Flowers in bloom, moss, dead branches.. each spoke to the children its unique story and place in the cycle.

As I rushed with my camera to capture it (see below), I was struck by the speed of the exercise. This was not a lesson to be taught with words and received by the analytical brain. It was a world to be senses, purely and without interruption.

“Surrounded by nature, supported by love.” Thank you Emmanuel for bringing our school motto to life.

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_gallery admin_label=”Gallery” gallery_ids=”3398,3403,3399,3405,3400,3401,3404,3402,3406″ fullwidth=”on” show_title_and_caption=”on” show_pagination=”on” background_layout=”light” auto=”on” auto_speed=”5000″ hover_overlay_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.9)” caption_font_size=”14″ caption_all_caps=”off” title_font_size=”16″ use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] [/et_pb_gallery][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

March 22, 2016
Crazy Week

[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”]

As if there isn’t already enough fun at MFS, last week was CRAZY WEEK. We kicked off with Hippie/Crazy Hair day, then mixed things up on Tuesday by having faculty teach different classes and grades. Pyjama Day was a dream-come-true, and Boys-Dress-Like-Girls/Girls-Dress-Like-Boys was predictably wild. (Note, today I caught Yuri slipping into the boys bathroom, so evidently there are still some lingering effects…)

We capped off the week with Water Day, multiplying the insanity by inviting 22 students from Greene Street Friends School in Philadelphia and their penpal friends from schools in Naranjo and Sarchi in Costa Rica. So we had over 130 wet, shrieking, happy students and parents on a beautiful sunny Friday afternoon in Monteverde.

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_gallery admin_label=”Gallery” gallery_ids=”3363,3368,3381,3376,3365,3360,3375,3356,3359,3362,3377,3358,3354,3355,3361,3370,3369,3373,3364,3366,3367,3371,3380,3357,3372,3374,3378″ fullwidth=”on” show_title_and_caption=”on” show_pagination=”on” background_layout=”light” auto=”on” auto_speed=”4500″ hover_overlay_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.9)” caption_font_size=”14″ caption_all_caps=”off” title_font_size=”16″ use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” /][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

March 14, 2016