Saving Green
By Atención Staff

One way to save money and support the local economy of San Miguel is to become a member of a club or other organization. Your interests determine which club or organization appeals most to you.

El Charco del Ingenio 

Many of us know the wonders of El Charco del Ingenio, San Miguel’s splendid botanical garden. The benefits of membership with this local nonprofit organization may not be so widely known.

El Charco del Ingenio literally translates to “pool of ingenuity,” and the spring-fed pool, situated in an extraordinary canyon, is inspiring indeed. The botanical garden is committed to preserving and restoring this area that is home to numerous species of native plants and animals.

The benefits of membership include free entrance for yourself and two guests. For nonmembers, entrance is 30 pesos per person. El Charco is a sprawling 167-acre nature reserve that can hardly be seen all in one day. With a membership, you can take your time to explore the marvels of the botanical garden throughout the year.

Members also receive discounts for El Charco activities and events. These discounts are available every week with guided tours to the points of greatest interest in the conservation area. Members pay 50 pesos instead of 80 when they go on these 2½-hour tours, scheduled at 10am every Tuesday and Thursday.

A subscription to the monthly electronic newsletter is another benefit of membership with El Charco. Through the newsletter you can find out what’s sprouting up at the botanical garden, whether it be native Mexican plants or upcoming activities.

You also may find volunteer opportunities working with the garden staff and the chance to put your green thumb to work for other visitors to appreciate and enjoy. If your thumb isn’t especially green, you may still find ways to help the staff through education, marketing, publicity or events planning.

You can purchase membership for 600 pesos a year at the Visitor Center of the botanical garden, or at Border Crossings, Mesones 57. Another benefit that membership offers is a simple and effective way to collaborate and provide financial support for the preservation of the impressive botanical garden and reserves.

Visit http://www.elcharco.org.mx/  for more information.



Audubon

In association with El Charco del Ingenio is Sociedad Audubon de México. Based in San Miguel, it’s the only Audubon chapter in the country. Their mission is: “To experience, enjoy and protect the birds of the region and thereby enhance and promote our understanding of the local ecosystems.”

They work with other nongovernmental organizations and the city’s Ecology Departments to restore the Upper Río Laja Watershed. They also work to develop and maintain a birding sanctuary and research center in Parque Landeta, an annex of El Charco.

Members can enjoy various events, such as the birdwalks held on the third Sunday of every month, at no charge. Membership—available to both residents and visitors—costs only US$30, or the peso equivalent, every year. Nonmembers are welcome on the birdwalks with a donation of 100 pesos. Membership fees and donations help to support the club’s programs and conservation efforts.

Visit http://www.audubonmex.org/ for more information.





Education Today
By Anne Olsen, M.Ed. and James Olsen, Ph.D.

Evaluating a school in half an hour

We worked for about 15 years in international education. Our first assignment was from a US corporation that had sold some very expensive vocational training programs to a series of schools in a string of countries in the eastern Caribbean: Barbados, Jamaica, Antigua and St. Kitts/Nevis. Those countries were upset because the programs weren’t getting the educational results they had anticipated. They wanted to know why, and we were hired to get the answers.

When we looked at the school appointment schedule, we saw we had about a half hour to evaluate a school and to identify the problems. We thought of returning our fee, but we had already spent their down payment on our services, so we had to figure out how we could evaluate a school in 30 minutes.

We eventually came up with a pretty good method, and we pass this technique on to our readers who may want to quickly evaluate a school.

Your evaluation begins as you approach the building on a sunny school day morning.

1. Are the teachers standing outside the building and greeting the students as they enter? Teachers can learn a lot about their pupils in a brief interchange with them. Good teachers know they can learn how the kids are feeling both physically and emotionally, or if something like a divorce or a major move is brewing.

When teachers talk to children, do they get down at eye level? Tall adults looming over children do not facilitate communication because from the child’s perspective they look like giants. The youngster may have trouble hearing and understanding them. In our teacher training exercises we often have one student teacher stand on a desk while the other kneels in front of the desk to simulate the problem.

2. When students enter the classroom, they know what to do to get ready for class. If they know the drill, they have been trained to prepare for the work ahead. A quiet murmur of conversation is heard, as books are taken out, homework removed from school bags and notebooks put down on desks.

3. The principal is not in his/her office. Rather the principal is “doing management by walking around,” as Tom Peters phrased it. He/She is talking to stragglers, welcoming parents who have an appointment and to whom he/she may have to read the riot act, taking a phone call from a supplier or stopping by to talk to a teacher. He/she is there, a presence, an authority figure, a counselor, a protector, a disciplinarian and, above all, a leader.

4. Now as you pass the classrooms, you see students organized in groups, quietly talking to one another, trading ideas, asking for help from the teacher, sometimes working alone silently while others are reading or writing or making something. They are at work that takes many forms. A productive murmur is heard, rather than silence.

If you have the time, you now can talk to the students and the teachers. In this environment they are happy to talk with you because they believe in what they are doing. They like it. The students know they are learning. Learning empowers them, helps them to grow. They are also learning to cooperate by working together, to help one another to be self-critical perhaps and to accomplish set goals.

The students know that both bad and good behavior will have consequences. They exhibit politeness and, when they are irresponsible, this behavior is pointed out with the expectation that it will not be repeated.

The principal will welcome you but is constantly on the move as you talk. In this school, students are respected and students respect their elders. The principal is open and direct and in some respect appears more like a businessperson. The principal does not suffer fools gladly, so if you want to talk about the importance of world peace, saving the environment or other troublesome global issues, this is not the time. You are talking with a person who is constantly having short episodic encounters with people, so get to your point.

If you find such a school, do what you have to do to get your child in. We found some eastern Caribbean schools which were not responsible for the problems caused by the introduction of the new program. We dutifully made our report, told the truth of what we had seen and, at the company’s request, returned to those same schools to help them address how they might incorporate the new materials into what they were already doing so well.

The Olsens are private teachers who have lived and worked in San Miguel for almost 20 years. They can be reached at 154-4374 or anne.jim.olsen@gmail.com.