“Be diligent in serving the poor. Love the poor, honor them, my children, as you would honor Christ Himself.”
St. Louise de Marillac
A School of Hope
By S. Andrea Koverman
For many of us, the serious state of affairs in our world and country and the somber introspection we are called to during Lent have felt like a heavy double-whammy. It has been quite challenging to feel like the people of hope that Pope Francis has called us to be in this historic Jubilee Year. Yet, it is precisely in these times that we need to celebrate all the big and small ways that we find God working and walking with us. Today, we have something very big to share!
I have often described Proyecto Santo Niño’s deep longing to become a “real” school as the Santo Niño Pinocchio Syndrome. Just as Pinocchio dreamed of becoming a real boy, we have been longing to find a way for our growing Montessori school to become recognized by the Mexican school system as an official school. We have welcomed children for a variety of reasons: some were discouraged and even emphatically rejected from attending a public school because of obvious physical or developmental conditions, some were failing miserably, some were targets of harsh bullying, some were given up on by their teachers and sent to us for help.
The Montessori philosophy holds that the purpose of education is not to produce workers for the workforce but to assist children in realizing their full human potential. And, at Proyecto Santo Niño, we believe it’s also about honoring their innate, God-given dignity. That said, practicality tells us that everybody needs to be able to make a living, including our students, each to the best of her or his ability.
Our master Montessori teacher, Olivia, was asked to see what the local requirements are for school accreditation. After talking to a few of her contacts, she came back with discouraging news. There was no way Santo Niño could meet the structural or projected enrollment the government required. We sat with that for a while as we continued to get more requests from parents desperate to find help for their children.
With a nudge, Olivia made a new round of phone calls to various offices in the school system and by luck was transferred to an agency from a far-off region of Mexico. The woman she spoke with was curious and asked to hear everything about Santo Niño and why we needed endorsement. After hearing about the population we serve, the woman responded that the first thing she wanted to say was, “Thank you.” “Thank you for caring about these children, for caring about our children.” She was deeply touched and grateful for our work and promised that she could help.
Shortly after, two women made a visit to Santo Niño to verify everything Olivia had reported. They explained to us that there is a little-known option for endorsement called a community school, and based on what we already had in place—a toddler program, Casa de Niños (Pre-K/Kindergarten), and a full elementary program through sixth grade—we qualified. Even our older students could earn a middle school certificate, an important credential in Mexico for pursuing further studies or employment. By the time they left a few hours later, our students were registered, a mentor-teacher for the toddler program was assigned to work with us on site, and three of our teachers were invited to attend the training that would give them official teaching credentials for a community school.
Santo Niño is now officially a REAL SCHOOL – with all the rights and responsibilities that come with it!
Let me share a story – just one example of why this is so meaningful to all of us.
A few months ago, someone came into the classroom in the middle of instruction to say that a woman was at the door with her young son, asking if we could help. The boy’s school recommended she come to us after deciding that the child was too much of a behavior problem to handle anymore.
My first instinct was to say no. It felt impossible to try to fit one more body in the classroom – especially one that was bound to be a challenge. But, after meeting with them, we couldn’t turn them away.
The boy was tiny, even for a second grader. He had huge, bright blue eyeglasses with square lenses that reminded us of Steve Urkel from the 1989 sitcom, Family Matters. It seemed that many of his behavior problems were a result of targeted bullying for a mild lazy eye – something I barely even noticed. His mother spoke to the teachers and principal, but they didn’t offer him any protection and he became angry, defiant and aggressive. He was bounced from one classroom to another, and his new teacher made it clear she didn’t want him in her class either. The principal even wrote a letter in her defense saying the boy was unmanageable.
This “Little Urkel” is a whiz-kid! He has mild dyslexia but is so eager to read that he will be doing so in very short order. He’s brilliant in math and gets really excited about the science, history and art lessons we do. His favorite thing to do is to go around looking at anything and everything through the handheld microscopes we have. He literally hugs me about a dozen times a day, looks up into my face and says, “Te quiero mucho, Madre.” He is energetic, but nothing out of the ordinary for a 7-year-old. What’s not to love?
The second week he was with us, his mother wrote a note saying she was astonished by the change in her son. He used to cry every morning before school. Now he can’t wait to get there and never stops talking about everything he is learning and doing at Santo Niño.
We recently made room for another little guy – yes, another – who also struggled to function in a traditional school setting. He is exceptionally bright but does have some anger issues. He is quickly learning how to regulate his emotions, but still has some outbreaks. One day, during a particularly tough moment, he clenched his fists and shouted at a teacher to “shut up.” Little Urkel, watching from nearby, raised his eyebrows, glanced over at me, and shrugged saying, “I used to be like that.”
Lots of challenges still lie ahead, but we are so grateful for this giant step forward. Now students like Little Urkel will have a chance to discover how wonderful they are – and to step into a brighter future.
The encouragement and support we have received from so many of you have joyfully brought us to this point. We pray that we will continue to do what presents itself and to be prepared to meet our grace as we continue to develop. Suddenly feeling hopeful doesn’t seem quite so difficult!
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