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Honduras: An Experience to Remember

Laura Capps

Purdue University

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Abstract

This paper is broken down into different parts, progressing through my trip to Honduras. The

first part describes my expectations about my study abroad trip to the country of Honduras. This

discusses my thoughts before I even got on the plane. The second details my arrival in Honduras

and what my first impressions were. This is my state of mind right when I first entered the

country. The third part of this paper is my educational autobiography. This is a reflection on my

educational background, my educational philosophy, and how it has all been influences by life

experiences. The fourth through eighth parts will be detailed accounts of certain experiences I

had in Honduras, including a reflection of our host school (ABSS), a reflection on my host

teachers, a reflection of an experience with one student in particular, a reflection about the three

rural schools visited and a reflection on the cultural experiences. Finally, in the last two sections,

I will described my developing educational philosophy and give an overall reflection of my

experience in the country of Honduras.

Keywords: education, Honduras, culture

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Honduras: An Experience to Remember

Expectations

White sandy beaches. Palm trees and salty air. A cool breeze blows my hair, tickling my

face. When I think of Central America, these are the images that come to mind. I have never

been outside of the United States so everything I am expecting comes from stories I’ve heard

from other people, the information from our required texts and photographs found on the

Internet. I have thought about what the country will look like, what the public schools will be

like and what ABSS will be like. I also have considered how the children will be and how

prominent the differences between the U.S. and Honduras will be. For almost two weeks prior to

this trip, I have been dreaming about what Honduras will be like; it is now almost time to find

out how close my expectations are to reality.

As my trip to Honduras draws near, my daydreams get more and more vivid; I can almost

smell the salt off the ocean. However, I also know that the whole country of Honduras is not

postcard perfect. As I began reading about this country, I learned that it is the third poorest

country in Central America (Rodriguez, 2012). I also learned that many of the public schools

lack running water and electricity. Some cannot even afford to provide food for the students by

the end of the year (Rodriguez, 2012). While the tropical climate is a very nice perk of going to

Honduras, my main reason is the schools.

Growing up, I attended a small, rural, public school. This school is K-12 in one building

with a total student body population of about 1,000 students. The scenery around my school is

nothing but corn and soybeans. My school was not a large, well-funded corporation but

compared to what I have learned about the rural schools in Honduras, my school seems like

heaven. We had money for food and supplies; we never worried about electricity or running

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water. I am expecting the rural schools in Honduras to be very different. I am expecting small

classrooms, little supplies and large numbers of students per class. I expect there to be a lot of

windows in the classrooms for light and for air; with no electricity and a large number of

students, I imagine the classrooms are going to be very hot. The few days that we are in the rural

schools should prove to be very interesting.

I have slightly different expectations about ABSS, where we will be spending most of our

time. Being a private school, I am expecting ABSS to be better funded and have more resources.

Food, water and electricity should not be a concern like they are in the rural schools. I am

expecting ABSS to be pretty similar to my school. I don’t imagine the classes will be too large

because the school is a private school. While I do imagine there will be many differences

between my school, the rural schools and ABSS, I think there will be some similarities as well.

The children in Honduras are going to be one of the most interesting parts of the trip. I

believe that children are children, no matter where they live. There are universal things that

apply to all children such as curiosity, a sense of adventure and joy. I am expecting the children

in Honduras to also have these things and as a result of that, I am expecting the classrooms to be

full of noise and a bit of chaos. Classrooms here in America are quite busy environments and I

anticipate that Honduran classrooms will be no different. I also am predicting that the teachers

will be similar: full of passion for their students and for learning, adept at multitasking and

constantly working. Each one will have a teaching style of their own and different methods for

running their classroom. Having the opportunity to closely observe one of these teaching styles

day after day is the core of this program.

I chose to attend this program because of the experiences I will have in the schools and

with the children and teacher. I also chose this program because I have not had a lot of

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experience with other cultures. My hometown is very small and does not much diversity. I have

never been out of the country before; my world has been quite small. However, I am ready to

expand that world. I can only imagine the differences between the United States and Honduras

but I believe there to be many. One obvious difference is ethnicity and language. The tone of my

skin is not going to be the same as that of a person from Honduras. I speak English as my first

language; Hondurans speak Spanish. While I do have a strong background in Spanish, I believe

it will be hard to converse with the locals, especially at first. The Honduran accent is going to be

difficult for me to understand and will take some getting used to.

Another difference between the countries is economic status. As stated before, Honduras

is the third poorest country in Central America; in comparison, the United States is considered

one of the world’s powers. The U.S. has poverty but I am expecting the poverty in Honduras to

be much more severe. Maybe because of the poverty, maybe in spite of it, I expect that the

citizens of Honduras will be hard working and family-oriented. From the little I do know about

Latin American culture, family is a huge part of life. Spending time together and giving the best

life possible for your family are two very important values. Many Americans also have these

values but do not always keep them at the forefront of their lives. I am expecting Hondurans to

keep them there. I am very excited to arrive in Honduras and to actually experience everything

the country has to offer.

The Arrival

The air isn’t salty and I have yet to see a white sandy beach but my first impressions of

Honduras have been breathtaking nonetheless. Getting into this beautiful country was much

easier than I thought it was going to be. I was very nervous about security and all of the airport

procedures; luckily, I had no need to be. My parents and I arrived at the airport plenty early, so

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much so that there was barely a line for baggage check-in. There were not any problems with my

bags or tickets. It was smooth-sailing. I had not been on a plane since I was ten years old so I

was not totally sure what to expect. However, the flight from Indianapolis to Houston, Texas was

a breeze. There was some rough air but I barely noticed; I was too busy chatting with the

gentleman next to me about travel plans, hometowns and motors. The connecting flight in

Houston to Tegucigalpa was as easy as the first, just a bit longer.

I got my first good look at the landscape of Honduras when the airplane was preparing

for landing. The airport in Tegucigalpa was quite a site! It is in the middle of mountains; the

plane did a little circle and then dove down into the valley. The plane stopped quickly and we

were on the ground before I knew it. The view I had from my little airplane window was nothing

compared to the view I had from our van. I did not expect it to have so many mountains and

valleys; they are absolutely stunning! All of the foliage and soil is so different than that in my

hometown, more so than I had expected. I had imagined that this place would be beautiful and I

was not disappointed.

One thing that really did shock me was the traffic here. Our bus driver drove like he was

making up his own rules. He drove in the middle of the road, in the oncoming lane, on the side of

the road, anywhere he needed to go. The strangest thing was every other driver was doing the

same thing! There was a truck that drove over the median to get around someone, two men who

rode in the bed of a truck, and motorcycles everywhere, weaving in and out of traffic like it was

business as usual. I did not expect that at all; I do not think any of us did. We were white-

knuckled and clenched teeth but Eloisa and our driver did not even blink. That was quite the

experience.

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While we did not get too look closely at the city surrounding the airport, I was able to

notice some signs of poverty. There was a lot of rusted sheet metal lying around or being used as

siding for a building. Many shops lined the streets, some looking weathered and outdated. Stray

dogs, cats, cattle and horses wandered about the streets and no one seemed to even notice them.

The streets were also lined with litter and the hills sloping towards the streets were worse. In

some ways, my expectations were confirmed. Honduras can seem like two different places: one

that is postcard perfect and one that is far from it. Both sides of Honduras were still vastly

different than the area I grew up in.

My Life and Education

One long brick building in the middle of four fields. The nearest highway is a little over

half a mile away; the nearest city more than ten. The closest town to this building consists of

three bars, a pond and a couple stop signs. Trucks and tractors are the main forms of

transportation and almost everyone owns a gun. Secrets don’t stay secrets long; everyone is

famous for something around here. It does not sound like much but for me, it is all I had ever

known.

Before coming to Purdue, I had only been to one school. My elementary, middle and high

school was all in one building. The school is divided into two halves; kindergarten through 6th

grade are on one side and 7th through 12th grades are on are the other. There are two shared gyms,

a cafeteria and a library all within the school. With a student body of about 1,000 students from

grades K-12, it is a pretty close-knit community, almost too close sometimes. Diversity is almost

non-existent, with exceptions made for the few exchange students we had. Most students were

middle class Caucasians who spoke English as their first language. Many students were

Christians with a strong Catholic presence. Obviously, there were some advantages and

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disadvantages to attending a school like mine but every experience has helped me to develop and

strengthen my passion for education and to shpe my own educational philosophy. In this section

of the paper, I will provide specific examples of events that have occurred in my educational

career. I will also discuss how these events impacted my view of education. Finally I will discuss

why I chose to go into education. To begin, I will discuss one event that had the biggest impact

on my decision to become an educator.

One major advantage of having all grades in one building is the opportunity to implement

a cadet teaching program where high school students can assist for one hour a day in an

elementary classroom. I participated in this program for two of my four years in high school; that

decision was one of the best I have ever made. While I always have loved school and learning, I

did not think I wanted to be a teacher. Even during my sophomore year during cadet teaching, I

never dreamed that I would be studying education a few years later. I planned on studying

medicine because that’s what I thought “smart” kids should do. I liked working with the kids and

being a part of the first grade classroom but I still had my plan. Things changed during my junior

year.

Due to scheduling conflicts, I was unable to continue the cadet teaching program. At first,

I did not think much of it; it had just been a filler class. However, as the year progressed, I found

myself missing the time in the classroom and longing to work with the kids again. I began to

consider the possibility of going into education but thought myself to be crazy. I was going to be

a doctor just like I had planned! I talked to some of my friends about it and one gave me some

advice that I will never forget. He said that when your head and your heart disagree, your heart is

always right. My focus began to shift towards education and I decided to try cadet teaching one

more time.

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I returned to the first grade classroom I had previously been in. I absolutely adored the

host teacher. She was actually my own first grade teacher and was still just as wonderful as I

remembered. Her manner with the kids and her enthusiasm for teaching will always stay with

me. She also was kind enough to entrust students to me, one in particular. His name was Nathan

and he was quite a unique student. This little red-headed boy with big sea green eyes would be

one of my biggest challenges and also one of the biggest influences in my decision to become a

teacher. He had the attention span of a fruit fly, the tendency to stare off into space and tune the

world out, and a strong aversion to loud noises. Both my host teacher and I believed there was

something more going on with him but nothing was ever officially diagnosed. In any event, he

required special attention and a lot of patience. It was very difficult to get him to focus on his

work and to complete it during the allotted time frame. That was where I came in.

During my hour in that room, I would work with Nathan trying to get him caught up.

Usually, I would also have to reteach the lesson because he had not paid attention the first time

around. In order to get him to do his work, I had to get creative and use things that interested

him. I discovered that he loved Sonic the Hedgehog and smiley faces. I found ways to use these

things to motivate him. I told my host teacher about what I was doing and she just smiled. She

looked at me and said that’s exactly what a good teacher does. A few weeks into working with

Nathan and I knew that not only did I want to teach for the rest of my life, but also that I wanted

to teach special education.

Once I had set my course for education, I began to contemplate what education meant to

me and how I felt about my own education. All throughout elementary school, I had an insatiable

thirst for knowledge. My mom has told me that when she would be working on word recognition

with my older brother, I, being only three years old, would beg her for flashcards of my own.

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While my brother hated school work and struggled immensely, I soaked up every bit of

knowledge I could attain. Therefore, by the time I entered kindergarten, I already knew how to

read. This drove my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Taylor, crazy because I would not wait for her

directions on worksheets and projects that had written directions. She would get angry because if

she wanted to change something, she had to give me a new sheet. I usually had already started,

following the written directions. As I reflect on this now, I can’t help but wonder why she didn’t

just change the written directions on the sheets. It happened almost every time and would always

make me feel like I was doing something wrong by being able to read. I could not understand

why she would get so mad; now I imagine that she took it as defiance or rebellion.

This experience really has strengthened my belief that education should be

individualized; no teacher should hold back a student’s progress for the sake of staying with the

class. If she had just taken the time to rewrite the directions on my paper, there would not have

been an issue. I would have done the assignment the way she wanted and would have been able

to continue developing my reading skills. Adaptation is a key skill for a teacher to have in order

to meet all the needs of his or her students; it makes individualization possible. Even though it

happened a long time ago, I still feel that this experience impacted me and my view of education.

It also enlightened me to the fact that the beginnings of a person’s education shape their future

attitudes about learning and education. Even small incidences can have huge, unforeseen

repercussions, both good and bad.

For most of my educational career, I saw teachers as people who only existed inside the

school building. They did not have lives outside of school, no personal problems or struggles of

their own. They couldn’t understand that there was more to life than school because, in my mind,

school was everything for them. This perception changed permanently during my senior year of

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high school. I had one teacher for all four years of Spanish, Mrs. Graves. I was president of

Spanish club and one of two students in Spanish 4 so she and I spent quite a bit of time together.

I learned that she was working on her administrator’s license in hopes of becoming the principal

of our school. Her course load was heavy but she was managing. Second semester was a

different story. She had gotten the job as principal and was having to complete training while

also teaching six periods of Spanish classes. Her stress level was off the charts and she

eventually cracked. I walked in for class one day and she was crying silently at her desk. It was

the first time a teacher became more than just the person at the front of the room. I had already

decided to become an educator at this point in time, but I now had seen a glimpse of the ugly,

stressful side of this profession. Reality began to sink in; like any career, education has its

benefits and downfalls.

Despite the downfalls, education is where my passion lies. It is what I want to dedicate

my energy and my talents to because I believe that every child deserves the best education

possible. They deserve to have someone invest in them, fight for them and believe in them. The

job of an educator is to give students the tools needed to thrive in their future lives. This includes

academic skills, social skills and life skills. Critical thinking, accountability, communication and

respect are just as important as math, reading and science; therefore, these things should also be

taught and reinforced in schools. Teachers can model many of the skills and be a real-life

demonstration for students. A teacher’s job is not solely making lesson plans. All of my

experiences throughout my life have led me to this conclusion. Education is a career that requires

commitment and dedication; it is not something to be entered into lightly.

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Alison Bixby Stone School

Another long brick building. This time, though, there are no corn fields to be found; this

school is not in Indiana. In fact, it is not even in the United States. This white bricked building

with a red tile roof is situated on an agricultural college in Zamorano, Honduras. It is a small,

private bilingual elementary school called Alison Bixby Stone School (ABSS), known by locals

as la escuelita. This building would be our workplace for almost two weeks. Little did we know,

it would soon become much more than that.

My first thought upon seeing la escuelita was that my expectations were so far off. I had

expected the school to look like the schools I knew in America: a building with a main entrance

and office, hallways with many classrooms next to one another, the cafeteria and gymnasium in

the same building as the classrooms. I could not have been more wrong! For starter, there are six

buildings: the classrooms, the art, music and computer lab, the library, the multipurpose room,

the bathrooms, and the office/teachers’ lounge. I later discovered that almost all Honduran

schools consist of multiple buildings. There is no gym; all P.E. is done outside in the soccer

fields across the street. There are two playgrounds, each with a jungle gym type apparatus and

swings. There is a large open space next the pre-K classroom where the students can run and

play during recess. There are a set of picnic tables in front of the sixth grade classroom, behind

the bathrooms, that can be used for eating lunch or doing class outside. It is a small campus but a

campus nonetheless.

The starkest difference that I saw was the way the classrooms are organization in the

context of the building. There are no hallways to be found. Each classroom is joined together

with the next like Legos, looking like eight separate cubes fused to each other in a long line. The

doors to the classrooms opened right to the outside. The number of classrooms also surprised me.

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I had not known that there was only one classroom for each grade. That was very unlike the

schools in the States where one could find two or three teachers all teaching the same grade in

one school. There is a classroom for each grade, pre-K up through sixth grade and then one

additional room for Spanish class. I spent my time split between the pre-K classroom and the

library where I worked with a special needs student.

The first thing I noticed about the pre-K classroom was how big and colorful it was! Each

wall was painted a different color: blue, green, yellow and orange. The room was divided into

centers: Math, Writing, Library/Circle, Blocks and Art. In each center was a sign labeling it and

all of the materials needed to complete activities assigned for that center. There was no teacher

desk, only a small table and bookshelf where the three teachers could place their belongings.

Each student had their own cubby located next to the door. There were no desks, only tables in

some of the areas. The other classrooms were similar in this regard; desks were not found. Only

one school of the four we visited had desks which I found interesting since desks are a staple in

most American classrooms.

As mentioned before, this school is located on the campus of Zamorano, which has a

board that controls ABSS. There is a long history between ABSS and Zamorano as detailed in

Eloisa Rodriguez’s book Esperanza School (2012). A small, Spanish-only school was founded

on the college campus for the children of the employees in 1953. In 1992, a group of parents

began a bilingual nursery program which merged with the elementary school in 1994. The

bilingual aspect of the nursery was preserved and ABSS was established. It officially became

part of Zamorano in December of 1996 (p. 46).

The faculty of the school has evolved over time, beginning with a group of parents from

the college and transitioning into all certified teachers. As of now, the goal of total certification

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has not been met but it is close. There is a mixture of American, Honduran and even Ecuadorian

employees but the principals have all been Americans. American influence can be detected in

other ways as well, mostly notably the curriculum. ABSS’s curriculum is a patchwork of U.S.

states’ curriculum, including South Carolina’s math standards. The school is accredited by SACS

(Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) which is an American institution. Along with the

accreditation comes some standardized testing. While we were there, the students were finishing

their testing which comes from Iowa. The school’s library is stocked with books donated by

American universities and institutions; some of these books are textbooks. One special trait of

ABSS is the diversion from textbook-centered learning. The curriculum is not driven by

textbooks, rather solely enhanced by them. These books are resources that many schools in

Honduras do not have access to.

ABSS is a private school with tuition fees of about $3,000 a year per student. This is a

sum most Honduran parents could never afford; fortunately, ABSS does something a bit of

differently than most private schools. They have a scholarship program. A reported 37% of the

student body is on scholarship (Rodriguez 2012). These scholarships are what enable the school

to enact their social justice mission. This mission is another way that ABSS separates itself from

the public and other private schools. This school is a grassroots school, founded by the

community for the benefit of the community. It is a unique type of school, not commonly found

in Honduras or in America for that matter. ABSS is more than a school for many people; it is a

tight-knit, loving community that provides comfort, support and education beyond academics.

Ms. Evans and Mr. Olvin

I had the fortunate experience of working closely with two of the teachers at ABSS. I

spent my mornings with Ms. Evans, the preschool teacher and one hour each day with Mr. Olvin,

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a first grade aide and special education coordinator. Both of these individuals taught me many

things without even knowing it. Just by hearing about their lives and then watching them interact

with students, I was able to understand them, not only as teachers but also as human beings. I

will begin by discussing Ms. Evans and then will finish with Mr. Olvin.

One of the main reasons I chose to work in Ms. Evans classroom is because she focuses

on differentiation in the form of centers. She rarely does whole class instruction, limiting it to a

morning circle routine, which includes calendar, classroom job selection, ABC and number

review, and a variety of songs and dances. Days in her classroom are very consistent. It starts

with morning circle, then the class moves on to the first round of centers. At 9:00 a.m. is snack

followed by recess which ends at 10:00 a.m. The second round of centers is after recess and lasts

until about 11:00 a.m. The class meets back at the circle to begin winding down for the day. This

time usually consists of story reading of books chosen by the students. Sometimes, this time is

dedicated to more songs and dances. Around quarter to noon, students begin preparing to go

home and are out the door by noon. By keeping this routine, Ms. Evans believed that it would

minimize additional chaos and disorder in an already chaotic environment. (She does teach

preschool, after all.)

I inquired, one day during snack, how she creates the groups for centers. She told me that

she does no testing but instead using solely observation. She monitors each child as they work

through the different subjects. Some have strengths in math, others in phonics. Based on these

observations, she forms the groups. However, the groups are by no means permanent. In fact she

told me that the current groups are the fourth set she has created. She alters them based on which

skill is being heavily focused on, such as math or phonics, and also by the rate that the students

are progressing. I found this to make so much sense! Constant informal evaluations dictate a

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student’s progress much better than a formal test ever could. Her method also allows for the

possibility that some students excel in one area and struggle in other.

After she told me this, I was curious to know where she learned this method. She told me

that she actually did not learn it at a college because she is currently trying to finish her degree.

Even though she always knew she wanted to be a teacher, she did not get certified right away. A

friend asked her to step in and teach a preschool class at another school. She accepted, though

hesitant. She found that she loved it and was good at what she did. She continued to work there

for a few years but then was transferred to an elementary classroom. She did not enjoy working

in that setting and quit. Four years ago, she found ABSS and joined the staff there where she has

been ever since.

One of the things that drew her to ABSS was the bilingual element. Ms. Evans is

trilingual, speaking English, Spanish and French. She taught herself to speak English at age 15

using songs and movies. I believe the method she used to teach herself has influenced the way

she teaches English to the preschoolers. Songs are frequently used to teach concepts like letters

and numbers as well as to practice speaking in English. It seemed that Ms. Evans really values

knowing multiple languages; she gives all instruction in English and only uses Spanish for

discipline, comforting or clarification. She encourages students to use English and teaches only

English numbers and letters. She even promotes bilingualism in her own home.

Ms. Evans has a three-year old daughter, Isabella who she is raising on her own. My

admiration for Ms. Evans grew even more when I found out the hardships that she faces in her

own life. She wakes up at 4:00 a.m. to work on her own classwork. She has to leave at 5:30 in

order to get to the school on time; she takes a bus in from the Tegucigalpa which can take up to

two hours some days. There is always the constant struggle of finding care for her daughter; she

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is enrolled in a nursery program in the city but some days, it isn’t enough. She is at the school

until 3:00 p.m. even though her students leave at noon. After school, she has to finish her prep

for the next day, pick up her daughter, work on her own schoolwork, and attend actual classes

some nights. She goes through all of that stress necessary for her to teach because as she says,

she can’t imagine doing anything else. Her reward at the end of the day is knowing that she is

“giving [kids] the tools to build upon for the rest of their lives.”

Another ABSS educator who shares that sentiment is Mr. Olvin. He is currently an aide

in the first grade classroom and also the special education coordinator. ABSS, like most

Honduran schools, does not have an established special education program. Instead, the few

students who have special needs are placed almost full time in the mainstream classroom. ABSS

has two students with obvious needs: a second grade girl in a wheelchair and a fifth grade boy

with Down syndrome. The girl does not receive any additional help but André does. Mr. Olvin is

the man who conducts his pull-out sessions. For about an hour a day, Mr. Olvin and André work

on life skills and basic academics. For the time I was there, the focus was on money and math;

Mr. Olvin told me that they had also worked on skills such as cooking, cleaning, reading, writing

and personal relationships. He stresses teaching André the skills he will need for life but

recognizes that there are limitations that André faces.

One stark difference between Mr. Olvin’s teaching with André and his teaching with the

first graders is the language. All of the pullout sessions are done entirely in Spanish. While Mr.

Olvin does value bilingualism, he decided that André had more pressing needs than formally

learning English. Mr. Olvin himself is bilingual speaking English and Spanish. He lived in the

U.S. for a while, working construction and carpentry. He did not having prior experience in

education before coming to ABSS three years ago. He had a close friendship with the principal

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of ABSS which is how he came to apply for a position. His brother also teaches there, allowing

him to know the school’s philosophy and core beliefs before he began. Those beliefs of quality

bilingual education tied in with social justice and environmental awareness are what initially

drew him to the school; the kids are what have kept him there.

Similar to Ms. Evans, he loves the honesty and innocence of children and enjoys seeing

them progress through life. I especially noticed his desire for progress when he worked with

André. He believed in pushing his students, especially André, when they wanted to quit. He

developed great relationships with students and gained their trust; this enabled him to be able to

push them. His students knew that he had faith in them and wanted them to succeed. I admired

Mr. Olvin ability to have a personal relationship with students while maintaining his authority

and position of teacher. His personal philosophy that every student deserves an education has

stuck with me more than anything that I have gained from this trip.

One Special Student

Mr. Olvin was not the only reason that my experience with pull-outs sessions was so

amazing; the actual student, André, was a huge part of it. This fifth grader is one of the most

amazing students I have had the privilege of working with. Even though he battles his disability

of Down syndrome every day, it does not define him. His demeanor is one of a happy social

butterfly. André loves people and is always giving hugs and joking around. He is a bit of a ham,

dancing and putting on a show every chance possible. He even put on a show during our pull-out

sessions.

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to work with André twice a day. In the

mornings, I would observe and later work with Mr. Olvin and then after lunch, I worked one-on-

one with André, reinforcing the skills worked on in the morning in a different way. Both sessions

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were conducted entirely in Spanish; André understood most English but connected better in

Spanish. I had never worked so intensely with a student with Down syndrome so I wasn’t sure

what to expect. I quickly learned that André has some quirks! One is his memory. André

remembers almost everything instantly and never forgets. During one of our sessions, he was

struggling between identifying the numbers 30 and 13. In Spanish, the words are pretty similar,

treinta and trece, respectively. He and I spent nearly ten minutes of our forty minute afternoon

session going back and forth between which numeral was 30 and which was 13. The next day, I

quizzed him and he didn’t miss a lick. Another awesome example came during our trip to the

local Espresso Americano.

The focus of our sessions was mathematics, specifically money, addition and subtraction.

To work on money, Mr. Olvin and I used the idea of shopping. This allowed André to work on

using money in a real-life setting. It was a doubly good tactic; he practiced his academic skill

while also developing life skills. To introduce the concept, I brought in little items and wrote a

price under each of them. André had to read the price to me and then give me that amount of

money. The next day, Mr. Olvin brought more little items and we practiced again. Both of these

sessions were building up to our trip to Espresso Americano where he would get a chance to use

real money to purchase a drink for himself. After he actually purchased the drink, I asked him

what the price was. He correctly replied that it was 28 lempiras. The next day, I asked him again

and he still remembered that it was 28 lempiras. I was in awe at the little things André was able

to remember, especially when I learned a bit more about him and his educational background.

André has been at ABSS for seven years and it has not always been an easy road. ABSS

does not have a very established special education program; short pull-out sessions with Mr.

Olvin are the only real evidence of special education. Otherwise, the few special needs students

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are in their regular classrooms. This is unproductive for André; he does not get much from

regular class instruction. His teacher is a very nice person and seems to handle André well but

she is not a licensed teacher. She does not have the skills to effectively teach a student with

special needs. André gets very distracted by his classmates because they entice him to act out

and put on a show. This causes his progress to be quite slow. Mr. Olvin told me that at the

beginning of the school year, he could barely count to thirty. André is a fifth grader. André’s

progress with Mr. Olvin has been remarkable. He can now count as high as he pleases. He still

struggles with doing addition and subtraction problems without manipulatives like cubes but he

has made progress. Even in the short time I was there, he began to do addition problems half

mentally. He would have the first number in his head and then would use the cubes to count up

from there. This was a step up from needing cubes to do the entire problem. Observing this really

made me question how much progress André could make if he had access to a full special

education program with a licensed special education teacher.

My experience with André was one of the highlights of the entire trip. Working with

special education students is what I want to do for the rest of my life. Having the opportunity to

work so closely with a student with Down syndrome reinforced this desire even more. It also

really brought to my attention that not all special needs students have access to the help that they

need. I now have a goal to either develop a special education program at a school where one does

not exist or is not effective. Students like André deserve a quality education, one that focuses on

life skills and academic content. I want to be able to help them and give them the skills necessary

for success. I would like to think that I made an impact on André because I know that he made

an impact on me.

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Our Three Other Schools

During our time in Honduras, we were privileged enough to visit four schools total:

ABSS and three rural schools. The three rural schools differed from ABSS in many respects

which was beneficial for us; we were able to get an idea of how rural, public education worked

and could compare and contrast with ABSS. We also were able to give back to these schools in

the form of a service project. We purchased art supplies to be used at and then donated to each

school. We used the supplies to create an art project with each of the students at each school; we

then left any extra supplies with that school. In addition to art supplies, we also purchased and

donated food such as powdered milk, beans, oatmeal, sugar and flour, to each school. These

donations were greatly appreciated by the schools because money is tight and resources are

limited. This was one of the differences I noticed between ABSS and the rural schools.

ABSS is a private school with requires student tuition; this tuition provides some money

for the school. Donors also give money to the school which allows it to have the resources that it

does. Teachers have the supplies they need such as books, art supplies and other materials. The

public schools offer free education and get their funding from the Ministry of Education. The

funding is not nearly enough to support the school for the entire year; by the end of the year, the

school struggles to provide the one meal promised to students. ABSS does not provide meals to

its students; the kids bring their own lunches. For some of the students at the rural schools, the

meal at the school may be the only substantial meal they will receive. This is why the food we

brought was so important and greatly appreciated.

Another resource that was in short supply at the rural schools was teachers. All three of

the schools had one formal teacher and a few assistants. These teachers taught all grades K-6.

The student body was under thirty students in each school. This was very different than ABSS.

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At la escuelita, there is a separate classroom and teacher for each grade. Each class is composed

of around twenty students for a student body of around 160 students, almost five times the

student body of the rural schools. Teachers at the rural school have the almost impossible task of

trying to teaching all grades in one classroom at the same time. The small student body

population makes the task slightly more manageable but what really helps is the students’

willingness to learn.

Something very similar between the rural schools and ABSS was the students. At all four

schools, the students were warm, welcoming and excited to learn. They were so energetic and

happy to see us. The most striking shared trait was the appreciation of their education. Most of

the kids had to travel a sizable distance to get to their school; they also know the sacrifice that

their families are making by allowing them to go to school. Many families would benefit from

having the children work but education is so valued that the children go to school instead. One

glaring difference between the students at ABSS and the rural schools is their language. The

rural schools give instruction solely in Spanish; ABSS gives bilingual instruction. Other than

this, the students themselves were quite similar. We all fell in love with all of them almost

instantaneously and were sad to leave them.

While the schools benefitted from our visits, we also benefitted. As future educators, it is

important that we understand the backgrounds of our students. We need to know where they

come from and what experiences they have had. Visiting the rural schools showed us how big of

an impact that backstory can have. All of the struggles and challenges faced by the students have

shaped the students into who they are. Our service projects also allowed us to see that our job as

teachers does not stop at the end of the school day. In order to give the students the best

preparation for their lives, we have to invest in them, inside and outside of the classroom.

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Cultural Experience

Everyone has their kryptonite, one thing that brings tears to their eyes and slowly breaks

their hearts. Before this trip, I thought mine was the Sarah McLachlan song on the ASPCA

commercials. I was wrong. While that song does make me sad, it cannot compare to the sadness I

now feel when I see brightly colored, carefully painted cornhusk dolls. These dolls instantly

remind me of the Mayan village we visited in Copan during our horseback riding trip and the girl

who resided outside our hotel. Day in and day out, she would come up to us and any other hotel

patrons, wordlessly offering her dolls to us for purchase. Some days, she would follow us for a

while, hoping we would change our minds. It was difficult to see her every day, knowing those

dolls were her means of support. What was even harder was to see an entire village of children

trying to sell these dolls.

As soon as we entered the Mayan village, the children swarmed our horses. They all were

carrying those dolls, silently pleading us to buy them. Although the dolls were inexpensive, there

were so many children, all begging for our help. Once money was pulled out, all of them flocked

to that person, grabbing for the money, shoving their dolls forward. It was one of the most heart-

wrenching scenes I have ever witnessed. It was so painful knowing that no matter how many

dolls we bought, it would never be enough. There would still be children who didn’t have

enough money and food, who may never have access to a quality education, and who would

continue to spend their days trying to help their families by making and selling cornhusk dolls.

We all left that village with silent mouths and heavy hearts.

It was especially difficult to compare that village to the rest of Copan. It was such a cute

town with cobblestone streets lined with little craft stores and restaurants. It was incredibly

touristy. The small Mayan village we visited had rusted metal houses and a Mayan school but

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not much else. The hardest comparison was the village to the mall in Tegucigalpa. That mall was

nicer, cleaner and bigger than any mall I have ever been in. The clothes sold were expensive,

even by American prices. There was plenty of food options and people everywhere. The amount

of money that had been invested into that mall had to have been sizable. The trips around

Honduras really opened my eyes to how socioeconomically divided Honduras really is.

I also discovered that there are other cultures infused with Honduran culture, such as the

Mayan culture. The small village was one example. The residents were of Mayan descent and

therefore learned Spanish as well as their Mayan dialect. Another example of Mayan culture was

the ruins. I had not known that the Mayans had built cities in Honduras but indeed they did. In

Copan, there is an entire park dedicated to the ruins; however, only about 20% of the site has

been excavated. The rest is still hidden under mounds of dirt, rocks, roots and trees. The part that

has been explored has allowed scientists to learn some of what the Mayans knew. For example,

the Mayans were the first to use the concept of zero. That idea of nothing had not been

previously used in number systems. The Mayans also kept detailed records of their history,

carved into a giant staircase known as History in Stone. There is much to be learned still from

these carvings and from the unexplored parts of the ruins. The small portion has given us a small

glimpse into yet another facet of Honduran culture.

Educational Philosophy

One student. It was one student in a first grade classroom in America, and then another

student in a school over 1,500 miles south. In both cases, I was able to develop a relationship

with the students. I knew about their strengths, struggles, likes and dislikes; I learned a bit about

their families and support systems. Schooling was not easy for them; they both faced a lot of

hardships and challenges. However, they both had something in common. They both deserved to

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have the best education possible. In order to get the best education possible, they both needed to

be treated as individual students, not just part of a mass. These students have helped shape my

educational philosophy: every student deserves an individualized education designed to help

them reach their full potential.

Students are more than just a name on a class list; what works for one may not for

another. Teachers need to be highly aware of the strengths and weaknesses of their students. In

order to do this, teachers need to form relationships with each student and their families. One of

the things I admired most about ABSS was the amount of parental involvement in the students’

educations. The parents knew what was happening in the classroom and the teachers knew what

was happening at home. Learning is not confined to the classroom so it is very important to

know how much or little support students are getting at home. If a student’s parents are both

working two jobs and the oldest sibling is the main caregiver, it is going to affect the children’s

schoolwork, attention span and many other things. School and home are not two separate

entities; they are both part of a student’s life.

There is no better example of knowing about a student’s home life than the story of Chris

Carter and Alejandro as detailed in the book Of Borders and Dreams. Chris was an ESL teacher

in Chicago who worked with Alejandro, a junior high student from a Mexican immigrant family.

Chris became so invested in Alejandro, who struggled greatly because of learning disabilities and

language barriers. Both of his parents did not speak English and Alejandro was illiterate in both

Spanish and English. Despite all of these obstacles, Chris did not shy away. Instead she plunged

right in. She met the whole family and began to form a relationship with them. She advocated for

Alejandro when his parents could not. Her job as a teacher did not end when the bell rang at the

end of the day, which is exactly how it should be (Carter, 1996).

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It was not always easy for Chris to relate to Alejandro and his family. She was from a

white middle class, English-speaking family while Alejandro was from a working class, Mexican

immigrant family. It is almost inevitable that I will face challenges like that in my own career. I

will always have students who are not from white, upper middle class, two parent homes like

mine. Yet, I still owe it to them to connect with their family. Quality education is a right of

all .children no matter what type of home they come from. Providing quality education means

incorporating parental involvement into classroom education. A total investment is needed in

order for a student to thrive and use all of their potential to the fullest.

After my time in Honduras, I began to think of education as something more than just

meeting the academic needs of students. Education is the process of making an investment into

the lives of students. For the time that your students are with you, you are a vital part of their

lives. What you do, say and express to them impacts their lives, sometimes more than you can

even realize. One way to positively impact their lives is to acknowledge their lives as they are.

By using their social identities as part of the foundations for their educational plans, you can

build something that will relate to them and show them how education fits into their lives. It

makes no sense to try and teach English idioms to an ESL student or weather and the four

American seasons to a child who has never seen snow. They would be unable to relate the

information to their lives, therefore making it nearly useless.

By knowing about a student’s life and their backgrounds, you can also avoid potentially

insulting or embarrassing situations. Going back to Chris and Alejandro’s story, there was an

instance where one teacher had students write about going to the dentist. Seems like a pretty

universal childhood experience. However, Alejandro had never been. The teacher did not know

this and so she expected him to complete the assignment just as the rest of the students would do.

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Because of his lack of knowledge about the dentist, Alejandro was forced to invent an experience

to write about. It was not easy and would have been nearly impossible without the help of Chris

(Carter, 1996). His teacher demonstrated a lack of awareness about the lives of her students.

Even a simple question such as “Have you ever been to the dentist?” could have given her an

indication that the prompt would be inappropriate for some of her students. Having relationships

with students and being aware of their social identities will head off problems such as these. It is

also a critical part of being an educator.

Awareness will also be a key skill in my future career as a special education teacher.

Knowing my students will be absolutely vital. Each student will have an IEP and will need to

have recommendations and plans that actually will work for the student and his or her needs.

Then I will need to observe the student to see how the plan is working out. It will mean that I

have to be very involved in each of my students’ education. While formal evaluations are pushed

heavily in the United States, I believe that informal evaluations provide teachers with more

information and more accurate information.

As an educator, I am going to have to be willing to try different tactics, methods and

activities. Some will work and others will fail miserably. Informal evaluations will be how I

know what to continue to do and what ideas to scrap. My host teacher in Honduras was great at

doing informal evaluations and using the information gained from them. I observed how she did

them and the results that came from them. Because of her class size, she was not able to

completely individualize her curriculum for each child; however, she was able to group students

based on their strengths in certain subjects. While my ideal goal is still to individualize education

for each of my students, I realize that this may not always be possible. Therefore, using strategies

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like Ms. Evans’ could be beneficial. Small, flexible groups that can change based on topic focus

and progression could be very useful in my future classroom.

Another useful tactic to use in my future classroom came from my time with Mr. Olvin

and André. I really admired the way that André’s lessons were tied into real life applications. His

academic content was placed within real-life context, making it easier for him to see why it was

necessary to learn. Also, all of his lessons were connected together. We practiced counting with

cubes and then with money. We did some number recognition with pencil and paper and then

also again with money. Our money lessons progressively built upon each other, leading up to the

final trip to the espresso store. Everything was connected to each other, something that I find so

important. For myself personally, I learn best when I can use previous knowledge to understand

a new concept or problem. I struggle with disjointed lessons which seem like nothing more than

a presentation of unrelated facts. There is a slim chance of me remembering the facts if they are

not connected in a meaningful fashion. My own experience coupled with my experience with

André has led me to believe that it is most effective to connect everything to something else. It is

definitely a tactic that I will use in my future classroom.

Mr. Olvin taught me another lesson, this one an accidental lesson. He showed me that

students need to be pushed but never too far. There were times when André would whine and

want to not do any work. Mr. Olvin always kept a firm hand with him and made sure that he did

not get away with it. André would try and take shortcuts and cut corners so that he did not have

to work, but Mr. Olvin was a step ahead of him. He would catch him and make him start over.

He accepted nothing less than André’s best work. That sent a message to André about life. Half-

done work is not satisfactory. André’s response to Mr. Olvin’s pushing also said quite a bit about

that relationship. André did not fight Mr. Olvin; he did not resent him. He trusted Mr. Olvin and

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respected him enough to know that he was right. Their relationship was what I most greatly

admired and I hope to develop those kinds of relationships with my future students.

Because of my experiences in Honduras, I have begun to think even more about what

type of educator I want to be. Most people don’t even consider that there are more than two

types: “good” or “bad.” Those people would be wrong. After having the opportunity to observe

many teachers during my own education and this experience, I have found that every teacher has

a distinct style and manner. Some are strict and a bit demanding; others are warm, and friendly.

No teacher has one side, though. There are days where the nicest teacher will be irritated with his

or her class and even the strictest teacher cares for his or her students. So when I began to think

about the type of educator that I want to be, I found it impossible to put into a few words. Instead

of trying to find the words to describe my desired future self, I decided to focus on my future

students. In reality, they are who really matters. It is not my own opinion of myself and my

teaching that is important but those of my students. I want to be the type of educator that students

will remember. I want them to remember my love for them, my commitment to them, my desire

for them to succeed. I want them to remember how hard I pushed them, not because I was mean

but because I believed in them. I hope they remember my respect for them and my joy in sharing

a part of their lives. I hope that every student who is entrusted to me, remembers me. If they hold

a memory of me, it means that I had an impact in some shape or form; I taught them something.

It means I did my job.

Final Reflection

Honduras was the best trip I have ever been on! It impacted me on so many levels. My

world view expanded, my understanding of education deepened and my confidence in myself

grew. For the first time, I flew on a plane without my parents, traveled to a foreign land and

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taught in another language. I saw sights I can never forget, formed relationships with people who

changed my perspectives and had opportunities that could never be duplicated. I knew that this

trip would be awesome but I had not expected to have been so impacted.

Working with the preschoolers was an incredible opportunity but what really redefined

who I want to be as a teacher was working with André. I had to push myself out of my own

comfort zone in hopes of being able to help him. I went so far as to speak an entirely different

language every day, just so that he would feel more comfortable and would understand the

material better. Some days were harder than others but every day mattered. I had the idealistic

view that every day I taught students would bring some sort of breakthrough or big

improvement; actually working with a special need student burst that bubble. Teaching special

education means needing a lot of patience and having confidence that improvements will come

in time. My desire to teach special education has been rekindled and burns brighter and stronger

than ever.

Not only do I want to teach special education, I want to ensure that every student who

needs help will receive it. There are many students who are in need of extra help but who are not

receiving it, especially in other countries. ABSS does not have a bona fide special education

program or teacher, which greatly troubles me. I love the school and believe in its mission of

education, community and social justice. However, part of its community is the special needs

students and they deserve the best education possible. I would love to be a part of bringing that

help to those students. I know it will be difficult to start a program from scratch but that is what I

feel my purpose is. The parents who founded ABSS saw a need in their community and took

action to fulfill that need (Rodriguez, 2012). I want to do the same.

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To any future student going on this trip, my best advice would be to take full advantage

of every opportunity. There are so many of them, each with their own lessons to teach. Have

conversations, ask questions and volunteer to help out; anything and everything you can do, do

it. Even though it is only three weeks, it is a jammed pack three weeks. The school staff at ABSS

was so willing to allow us to work with the students. As soon as we jumped in, we began

learning so much. I would also advise to try and meet some of the local Zamorano students. We

were fortune enough to make some pretty awesome friends who showed us another side of

Honduras. Making connections was a big part of the experience and it wouldn’t have been the

same without all of the wonderful people we met. Honduras was truly an experience to

remember.

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References

Benjamin, M. (1987). Don’t Be Afraid, Gringo: A Honduran Woman Speaks from the Heart.

New York, NY: The Institute for Food and Development Policy.

Carter, C.L. (1996). Of Borders and Dreams: A Mexican-American Experience of Urban

Education. New York, NY: Teachers College, Columbia University.

Rodriguez, E. (2012). Esperanza School: A Grassroots Community School in Honduras.

Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc.