The People I Work With

Yeah, yeah...I know the title is a little Mr. Rodgers Neighborhoodish but these are the people I work with. Everyone at the school has lived their whole lives in Honduras. Almost none of them have ever left the country. And none of the have any teacher training.

Introducing...
Mr. Lemus. His first name is a mouthful so everyone just calls him Lemus. He is the Social Studies teacher for 1st-6th grades. He doesn't speak one word of English which is fine since Social Studies is required to be taught in Spanish by a Honduran. He is a bit shy (at least around Christina and I) and is only 20 years old.Mrs. Pacheco (Mirtala). She is the computer/technology teacher for 1st-6th grades although most times she just does art with the kids or has them play solitaire. She doesn't speak any English. She is silly and the kids seem to love her. She is always laughing and trying to make others laugh. I like her even though I don't really know anything about her except she rides a motorcycle and has a 2 year old son.Mrs. Calix (Suyapa with red scarf - in photo with Paola, a high school teacher). She is the Spanish (which also must be taught by a Honduran) and calligraphy (handwriting) teacher for 1st - 6th grades. She doesn't speak any English. She always seems kinda stressed out and exhausted. The kids walk all over her, poor lady. She has a daughter in 4th grade. Mr. Lacayo. He is the P.E. teacher for 1st - 11th grades. He doesn't speak any English. He is very nice. He went with us on our bus trip to Copan. Mr. Mejia (Marlon- without the tie). He is the 1st grade teacher. He is supposedly fluent in English but is actually far from it. He has a strong accent, poor pronunciation, limited vocabulary, and his grammar needs work as well. What a great model for establishing a good English base with the 1st graders. He is very sensitive and naive and you often find yourself suddenly very busy when he is approaching. He has a big heart and is always trying to help or give you things but they often end up not being helpful or wanted at all. His entire family is living in New York. He lives here alone in a house his mother bought. He dreams of going to the states and teaching there.

Mr. Cabrera (Rafael- with the tie). He is the aide for 1st grade. He is very fluent in English and is very motivated to become a better teacher. He is even enrolling in the University to get his teaching certificate (It takes 3 years) and thought up a whole plan to create his own "summer school" program for the really low kids. He gives me the impression of being truly genuine. He is 20. Mrs. Mejia (Claudia - not related to Mr. Mejia). She is the aide for Prepa (prepatoria). Prepa is the Honduran equivalant of Kindergarten (confusingly, the preschool class is called Kinder in Honduras). Claudia is great. She has a daughter in my class, Khenemla, and a daughter in Christina's class, Claudita. Their father lives in Miami, Fl. She speaks a little bit of English. She invited us over to dinner at her house one night and made salad, delicious tacos, and salsa. Then she gave us nail polish. She is very sweet. She is 28. Mrs. Marla. She is the prepa teacher. She speaks English very well. She is a very calming woman that makes you feel like you should slow down a bit and not worry so much. Just standing next to her gives you a relaxing sensation somehow. Mr. Palacios (Carlos). He teaches grammar and math to the 4th, 5th, and 6th grades. His classroom management strategy seems to be asking the students in a loud, booming voice, "Why are you talking?" I hear it all day long. He speaks fluent English. Although he was born in Honduras, he moved with his family to Miami, FL when he was 4. He lived there until just a few years ago when he returned to Honduras. His family and 3 kids are still living in the states. He is funny and likes to joke around a lot. He is always in a jolly mood. He was in the hospital for a week for his stomach and his doctor told him he has to only eat healthy food but he doesn't listen. He is 31 .Vanessa (Mrs. Velasquez). (There is a picture of her on the Copan blog.) She is the Literature teacher for 4th, 5th, and 6th grades (their science teacher is her brother, Hector - age 19). She is the founder of the school, Graciela's, daughter and she is also the volunteer coordinator. She helps us with everything we need. She is usually very helpful but sometimes a bit dramatic. She lived in Boston, MA for 8 years and just moved back to Honduras 2 years ago. She has a 3 year old son, Anthony, who attends the Kinder class. His father lives in the states. Needless to say, she is extremely fluent in English. She is 28.

Miss Vallecillo (Cynthia, on the right - her little sister, Olga, is in my class) and Danira, on left. These are the two, 17 year olds that are now (well, until December break) teaching the 7th - 11th grade literature and grammar classes. They are both fluent in English from attending bilingual schools. Cynthia is really nice but I don't know the other girl. Since Christina's students are a bit of a handful, Cynthia has been assigned to help out in there in the afternoons.Vilma (Mrs. Mendez) (in photo with Marlon). She is the principal of the elementary section of our school (1st-6th grades). She doesn't speak any English. I am not really sure what she does all day. She doesn't even show up until halfway through the day. I think her main job is to make up holidays for us to decorate for and sing songs about. Sometimes she is nice and other times I get the feeling she thinks it is a hassle having deal with us since we don't understand much Spanish. She has a daughter in the kinder class and another in 7th grade. Carol. She is the custodian. She is the cutest, most adorable woman ever. I want to take her home with me. She doesn't speak any English but I speak to her in Spanish. She is incessantly sweeping and mopping. I have never seen her sit down and I have never seen her without a smile. She often brings her 3 year old son to work with her. He went to the kinder class for a week or two but it was too expensive for her. She is the hardest working person at the school and they won't let her kid go there for free or a discounted rate! Anyway, I adore her.Dontonio. He is the security guard. Why are you laughing? Doesn't he look scary? He is very nice and jokes around with the kids. He only speaks Spanish so I speak Spanish with him. He is like an adorable grandpa. I think his only job is to open and close the gate for people. He said he has 3 kids and 2 live in San Pedro Sula and 1 lives in the states but he doesn't know which part.
And these, of course, are my lovely students showing off the xmas decorations they made. They really are the best class at out school. I love them and I think they feel the same about me. They are wearing their P.E. uniform. Everyday they have to wear their regular uniform (white blouse with a blue tie and boys- blue slacks, girls- plaid skirt with knee-high white socks) except on the 2 days they have P.E. Then they have to wear this and bring a ball, a small towel (sweat rag), and a water bottle. By the way, all the balls here are made of hard plastic and do not bounce. I feel bad watching them play with these. So even for all the times I might complain about the frustrations at the school, I really do like it. The staff is friendly and the students are fun.