Festival de Jocotes y Barriletes.

¡Orta vez la escuela se llena de color y risas!

Los coloridos barriletes por los aires revelando el minucioso trabajo de niñas y niños.

Los árboles plenos de jocotes en todos sus estados de color, del verde intenso al rojo naranja que invita a trepar por ellos.

Es la razón de este festivo encuentro de familias, amigos, niños que invitan a compartir alegría, risas y deliciosos platos preparados por las familias de cada grado.

¡Todos juntos a disfrutar!

G. Londoño

Celebración de los 100 años de Waldorf en Escuela Caracol

El viernes 27 de septiembre nos reunimos con maestros y estudiantes para tener un momento de aprendizaje y celebración por los 100 años de la Pedagogía Waldorf.

Nuestro invitado especial, Thomas Wildgruber, dio unas palabras de introducción y luego vimos una serie de videos de la escuela. Fue muy especial para los estudiantes y maestros verse proyectados en la #pantalla.

Terminamos la actividad cantando «Caracol está presente» composición de nuestro maestro Diego Sacach Mendoza en conmemoración del #aniversario de la Pedagogía.

 

Como parte de nuestra celebración tuvimos unos deliciosos tamales para el almuerzo; estos tamales fueron parte de una generosa donación realizada por las escuelas Waldorf de Freiburg, Alemania, que se reunieron para celebrar el Waldorf100 y sostuvieron algunas actividades informativas y de recaudación a beneficio de nuestra querida Escuela Caracol.

Queremos agradecer especialmente a nuestra maestra Petra Michelle, quien siempre está buscando formas de ayudar a nuestra escuela y fue la principal promotora de la donación previamente descrita.

Ceremonia Maya por el inicio de la construcción de las nuevas aulas.

El pasado lunes, 2 de septiembre, tuvimos la celebración de una ceremonia muy especial con motivo del inicio de las obras de construcción de las nuevas aulas para nuestros estudiantes.

Cada oportunidad de mostrar el aprecio que tenemos por nuestra comunidad y amigos es invaluable; es por esto que hoy agradecemos de nuevo a todas las personas que, de una o de otra forma, apoyan a Escuela Caracol. Es gracias a ustedes que año con año seguimos nutriendo las cabezas corazones y manos de nuestros amados Caracolitos y Caracolitas; también es gracias a ustedes que hoy estamos iniciando este nuevo proyecto con la única intención de continuar ofreciendo un espacio lleno de amor y respeto para cada uno de nuestros Caracolitos y Caracolitas.

¡Gracias, familia! ¡Matiox Ajaw!

 

The First Annual Jocote Festival

On October 30, 2016, Escuela Caracol held its first formal Jocote Festival, inviting vendors, musicians and visitors from around Lake Atitlán. This festival was held with a threefold purpose: to help raise money for Escuela Caracol, to invite the regional community to get to know the school, and to celebrate the harvest season and local traditions of this time of year. The Jocote Festival was a great success, with over 300 people attending.

Chief among the harvest in San Marcos is the jocote (see below about jocotes), but other important harvests include corn and many types of squash. This time of year is also when the Day of the Dead is celebrated and loved ones who have passed are remembered. Associated with this holiday in Guatemala are two important traditions: flying kites and making coronas, which are colorful wreaths of cypress branches and flowers which are taken to adorn grave sites. At the Jocote Festival the Caracol first grade class hosted a corona-making workshop while the sixth graders offered a kite-making workshop. In addition to the workshops, harvest foods, musicians and vendors, games were offered with special local themes, like a jocote seed spitting contest and races carrying baskets on top the head.

 

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Rounding off the event toward the end of the day was a special guitar performance by Caracol’s sixth graders, now calling themselves Flor de Jocote. («Jocote Flower»). Watch their performance below!

It was a beautiful day with a warm and lively atmosphere, and we look forward to developing it further in the years to come.

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WHAT IS A JOCOTE?
The jocote ( is a special fruit in San Marcos, which is known regionally as la tierra de los jocotes («the land of the jocotes»). The people of San Marcos take great pride in their jocotes, which come in many varieties. This time of year one will often catch even adults knocking the fruits down with a long cane or walking along the path with the pit protruding from within their cheek. The fruits are high in vitamin C, iron and calcium, and locals often attribute their robust health to the jocotes.

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Master Waldorf Teachers from Switzerland Visit Caracol

At the end of August, Escuela Caracol was blessed once again by the visit of master Waldorf teachers who wanted to volunteer their time with us. This time, we were fortunate to receive Felix and Beatrice Zimmermann from the Rudolf Steiner School of Wetzikon, Switzerland. Felix specializes in the primary and secondary grades, and Beatrice is a kindergarten teacher, so they make an excellent pair. They spent a total of three weeks at Caracol, observing classes, mentoring teachers, and giving talks and workshops on Waldorf education. One of Felix’s talks was on the «Musical Moods and their Significance in Education.» Here is a short video of him playing the flute.

Another very special contribution they made was the addition of a beautiful spinning wheel to our handwork equipment. Beatrice spent considerable time showing our kindergarten teachers and handwork teacher how to use it. The children are at once intrigued and comforted by its use in the classroom. Thank you, Felix and Beatrice!

The Zimmermann’s visit was made possible in part by the generosity of Caracol neighbors, Ron and Kim Wilhelm, who donated the use of their gorgeous house for the Zimmermanns. Many thanks, Ron and Kim!
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