Winter Newsletter

Posted by La Catalina Foundation on January 27, 2015, 11:58 am
201.138.177.180

For a much prettier edition with photos please click here: http://ymlp.com/zaKeNL New 6th Grade English Books – Hot off the Press! Careyes Foundation in Costa Careyes and La Catalina Foundation, A.C. in La Manzanilla combined forces with a number of talented educators and together created their own teacher’s manual and English textbook for sixth grade students. The textbooks are being distributed free of charge to 300 Mexican children from 8 schools around the Costa Alegre area to be used in weekly English classes delivered to them by native English speaking volunteers from the two foundations. The impetus for these books came from the desire to offer personally-tailored book for the children in the Costa Alegre that was highly engaging and motivational. Innovative teaching techniques were incorporated, including collaborative learning, mindfulness, and natural learning practices. The primary schools in our area have gone many years without English text books, but now learning English has become a high priority. This is the first book in a series of books that the two foundations hope to produce! To learn more about this project or find out how to get involved, contact us at la_catalinafoundation@hotmail.com John D. Collins Teacher Training Fund and Mindfulness Workshops The John D. Collins Teacher Training was launched in memory of volunteer teacher Dr. Collins who dedicated his life to teaching and helping others. Two events have raised money to support Mindfulness Training workshops for the public school teachers in La Manzanilla. The first event was in November, where local musicians brought together a big crowd at the Club for a night of music. The second, commemorating the official launching of the fund, was a dinner and music night at Lora Loka’s, featuring a classical guitarist from Guadalajara. Thank you to all to participated in these events and to the Helping Hands bookstore for their donation to the fund. Online and Silent Auction Bidders get ready…the online auction open Sunday, February 1st and runs through 9:59pm on Sunday, February 15th. Visit our online auction page by clicking HERE. As usual, there will be art, hotel stays, and spa and restaurant certificates available at great prices! If you aren’t in our area and win an item, we offer shipping right to your home. Also, mark your calendar for Saturday, February 21st when our 11th annual “A Night under the Stars” auction and party will take place in La Manzanilla’s main plaza, from 6pm to 9:30pm. Please contact us if you have a service or item you would like to donate for either for the online or live event. Last year, building improvements at LCF were made with the money raised and the free summer camp for children was funded. Each of the public schools received funds to for educational projects or materials. The primary school is enjoying their new photocopier purchased with funds from the 2014 auction! Japanese rock garden underway Have you visited our grounds lately? If not, take a stroll by #199 Playa Dorada in La Manzanilla. You will see the beautiful mural and the many landscaping projects taking place at La Catalina Foundation. Our latest project is the creation of a Japanese Rock garden (karesansui), led by a Canadian volunteer. He is working with a group of scholarship students to design and build the garden. Upon its completion, students will be able to use this as a contemplative area for reflection and also learn about the elements of balance and flow by arranging and rearranging the rocks and sand. This rock garden is nestled behind the herb/vegetable garden, so you have move to the back of the property to see it. Rural Literacy Project Sue O’Riley is back in La Manzanilla and is bringing the Rural Literacy Project (RLP) back into full swing. Since 2013, Sue and others have been bringing down books, cataloging them and growing our collection of Spanish and English books for children. By this spring, La Catalina Foundation plans to open its doors to the local families to use the books and come for story hours. To help out with the RLP, please contact Sue O’Riley at: sue.oriley@gmail.com or visit the project site at: [url=https://sites.google.com/site/ruralliteracyproject]https://sites.google.com/site/ruralliteracyproject

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