Visiting a rural school, Escuela Nº 72, Calera del Rey, Maldonado

We spent the day at a rural public school on Thursday, July 25, Escuela N° 72, outside of Pan de Azúcar. Beautiful, rugged countryside with lots of sheep and cows.  There are five students in the school, age 5-11, and two walk to school, one comes on horseback, and the other two on moto. School is from 10-3 and they eat a homemade dinner at school. All the children have an X-O laptop, part of the national Plan Ceibal program and there is internet at the school, with a strong signal. The school is heated solely by the fire in fireplace. We played some games I use in class and the students had insightful questions about life in U.S. and Maine. Precious children, eager to learn. They were curious to learn about anything related to the U.S. and they shared their traditions and culture with me.

All the students, Maine Moose Alcito, Maestra Alejandra (she's the English teacher) and Maestra Susan from Cape Elizabeth, Maine.

Maestra y Directora Sara, Ana, y Susan

With all the students, in front of Escuela Nº 72, Uruguay

                                                      

                             I liked being in front of the fireplace, the only heat source in the school. Remember that the seasons are reversed in the southern hemisphere and it was cold in July. VERY few homes and buildings have central heat.

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 The road to the school, lots of sheep and cows grazing.

                              

                        The school's entrance is off to the right. 

   

                                               

                                    Escuela Nº 72, in Calera del Rey, Uruguay

         

                A student's horse to the side of the school

Introductions, our first activity

Looking at Sra. Dana's photos of Maine and the snow.

                  The trailer video of Maestra Ana, from Pan de Azúcar, when she stayed in Maine, Feb. 2013. Her first time seeing a snow plow. Here's the video of shoveling on our snow day, a no school day!
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An English class notebook. All the students, from kindergarten on up, learn English with the Maestra Alejandra.  We practiced a bit in English and made a simple video. NOTE: Still editing the video, will add the link soon.

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Lunch time at the school. Almuerzo is the main meal of the day in Uruguay so it's a hearty meal. We all sat together and talked during lunch, the daily routine. After lunch the children had recess. Teresita prepared delicious chicken, potatoes and salad, followed by fruit for dessert.

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We hope to have a digital classroom exchange when the school year starts in Cape, our fall of 2013. Can't wait for our students to learn from one another via internet and letters.