The school year has started with an amazing and intense week of staff training. We have one week left of training, preparations, and meetings before over 200 students will descend upon the school on August 18th for the first day of classes. The staff has grown to contain 47 members from a variety of nations and backgrounds.
The first week of staff training was focused on experiential learning and how to implement it. The training was truly inspiring and very practical. We started out with a day of workshops where all staff (including maintenance and office staff) participated in a variety of activities where they played the role of a student while learning background knowledge about coral reefs and their importance to the Dominican Republic. We then traveled to the coast of the island and took a boat out to Catalina Island to snorkel above some of the DR’s most beautiful coral reefs. Several members of the staff had never seen real corals and had not realized the state of their islands reefs and their importance. After viewing the amazing reefs, we pilled back into the bus to visit a local fishing village. Reef Check (an international reef conservation agency) has been working for years to create the DR’s first underwater marine sanctuary. The sanctuary is long overdue and the islands reefs are dangerously damaged. The local fishing village has banded together and with the education and guidance of Reef Check has agreed to set aside a portion of their fishing area to protect the reefs and conserve fisheries for future generations. The staff spent several hours talking to the fishermen about the government involvement in the problems of over-fishing and their hopes for the marine sanctuary. Talking to individuals that were personally affected by the destruction of the reefs and thus the local fisheries made the entire learning experience come alive and the staff developed a new passion for coral reefs and for the power of expeditionary learning. To complete the learning experience, the staff has begun working on educational signs that will be placed in the local park to help protect it from additional damage by tourists. I will be working with the sixth grade again to make additional signs. Instead of a long and dry workshop on how to teach experiential learning, the staff participated in the process and was thus inspired. The experience also helped to bond the staff together and create new friendships as well as an unforgettable experience.
Check out my web album for more fun pictures of our adventurous staff training (I recommend the slide show option).
