SchoolsEstela RomeroFebruary 04, 2020

"San Jerónimo Pilitas" High School

SchoolsEstela RomeroFebruary 04, 2020

SCHOOL VISIT

Dear friends, your Ambassador Monarchs continue flying around “San Jerónimo Pilitas”, this overwhelming-beautiful woods spot and tiny village where the most beautiful forests and landscape along the back and very inside area of the Reserve of Sanctuary “Sierra Chincua” are located, as we have already started to contemplate with the visit of the elementary school first. Students and teachers were delighted to learn and speak about the topic presented this year to them, on endangered local species; it was fantastic to share with them many anecdotes about their knowledge on their own local ecosystem around the Oyamel and Monarchs Forest Reserve. They greeted us in their small classroom while they were attending their lessons in their classroom!. High school level in Mèxico consists of 3 year-class attedance as first, second and third year, or first to sixth semester. The different subjects they attend, are, for first graders: Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics, Ethics and Human Values, Communication, Sports and “Project choice”. This latter subject encourages the students to introduce themselve to the possibility to find a sustainable way of life in their own location, taking advantage of their own resources, in order to build an alternative and independent way of life by themselves altogether with their families. “We second graders attend Literature, English, Maths, Biology and Chemistry, European, Latin american and Mexican History, and last, Community Development, the development itself o the project we chose in first grade; one of our teachers in charge of this subject and teaches us, since administrative proceedings to get financial resources from the State for supporting ourselves, up to the accomplishment of the project itself; it is so exciting to discover how much we can do in our own homeland with our own resources, there is so much!, we have so much…!!!, —they exclaimed proud at our arrival explaining to us what their academical plan consisted of—. Last, teacher Erika, the young principal at the school, told us: “Third graders finally attend Geography, Universal Contemporary History, Basic Law (an introduction to our Mexican Constitution Basis), Human Anatomy, and finally, they learn the different possible ways to promote and position themselves in the market selling their developed product on the project chosen the previous two years”, —she said as she showed a few of the products the students had just promoted and sold at their capital city of their State, Toluca City, nearby Mèxico City, beautiful, colorful craft handbags and desk accessories— At our farewell, on going again into to the topic of this amazing subject, — Community Development—, teachers added: “Our new generations should learn that we are surrounded with an immense variety of local resources everywhere, that they do not have to abandon their homeland necessarily in order to make a better living; that our country needs us to come back to our farms, our villages, bringing out the best of it. Our cities are a tremendous challenge, while, whether they have the possibility or not, to attend higher studies later, they can always focus themselves on coming back to their homeland to develop a living source, the State will highly appreciate it and support it, and they will not have to abandon their roots and their families, their local culture, which is the best that can happen to anyone”, —the principal and her two supportive teachers vehemently stated. Dear friends, it has been a wonderful experience to have visited High School in San Jerònimo Pilitas, where our visit, our topic today on endangered species, and the “Web of Life” might have importantly reinforced the importance of the conservation of our local ecosystems around our region, since it is a basic aspect of our local identity.