Location: Ciudad Sandino Setting: Urban Established: 1968 Staff: 77

 

Subject Areas

Health: Reproductive Health Care, Prevention

Youth and Education: Communication, Cognitive Development, Child and Adolescent Development, Complimentary Learning, Social Development, Teaching

Environment: Environmental Education

Human Rights: Child Advocacy, Mediation, Reproductive Rights

 

Organization Objectives

Instituto Dinamarca is a public preschool, primary school, and secondary school that strives to provide its students with key skills and knowledge to prepare them for future education or career opportunities. Its goals are to:

• Educate children and adolescents on core subject areas
• Provide extracurricular activities
• Promote higher education for all its students

 

Program Information

 

1. Youth Education

Instituto Dinamarca always welcomes assistance in the classroom, particularly because class sizes are very large (40 to 60 students per classroom). Individual and small group tutoring outside of class are also welcomed. Currently, there is a shortage of teachers for younger students.

 

Opportunities

• Aid teachers with classroom instruction, recreational activities, and parent events
• Teach classes in English, math, reading, writing, social sciences, and/or natural sciences

 

Requirements

• Intermediate to Advanced Spanish
• Experience with teenagers is helpful
• Interest in teaching and working with children and youth
• Good sense of humor and patient

 

2. English Laboratory

In summer 2006, an FSD intern helped to develop a student-operated English laboratory, which created a more cohesive English studies program and thus better prepared students for university education as well as professional opportunities in Nicaragua. By organizing extracurricular English clubs, this program can be expanded to have students create their own projects and become active members of a thriving and engaged school community. A peer education program has been suggested to train fifth year students in English curriculum development and instruction to enable them to effectively run the English laboratory. Currently there are three English teachers for the whole school—one who teaches primary and preschool students, and two who instruct high school students.

 

Opportunities

• Mentor students to help them develop their leadership skills
• Help further develop the English laboratory based on student input
• Further organize, expand, and develop the English learning lab. Tasks include, but are not limited to:
• Obtaining more books and didactic materials and organizing them
• Creating bulletin boards and posters
• Teach English classes to a variety of ages
• Tutor individual students

 

Requirements

• Intermediate to Advanced Spanish
• Experience with teenagers is helpful
• Interest in teaching and working with children and youth
• Good sense of humor and patient

 

3. Extracurricular Activities

There is a dire lack of activities for the younger students; although some teachers incorporate songs and traditional dance into their lesson plans, there are no official enrichment programs. High school students have a small band with 36 instruments (mainly percussion with three clarinets and one trombone); basketball and soccer sports teams (both of which are struggling to continue); a cheerleading dance group (Las Porras) that performs for the sports competitions; and a rhythmic dance group that performs for the band (La Gymnasia). The school is especially proud of its band and choir—each year, they participate in citywide competitions and have won for two consecutive years. In early summer, the music teacher begins preparing select students for the annual Festivo de Canto en Inglés (Singing in English Festival); both the choir and the band compete in August.

 

Opportunities

• Implement new extracurricular activities, including but not limited to theater, arts and crafts, martial arts, and volleyball
• Help coordinate and choreograph the rhythmic dance groups (for teenagers) and baile folklórico (for younger students)
• Assist the music teacher with the band as well as tutoring individual students
• Coach sports teams, particularly basketball and soccer

 

Requirements

• Intermediate to Advanced Spanish
• Experience with teenagers is helpful
• Background in coaching, dance, music, and/or related topics
• Interest in teaching and working with children and youth
• Good sense of humor and patient

 

4. Social Development and Counseling

The three school counselors are regular teachers who use their free time to see students individually and act as informal social workers. They are hard-pressed for time, energy, and resources. The school’s director gladly welcomes help in this department in any form.

 

Opportunities

• Create a peer support group or a student government for the high school
• Facilitate weekly workshops on topics including, but not limited to:
• Finding a job
• Pursuing a university degree
• Work with the older students in forming individualized education and career plans
• Act as counselor for elementary and/or high school students
• Implement feedback forums, volunteer campaigns, and workshops for parents and teachers
• Develop and facilitate workshops in middle and high school grades on health topics, particularly sexual reproductive health and self-esteem

 

Requirements

• Intermediate to Advanced Spanish
• Experience with teenagers is helpful
• Experience in counseling is a plus
• Interest in teaching and working with children and youth
• Good sense of humor and patient

 

5. Environmental Education

Although a certain number of environmental education hours are mandated by the government, Instituto Dinamarca’s program has fallen by the wayside. The director would love to set up a student-run environmental awareness campaign or club. There is currently no teacher for this program due to lack of funding, so the biology and science teachers try to cover issues regarding conservation and pollution in their classes. There is a possibility of forming a brigade with the Ciudad Sandino city government and the European Union-run organization PROMAPER to implement a recycling project at the school.

 

Opportunities

• Work with elementary students (1st to 4th grade) to form environment brigades (brigadas ambientalistas) inside the school. Topics could include environmental awareness, pollution and litter prevention projects, basic biology, etc.
• Work with high school students to form an environmental awareness committee and institute a recycling project
• Create a small garden behind the school to educate students about photosynthesis, seed germination, organic farming, and other biological principles
• Grow vegetables to supplement the young students environmental education

 

Requirements

• Intermediate to Advanced Spanish
• Experience with teenagers is helpful
• Experience or knowledge in environmental education
• Interest in teaching and working with children and youth
• Good sense of humor and patient

 

6. Computers and Technology

Instituto Dinamarca has seven computers in a lab next to the staff room. In order to share these computers among all students, the school has implemented a rigid schedule. Only certain grades in elementary and high school are allowed to take classes since there is simply not enough time, computers, or availability of the single professor. The classes include 4th through 6th grade (10 sections of about 40 students each) and the 1st and 2nd year of high school (another 400 students).

 

Opportunities

• Work with students to build their skills in software (e.g. Microsoft Office) and basic internet navigation
• Start a project to develop individual websites or blogs for older students
• Research the extent of computer and internet knowledge in the community of Ciudad Sandino by conducting surveys with high school students
• Research funding opportunities and write grants to procure additional computers

 

Requirements

• Intermediate to Advanced Spanish
• Knowledge in computers
• Experience with teenagers is helpful
• Interest in teaching and working with children and youth
• Good sense of humor and patient

 

Program Supervisors (All Programs)

Freddy Cano Chavarria - Director of Instituto Dinamarca

Martha Rosales – sub-Director of Instituto Dinamarca

 

Note: Responsibilities offered to each participant will be proportionate to their level of experience. Participants who are new to development work may predominantly support and assist current project agendas, while those with much applicable experience may be able to assume greater responsibility. Research projects are strongly encouraged by this organization to support each program’s objective because minimal resources are currently allocated for research.

 

Working Conditions

Instituto Dinamarca is located in the Plaza Ciudad Sandino, which is an area that serves as a general town meeting point. The school is within easy walking distance of the host families and the FSD Nicaragua office. Participants can use the computers and internet available at the school and the staff room for preparing lessons or taking a break between classes.

 

Since younger students only attend class in the morning and the older students in the afternoon, participants must be able to switch gears from children to teenagers. In addition, because the school is so large (class sizes range from 40 to 60 students per classroom), participants must be prepared to confront a fair amount of noise, disruption, and discipline issues when teaching. The FSD director and coordinator, as well as fellow teachers, can assist participants in strategies and lesson plans for maintaining order and organizing the classroom.

 

Organizational Background

Instituto Dinamarca is one of the oldest and poorest schools in Ciudad Sandino. It was founded in 1968 as an autonomous institution, meaning that it was partly subsidized by the Ministry of Education but mainly ran on parent contributions. During the Sandinista Era in the 1980s the school was nationalized, but became autonomous again in 1990 under the Violeta Chamorro Administration. When Daniel Ortega took office in January 2007, all the autonomous schools returned to the state-run system.

 

Currently, Instituto Dinamarca has 2,793 students enrolled. For preschool and elementary, 950 students attend classes in the morning (7 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 12 p.m., respectively); 750 high school students attend classes in the afternoon (1 p.m. – 5:45 p.m.); 752 students attend Saturday classes; and 341 students attend Sunday classes. Although some of the teachers remain from the morning through the afternoon, the weekend teachers are different from the weekday ones.

 

About Instituto Dinamarca’s Clients

The students predominantly come from very low-income families from Ciudad Sandino. A few arrive from nearby neighborhoods (Linda Vista or Nueva Vida). Some of the younger students drop out before finishing elementary school (lack of parent funds is one of the main reasons), while many of the older students do not finish high school. A considerable number of the students help their families run microenterprises.