Classroom Technology for Escuela Kemna'oj

Our goal is to help break the cycle of extreme poverty by improving the educational opportunities and outcomes for the children at Escuela Kemna’oj in the poverty-stricken village of Santa Maria de Jesus through the incorporation of technology into the classrooms.  Projectors will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the classroom education; tablets will provide the students with access to a broad base of content and allow individualized practice and self-paced learning with immediate feedback.  Bringing technology to the classroom will enable the school and the children to improve the overall quality of the education.

Initial Funding Goal: Our threshold goal is to raise $3,000 to put projectors in each of the classrooms at Escuela Kemna’oj in Santa Maria de Jesus, Guatemala.

Stretch Goal:  Our stretch goal is to raise $14,000 to establish a pilot program to use tablets for an entire class in addition to the projectors for all of the classrooms. 

Fund Raising Period:  Through February 16, 2014

* All funds raised through this effort will go to the equipment and program.  A donor has pledged to pay for fees incurred for running this campaign through indiegogo and for the acknowledgement gifts.  A group of volunteers will help the school install the equipment and lead the initial teacher training. 

About the School

Escuela Kemna’oj is a Pre-Kindergarten through 6th grade elementary school in the poverty-stricken, largely indigenous community of Santa Maria de Jesus.  Most of the 124 children who attend the school are from very poor families, many of whom have limited access to water and live in huts made of cornstalk walls, dirt floors, and scrap metal roofs.

Founded in 2008, Escuela Kemna’oj provides the children in this community with a free, high quality, multilingual education.  They are instructed in English, Spanish, Kaqchikel (language of the indigenous population), math, writing, reading, social studies, science, history, art, music, and physical education.  The teachers use a Montessori style curriculum that requires multiple learning stations in each classroom.  This education is entirely free and includes uniforms, supplies, field trips, breakfast, and lunch.  The mothers of the children attending the school take turns providing janitorial services and preparing the meals that are served in the cafeteria.

Due to the popularity and success of the program, the school outgrew its original structure, which was a small rented apartment building.  In April 2013, the newly constructed building was opened.  This facility, funded by charitable donations, includes eight classrooms, a cafeteria, library, computer room, art room, staff room, administrative offices, clinic room for visiting doctors, reading nooks, showers, bathrooms, and an outdoor play courtyard.  It uses a rainwater collection system to draw rain from the rooftop to an underground cistern, which services the school’s showers and sinks.  The greywater recycling system provides water for the toilets.  Together, these systems provide 85% of the school’s water needs.  A solar water heater heats the water for the sinks and showers.  Finally, photovaltaics will provide reliable electricity for the building.

How Escuela Kemna'oj is Funded

The school is funded by donations to From Houses to Homes (“FHTH”), a registered 501(c)(3) organization that helps families who live in dire poverty in villages outside of Antigua, Guatemala.

FHTH has a three-prong approach to help those in extreme need: 

     · It builds simple cinder block homes with cement floors to replace the huts made of cornstalk walls, dirt floors and scrap metal roofs that are typical for the poor families;

     · It runs a free medical clinic that provided services to over 3,000 patients last year; and

     · It runs the school described in detail above, Escuela Kemna’oj, for the children in the community, which provides the students with an education that enables them to develop skills to find employment beyond irregular manual labor in the fields.  This campaign is raising money to help the children in this school.

Through the combination of these programs, FHTH aims to break the cycle of extreme poverty for this community.

My Experience at Escuela Kemna'oj and the Objectives for this Campaign

I have volunteered with FHTH during the past two summers.  Two years ago, I helped build a house for a family in the village of Santa Maria de Jesus.  Last year, I spent two weeks working at Escuela Kemna’oj.  This school has a new building, dedicated teachers and administrators, and enthusiastic, young students to fill each of the classrooms ranging from pre-kindergarten through 6th grade.  However, it does not have the resources available to purchase technological equipment that is common in U.S. classrooms.  I have met with the principal to discuss the school’s technology aspirations and with a number of educators who are using technology to improve elementary education in low-income communities.  Based on these discussions, we developed two objectives: 

The first objective is to put projectors in all of the classrooms. Projectors have proven to be an effective method for improving classroom efficiency and effectiveness and directly engaging the students in the lessons.  The teachers have computers in the classroom that can be used with the projectors.  One challenge to the successful implementation of this project is helping the teachers incorporate the use of projectors into their lesson plans to deliver more effective classroom instruction.  We aim to address this challenge through a teacher-training program.

The second objective is more ambitious: we would like to create a tablet pilot program.  Students in many U.S. schools are using tablets such as Apple iPads, Google Nexus, Kindle Fire, and Microsoft Surface.  These tablets give the students easy access to a broad range of resources and have revolutionized the learning experience.  The objective here is to establish a tablet pilot program that allows individualized practice and self-paced learning with immediate feedback for the students at Escuela Kemna’oj as a way to improve their educational opportunities and outcomes.  In addition, familiarity with technology is a fundamental requirement for many jobs.  The same challenge concerning implementation exists with respect to the tablet program, because the tablet creates the opportunity for a fundamental shift in how lessons can be delivered and how the students interact with the material to increase the academic achievement.  Again, we aim to address this challenge through a teacher-training program and by ensuring that the pilot program involves teachers who are enthusiastic about incorporating technology into the educational experience

Project Budget

Our primary goal is to install projectors in each of eight classrooms to increase teacher in-class efficiency and effectiveness.  The budget to purchase the projects, to have them installed in the classrooms, to train the teachers, and to provide a maintenance reserve is $3,000.

Our stretch goal is to start a pilot program using tablet computers that allows for individualized practice and self-paced learning and which provides immediate feedback and adjustments to the practice materials based on student performance.  In addition, the tablets will educate the student in how to use technology which is itself a marketable skill.  The budget for the tablets, the teacher training, and a maintenance reserve is $14,000.

Risks and Challenges 

The risks and challenges include:

1.  Use and maintenance of the equipment.

The teachers and staff have not had to maintain classroom technology equipment.  None of the students have computers, iPods, or smart phones.  The equipment will need proper handling and care.  We will address this challenge by educating the students how to properly care for the devices.

2.  Theft

Guatemala is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere and property crimes (theft and robbery) are not usual.  Although the community has been protective of the Escuela Kemna’oj and the school is secured with both locks on the doors and security bars on the windows, the projectors and tablets would be the most valuable items that could be taken from the school if targeted by thieves.  This risk will be mitigated by ensuring the technology is securely locked up inside the classrooms at the close of each school day.

3.  Expansion and renewal

We expect the projectors and tablets to enrich the education delivered by Escuela Kemna’oj.  As a consequence, there will be a strong desire to continue and expand the use of technology in the school.  The school will require further fund raising efforts to purchase additional equipment and software for the expansion of the tablet program.

FAQ

1.   Is my contribution tax deductible?

FHTH is a registered 501(c)(3) organization that qualifies as a charitable organization.  Your contributions may be deductible depending upon your personal circumstances.

2.   Where can I get more information about FHTH?

Detailed information is available on the website: www.fromhousestohomes.org.

3.  Is this the most effective use of funding to help this community?

Education is an essential tool for breaking the cycle of poverty.  Incorporating projectors into the classroom will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the classroom experience.  Incorporating tablets will not only provide the students with access to a broader base of content, but they will also educate them on how to use technology, which is a fundamental skill required for many jobs.  Bringing technology to the classroom will enable the school and the children to improve the overall quality of the education.

4.  Why should I support this fundraiser when there are many other charities seeking donations?

There are many worthwhile charities to support.  FHTH is a highly effective charity whose impact is felt in the poor communities surrounding Antigua.  To date, FHTH has provided homes to approximately 3,750 people and during the last year provided medical services to over 3,000 patients.  The school, Escuela Kemna’oj, has more than 120 students.  FHTH is changing the lives of the people in this community daily not only by providing relief in the form of housing and medical care, but by providing opportunities for the people to develop skills that will enable them to create a better life for themselves and their families.

All funds raised through this effort will go to the equipment and program.  A donor has pledged to pay for fees incurred for running this campaign through indiegogo and for the acknowledgement gifts.  A group of volunteers will help the school implement the program.

Please tell your friends about 
Escuela Kemna'oj.