This morning we again met at the Portico for a visit to Abraham Lincoln Elementary School (above)in La Perla. The route took us along the Atlantic Ocean, which is just across the street from the school. Since school was not starting until the following week, we were able to speak with some of the teachers who were in preparing their rooms and plans for when school starts, just like we'll be doing when we get home next week.
The handmade sign to the left is difficult to read in this picture, but when enlarged, it says "educacion especial" or in English, special education. The special ed teacher, Ms. Zaida Guzman, told us that her class was composed of pre-school autistic students. The teachers told us they had a lot of the same concerns that we deal with: having students finish work, especially writing assignments. One interesting story involved a student requesting that they have a dramatization of what winter would be like with snow. Snow is something they only see on TV, movies, or pictures. This reminded me of living in Los Angeles where Santa Claus walked around in shorts. You don't realize the differences in culture until you actually experience it.
Below are some pictures of the school, inside and out. The school literally faces the Atlantic Ocean. There's the school, the road, then the ocean. It serves a wide range of economic levels. There are children from well to do families, middle class families, and the children who live in the more economically depressed area of La Perla itself. There were not a lot of books in the library compared to some of the schools around here.
Looking from the front of the Abraham Lincoln Elementary School across the street towards the Atlantic Ocean.
I went to this school when i was a boy, my god...it still looks the same..I grew up in "la perla" wowww so many memories
ReplyDelete