Happy 75th Anniversary to Laguna Verde Elementary School!

Last Friday, Earth Day, a few of our mentors went to a celebration of our partner Laguna Verde Elementary School’s 75th birthday. All the students gathered to partake in the event, where the principal spoke, a group of Mapuche people (the largest indigenous group in Chile) sang to celebrate the multicultural aspect of the school, various student groups (including many of our students) performed skits they had prepared, and our very own Martha Rigby, VSP mentor, received an award for her work with VSP in the school since 2014!

It was great to see our kids outside of program activities and performing something they had obviously put a lot of work towards. We also appreciated learning about the history and future of the school and all those who work to keep it going. Laguna Verde Elementary School is a school rich in interactive education, instructs students in Mapuche language, and has an incredible outdoor classroom (soon to be the home for a new chicken).

After the celebration the faculty, families of the students and us reconvened in the library to talk, drink some muday (a traditional mapuche beverage) and eat some birthday cake. Although we would like to take credit for all of the awesome photos that accompany this blog, we have to recognize the excellent work of 7-year old photographer and future VSP student Cony.