Gratitude is the essence of our lives.
We have been given so much. We are connected in ways beyond what the eyes and ears can sense. Beyond what the mind can comprehend.
Footprints (heart prints really) have touched us
and we continue on our way.
Gratitude is the essence of our lives
Gratitude Offered.....
For envisioning and building and inspiring
Wilberth Gonzalez Rodriguez (1963-2006)
Our school is a daily, living testimony of gratitude to Wilberth. Wilberth grew up in this small rural town and always looked for ways to support the people here. After marrying Mary and living in Japan and Brazil, he envisioned the school as a place where people from this and other neigboring towns could learn language and skills that would give them more opportunities and improve their lives. He built it, together with a few friends, with his own two hands and his gentle, loving presence is both deeply missed and cherished as we remember him with gratitude.
For foundational support: George and Phoebe Scholl
Mary's parents George (1926-2010) and Phoebe Scholl have provided unwaving support in many ways for our work here in Costa Rica. Though never able to visit the school, they have offered so much from a far that we feel their love and presence in our lives here and are very, very grateful!
For foundational support:
Victorino Gonzalez Arias and
Flor de Maria Rodriguez Carvajal
Wilberth's parents Victorino Gonzalez Arias and Flor de Maria Rodriguez Carvajal have done many things to support us. Not only gifting the land that the school is on, but helping with many aspects of running our lives here. Of course we are most grateful to them for having Wilberth as a son!
For foundational support: Michael Rudder
When Michael Rudder was the Regional English Language officer for the U.S. State Department in Costa Rica. He began to support us by helping us get grants to fund scholarships for Latin American Teachers. He continued to help us for 8 years. Michael has always believed in our work and has been instrumental in our health and development.
THANK YOU Michael!!!!
For foundational Support: The U.S. State Department, Western Hemisphere Affairs and the Office of English Language Programs and the Regional English Language Officers
I (Mary) am proud and grateful to be from the United States and to be able to participate daily in the positive work that my country is doing and supporting to make the world a better place for all. The U.S. State Department, Western Hemisphere Affairs and the Office of English Language Programs and the Regional English Language Officers have collaborated with each other and with us to provide grants to our institution to support scholarships for almost all (over 500!) of the Latin American teachers who have come to our programs. Course graduates leave Centro Espiral Mana knowing that our government and people in the U.S.A. care about their wellbeing and about education in their countries. Thank YOU U.S. State Department and the people that make it work!
Gratitude Received....
Here's a video made for two of our trainers, Roger and Amanda, from the participants of the SIT TESOL Certificate Course in December 2012.
Comments from Participants
This course changed my teaching practice and perspective in a way that now I am more careful while listening or offering help. It was a new teaching and learning method which helped me to understand the importance of self teaching development. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to grow as human teachers. Rosa from Mexico: (January 2013)
My life changed completely. As a teachers´coach I learned a lot about treating and guiding people. I learned a lot of things professionally speaking. I learned to address many different aspects of teaching in a great way. I learned to study my self and my students before even starting a lesson plan. I learned to be a better human being. THANK YOU! Alex from Costa Rica (November 2012)
This course changed the perception I had of myself and my teaching. It helped me to take teaching more seriously and got me to reflect a lot more on my teaching practices. The course helped me see that student learning is the purpose of lessons and that I should do everything that I can to help students through their learning process. To the people who fund this program or are thinking of funding it, I would say that this course was life changing for me. It made me a better teacher and individual and it opened new horizons in my professional development. A program that can do all that and that has passionate people working to make education in different countries better deserves your funding.Carlos from Guatemala (November 2012)
I would like to say that it is incredible how the contents in this course make sense so easily, and how you realize they are totally applicable to real situations. I think a lot of people should have access to this experience... It is true, other places could have the same contents, the same syllabus (I don't believe so though), but it is the CEM team and their personal style what makes it unique. What changed the most in me is to understand other teachers in other countries undergo the same experiences I do, and so we could share our realities and find solutions for that (with this course's and the staff's help!) THANK YOU SO MUCH!! Nicolas from Chile (July 2012)
To be able to be part of Centro Espiral Mana is not only one of the best experiences I have had as a teacher, but as a person. In today's world, the rush of moderness have made of us teachers, professionals with little connection with our students. Taking the SPLIT course in Costa Rica helped me remember and recall why I fisrt became a teacher: to help others become better human beings and to become a better human being myself. A course like this should be a "must" for a teacher in his/her career. Language teaching has a lot to offer to our communities and countries but it must be approached correctly. Centro Espiral Mana has found the most fundamental way to make a big difference in everybody's teaching and learning. I hope it continues to grow and to offer the courses for a long long time. I am even thinking in creating a similar project here in my country! Thanks for all! Lilia from Mexico (July 2012)
My life changed completely. As a teachers´coach I learned a lot about treating and guiding people. I learned a lot of things professionally speaking. I learned to address many different aspects of teaching in a great way. I learned to study my self and my students before even starting a lesson plan. I learned to be a better human being. THANK YOU! Alex from Costa Rica (November 2012)
This course changed the perception I had of myself and my teaching. It helped me to take teaching more seriously and got me to reflect a lot more on my teaching practices. The course helped me see that student learning is the purpose of lessons and that I should do everything that I can to help students through their learning process. To the people who fund this program or are thinking of funding it, I would say that this course was life changing for me. It made me a better teacher and individual and it opened new horizons in my professional development. A program that can do all that and that has passionate people working to make education in different countries better deserves your funding.Carlos from Guatemala (November 2012)
I would like to say that it is incredible how the contents in this course make sense so easily, and how you realize they are totally applicable to real situations. I think a lot of people should have access to this experience... It is true, other places could have the same contents, the same syllabus (I don't believe so though), but it is the CEM team and their personal style what makes it unique. What changed the most in me is to understand other teachers in other countries undergo the same experiences I do, and so we could share our realities and find solutions for that (with this course's and the staff's help!) THANK YOU SO MUCH!! Nicolas from Chile (July 2012)
To be able to be part of Centro Espiral Mana is not only one of the best experiences I have had as a teacher, but as a person. In today's world, the rush of moderness have made of us teachers, professionals with little connection with our students. Taking the SPLIT course in Costa Rica helped me remember and recall why I fisrt became a teacher: to help others become better human beings and to become a better human being myself. A course like this should be a "must" for a teacher in his/her career. Language teaching has a lot to offer to our communities and countries but it must be approached correctly. Centro Espiral Mana has found the most fundamental way to make a big difference in everybody's teaching and learning. I hope it continues to grow and to offer the courses for a long long time. I am even thinking in creating a similar project here in my country! Thanks for all! Lilia from Mexico (July 2012)